CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptregexgoogle-apps-scriptgoogle-sheetsgoogle-forms
Glenio Ligorio
Glenio Ligorio

Reputation: 3

Regex in Google Apps Script practical issue. Forms doesn't read regex as it should

I hope its just something i'm not doing right.

I've been using a simple script to create a form out of a spreadsheet. The script seems to be working fine. The output form is going to get some inputs from third parties so i can analyze them in my consulting activity.

Creating the form was not a big deal, the structure is good to go. However, after having the form creator script working, i've started working on its validations, and that's where i'm stuck at.

For text validations, i will need to use specific Regexes. Many of the inputs my clients need to give me are going to be places' and/or people's names, therefore, i should only allow them usign A-Z, single spaces, apostrophes and dashes.

My resulting regexes are:

//Regex allowing a **single name** with the first letter capitalized and the occasional use of "apostrophes" or "dashes". 
const reg1stName = /^[A-Z]([a-z\'\-])+/
//Should allow (a single name/surname) like Paul, D'urso, Mac'arthur, Saint-Germaine ecc.

//Regex allowing **composite names and places names** with the first letter capitalized and the occasional use of "apostrophes" or "dashes". It must avoid double spaces, however.
const regNamesPlaces = /^[^\s]([A-Z]|[a-z]|\b[\'\- ])+[^\s]$/  
//This should allow (names/surnames/places' names) like Giulius Ceasar, Joanne D'arc, Cosimo de'Medici, Cosimo de Medici,  Jean-jacques Rousseau, Firenze, Friuli Venezia-giulia, L'aquila ecc.

Further in the script, these Regexes are called as validation pattern for the forms text items, in accordance with each each case.

//Validation for single names
 var val1stName = FormApp.createTextValidation()
  .setHelpText("Only the person First Name Here! Use only (A-Z), a single apostrophe (') or a single dash (-).")
  .requireTextMatchesPattern(reg1stName)
  .build();

//Validation for composite names and places names   
 var valNamesPlaces = FormApp.createTextValidation()
  .setHelpText(("Careful with double spaces, ok? Use only (A-Z), a single apostrophe (') or a single dash (-)."))
  .requireTextMatchesPattern(regNamesPlaces)
  .build();

Further yet, i have a "for" loop that creates the form based on the spreadsheets fields. Up to this point, things are working just fine.

 for(var i=0;i<numberRows;i++){
  var questionType = data[i][0]; 
  if (questionType==''){
     continue;
  }
  else if(questionType=='TEXTNamesPlaces'){
   form.addTextItem()
     .setTitle(data[i][1]) 
     .setHelpText(data[i][2])
     .setValidation(valNamesPlaces)
     .setRequired(false);   
  }
  else if(questionType=='TEXT1stName'){
   form.addTextItem()
     .setTitle(data[i][1]) 
     .setHelpText(data[i][2])
     .setValidation(val1stName)
     .setRequired(false);
  }

The problem is when i run the script and test the resulting form. Both validations types get imported just fine (as can be seen in the form's edit mode), but when testing it in preview mode i get an error, as if the Regex wasn't matching (sry the error message is in portuguese, i forgot to translate them as i did with the code up there):

A screenshot of the form in edit mode

A screeshot of the form in preview mode

However, if i manually remove the bars out of this regex "//" it starts working!

A screenshot of the form in edit mode, Regex without bars

A screenshot of the form in preview mode, Regex without bars

What am i doing wrong? I'm no professional dev but in my understanding, it makes no sense to write a Regex without bars.

If this is some Gforms pattern of reading regexes, i still need all of this to be read by the Apps script that creates this form after all. If i even try to pass the regex without the bars there, the script will not be able to read it.

const reg1stName = ^[A-Z]([a-z\'])+
const regNamesPlaces = ^[^\s]([A-Z]|[a-z]|\b[\'\- ])+[^\s]$
//Can't even be saved. Returns: SyntaxError: Unexpected token '^' (line 29, file "Code.gs")

Passing manually all the validations is not an option. Can anybody help me?

Thanks so much

Upvotes: 0

Views: 910

Answers (1)

Kylie R.
Kylie R.

Reputation: 82

This 

/^[A-Z]([a-z\'\-])+/

will not work because the parser is trying to match your / as a string literal.

This

^[A-Z]([a-z\'\-])+

also will not work, because if the name is hyphenated, you will only match up to the hyphen. This will match the 'Some-' in 'Some-Name', for example. Also, perhaps you want a name like 'Saint John' to pass also?

I recommend the following :)

^[A-Z][a-z]*[-\.' ]?[A-Z]?[a-z]*

^ anchors to the start of the string

[A-Z] matches exactly 1 capital letter

[a-z]* matches zero or more lowercase letters (this enables you to match a name like D'Urso)

[-\.' ]? matches zero or 1 instances of - (hyphen), . (period), ' (apostrophe) or a single space (the . (period) needs to be escaped with a backslash because . is special to regex)

[A-Z]? matches zero or 1 capital letter (in case there's a second capital in the name, like D'Urso, St John, Saint-Germaine)

Upvotes: 0

Related Questions