Question

I have 3 filter textboxes on my asp.net page. Each textbox is assigned 2 regularexpressionvalidators to them, 1 for numeric and 1 for alpha. It detects the validations correctly but when i press my search button, it still postback even when the validation tooltip appears(showing the filter is invalid). Any ideas why its “ignoring” the validation and posting back anyways? Here is my definition of the 3 controls and their validations.

<td>
                <asp:TextBox ID="txtAcctFilter" runat="server" BackColor="#FF6600" TabIndex="1">Enter Account No</asp:TextBox>
                <asp:RegularExpressionValidator ID="revAcctFilter" runat="server" Text="*" ControlToValidate="txtAcctFilter"
                    ToolTip="Enter Valid Account" ValidationExpression="^\d*$" ValidationGroup="Numeric"></asp:RegularExpressionValidator>
                <asp:RegularExpressionValidator ID="revAcctFilter2" runat="server" ControlToValidate="txtAcctFilter"
                    ValidationExpression="^Enter Account No$" ValidationGroup="Alpha"></asp:RegularExpressionValidator>
            </td>
            <td>
                <asp:TextBox ID="txtYearFilter" runat="server" BackColor="#FF6600" TabIndex="2"> Enter Year</asp:TextBox>
                <asp:RegularExpressionValidator ID="RevYearFilter" runat="server" Text="*" ControlToValidate="txtYearFilter"
                    ToolTip="Enter Valid Year" ValidationExpression="^20\d{2}$" ValidationGroup="Numeric"></asp:RegularExpressionValidator>
                <asp:RegularExpressionValidator ID="RevYearFilter2" runat="server" ControlToValidate="txtYearFilter"
                    ValidationExpression="^Enter Year$" ValidationGroup="Alpha"></asp:RegularExpressionValidator>
            </td>
            <td>
                <asp:TextBox ID="txtMonthFilter" runat="server" BackColor="#FF6600" TabIndex="3">Enter Month</asp:TextBox>
                <asp:RegularExpressionValidator ID="RevMonthFilter" runat="server" Text="*" ControlToValidate="txtMonthFilter"
                    ToolTip="Enter Valid Month" ValidationExpression="^(1[0-2]|0?[1-9])$" ValidationGroup="Numeric"></asp:RegularExpressionValidator>
                <asp:RegularExpressionValidator ID="RevMonthFilter2" runat="server" ControlToValidate="txtMonthFilter"
                    ValidationExpression="^Enter Month$" ValidationGroup="Alpha"></asp:RegularExpressionValidator>
            </td>

Answer 1

ValidationExpression=”^Enter Account No$|^\d+$” is the correct answer for this. I had to use the ^ $ tags for each side of the | to make it validate both sides. This allowed me to go back to just one expression. I also added the causesvalidation for each control to prevent a postback. So far its working 🙂