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[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] Re: Re: Are the data users happy? Why not?
 Berend de Boer <berend@x...> writes: > >>>>> "Michael" == Michael Kay <michael.h.kay@n...> writes: > > Michael> It depends a bit how many errors validation > Michael> catches. Since phone numbers have no check digit, most > Michael> errors will get through anyway. > > Not errors involving length or area code checks. But phone numbers is > just one example. The thread headed towards the: because checking > sometimes fails (insert weird case example), don't check. > > My customers have actually asked for more stringent checks in several > cases, so they probably perceived value. But it's still an interesting > question: where do you stop, where do you check (data entry or cleanup > later), what do you accept. I'd say the most important thing is not to use a feature just because it exists, and it goes for validation as much as for anything else. I keep seeing tutorials that insist on using xsd:integer for things like part numbers -- where in fact these are obscure strings as far as the validator is concerned -- just because integers exist. I also keep seeing HTML forms where the "country" part of the address is a drop-down list, 150-odd long, of all UN members, just because it's available. The list ensures only "legal" values can be entered*, but it checks for membership in a wrong set -- UN member nations as opposed to nations where the site has or wants to have customers. I wonder how many sites have users in Afghanistan? Another question to ask is what it really mean for a datum to be valid wrt your application. Validity for a phone number is most often the promise of reaching a specific person (or function) if you dial it, not that it exists at some telephone exchange. I once had some repairs made to a car at a national franchise in the Boston area. The mechanic, who spoke very little English, said their computer required an address. I said I didn't have a US address. He said they couldn't service the car if it didn't go through the computer. I said 1600 Pennsylvania Ave Washington, DC. The mechanic failed to see the joke, and so did the computer, because it was, after all, a perfectly valid US address. (*) as long as one doesn't construct the HTTP request manually -- I wonder how many sites check that. Ari. 
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