Originally posted by TheFaQQer
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Spec for email address validation?
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Surely that's related to verification of the address - validation, in this context, usually refers to simply ensuring that a given string is compliant with RFC 2822's specification of the format of an email address, not verifying that it is in fact an address to which mail can be delivered. -
Oh, BTW, using regular expressions isn't necessarily the most efficient way to validate the form of an email address. The following is claimed to be complete with respect to RFC 822... but RFC 2822 probably added some additional complexities that this doesn't account for:
Code:(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*(?:(?:(?:[^()<>@,;:\\".\[\] \000-\031]+(?:(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t] )+|\Z|(?=[\["()<>@,;:\\".\[\]]))|"(?:[^\"\r\\]|\\.|(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t]))*"(?:(?: \r\n)?[ \t])*)(?:\.(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*(?:[^()<>@,;:\\".\[\] \000-\031]+(?:(?:( ?:\r\n)?[ \t])+|\Z|(?=[\["()<>@,;:\\".\[\]]))|"(?:[^\"\r\\]|\\.|(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t]))*"(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*))*@(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*(?:[^()<>@,;:\\".\[\] \000-\0 31]+(?:(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])+|\Z|(?=[\["()<>@,;:\\".\[\]]))|\[([^\[\]\r\\]|\\.)*\ ](?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*)(?:\.(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*(?:[^()<>@,;:\\".\[\] \000-\031]+ (?:(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])+|\Z|(?=[\["()<>@,;:\\".\[\]]))|\[([^\[\]\r\\]|\\.)*\](?: (?:\r\n)?[ \t])*))*|(?:[^()<>@,;:\\".\[\] \000-\031]+(?:(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])+|\Z |(?=[\["()<>@,;:\\".\[\]]))|"(?:[^\"\r\\]|\\.|(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t]))*"(?:(?:\r\n) ?[ \t])*)*\<(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*(?:@(?:[^()<>@,;:\\".\[\] \000-\031]+(?:(?:(?:\ r\n)?[ \t])+|\Z|(?=[\["()<>@,;:\\".\[\]]))|\[([^\[\]\r\\]|\\.)*\](?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*)(?:\.(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*(?:[^()<>@,;:\\".\[\] \000-\031]+(?:(?:(?:\r\n) ?[ \t])+|\Z|(?=[\["()<>@,;:\\".\[\]]))|\[([^\[\]\r\\]|\\.)*\](?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t] )*))*(?:,@(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*(?:[^()<>@,;:\\".\[\] \000-\031]+(?:(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])+|\Z|(?=[\["()<>@,;:\\".\[\]]))|\[([^\[\]\r\\]|\\.)*\](?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])* )(?:\.(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*(?:[^()<>@,;:\\".\[\] \000-\031]+(?:(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t] )+|\Z|(?=[\["()<>@,;:\\".\[\]]))|\[([^\[\]\r\\]|\\.)*\](?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*))*) *:(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*)?(?:[^()<>@,;:\\".\[\] \000-\031]+(?:(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])+ |\Z|(?=[\["()<>@,;:\\".\[\]]))|"(?:[^\"\r\\]|\\.|(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t]))*"(?:(?:\r \n)?[ \t])*)(?:\.(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*(?:[^()<>@,;:\\".\[\] \000-\031]+(?:(?:(?: \r\n)?[ \t])+|\Z|(?=[\["()<>@,;:\\".\[\]]))|"(?:[^\"\r\\]|\\.|(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t ]))*"(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*))*@(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*(?:[^()<>@,;:\\".\[\] \000-\031 ]+(?:(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])+|\Z|(?=[\["()<>@,;:\\".\[\]]))|\[([^\[\]\r\\]|\\.)*\]( ?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*)(?:\.(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*(?:[^()<>@,;:\\".\[\] \000-\031]+(? :(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])+|\Z|(?=[\["()<>@,;:\\".\[\]]))|\[([^\[\]\r\\]|\\.)*\](?:(? :\r\n)?[ \t])*))*\>(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*)|(?:[^()<>@,;:\\".\[\] \000-\031]+(?:(? :(?:\r\n)?[ \t])+|\Z|(?=[\["()<>@,;:\\".\[\]]))|"(?:[^\"\r\\]|\\.|(?:(?:\r\n)? 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(?:[^()<>@,;:\\".\[\] \000-\031]+(?:(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])+|\Z|(?=[\["()<>@,;:\\". \[\]]))|"(?:[^\"\r\\]|\\.|(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t]))*"(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*)(?:\.(?:(?: \r\n)?[ \t])*(?:[^()<>@,;:\\".\[\] \000-\031]+(?:(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])+|\Z|(?=[\[ "()<>@,;:\\".\[\]]))|"(?:[^\"\r\\]|\\.|(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t]))*"(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t]) *))*@(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*(?:[^()<>@,;:\\".\[\] \000-\031]+(?:(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t]) +|\Z|(?=[\["()<>@,;:\\".\[\]]))|\[([^\[\]\r\\]|\\.)*\](?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*)(?:\ .(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*(?:[^()<>@,;:\\".\[\] \000-\031]+(?:(?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])+|\Z |(?=[\["()<>@,;:\\".\[\]]))|\[([^\[\]\r\\]|\\.)*\](?:(?:\r\n)?[ \t])*))*\>(?:( ?:\r\n)?[ \t])*))*)?;\s*)
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True - I was (as ever) over delivering on the spec, and looked to make sure that the address was verified rather than just of a valid format. Is there much benefit in storing an email address that isn't verified as capable of receiving mail?Originally posted by NickFitz View PostSurely that's related to verification of the address - validation, in this context, usually refers to simply ensuring that a given string is compliant with RFC 2822's specification of the format of an email address, not verifying that it is in fact an address to which mail can be delivered.
Plus, it's easier to verify the domain against the MX lookup than to try and code whether the format of the address is valid.Comment
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Crikey...
All I want to do is specify what checks we should reasonably undertake to check that an email address a user enters looks valid. i.e it has an @ a . after the @ and doesn't contain spaces or other characters that are 'illegal' I don't care whether the email address actually exists or DNS lookup will actually work.Comment
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IIRC, there is some simple code in php that you can call to do a domain lookup, which is what my website does. I couldn't be bothered to work out what the appropriate checks were, but if there is something that does it easily, then I'll use thatOriginally posted by Hiram King Of Tyre View PostCrikey...
All I want to do is specify what checks we should reasonably undertake to check that an email address a user enters looks valid. i.e it has an @ a . after the @ and doesn't contain spaces or other characters that are 'illegal' I don't care whether the email address actually exists or DNS lookup will actually work.
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Simply state that it should be compliant with RFC 2822 section 3.4. That's how the IETF say it should be done, therefore, that's how it should be done.Originally posted by Hiram King Of Tyre View PostAll I want to do is specify what checks we should reasonably undertake to check that an email address a user enters looks valid. i.e it has an @ a . after the @ and doesn't contain spaces or other characters that are 'illegal' I don't care whether the email address actually exists or DNS lookup will actually work.
If you need to spell it out for them, then you need (at a minimum) to quote the following:
(I think that's complete, but you'll have to check against the spec.)Code:addr-spec = local-part "@" domain local-part = dot-atom / quoted-string domain = dot-atom / domain-literal domain-literal = [CFWS] "[" *([FWS] dcontent) [FWS] "]" [CFWS] dcontent = dtext / quoted-pair dtext = NO-WS-CTL / ; Non white space controls %d33-90 / ; The rest of the US-ASCII %d94-126 ; characters not including "[", ; "]", or "\" atext = ALPHA / DIGIT / ; Any character except controls, "!" / "#" / ; SP, and specials. "$" / "%" / ; Used for atoms "&" / "'" / "*" / "+" / "-" / "/" / "=" / "?" / "^" / "_" / "`" / "{" / "|" / "}" / "~" atom = [CFWS] 1*atext [CFWS] dot-atom = [CFWS] dot-atom-text [CFWS] dot-atom-text = 1*atext *("." 1*atext) text = %d1-9 / ; Characters excluding CR and LF %d11 / %d12 / %d14-127 quoted-pair = ("\" text) NO-WS-CTL = %d1-8 / ; US-ASCII control characters %d11 / ; that do not include the %d12 / ; carriage return, line feed, %d14-31 / ; and white space characters %d127 FWS = ([*WSP CRLF] 1*WSP) / ; Folding white space obs-FWS ctext = NO-WS-CTL / ; Non white space controls %d33-39 / ; The rest of the US-ASCII %d42-91 / ; characters not including "(", %d93-126 ; ")", or "\" ccontent = ctext / quoted-pair / comment comment = "(" *([FWS] ccontent) [FWS] ")" CFWS = *([FWS] comment) (([FWS] comment) / FWS)Comment
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Below is the Regex I use with C# for email. Works for 99.99% of email addresses.
Code:private const string EMAIL_ADDRESS_REGEX = @"^(([^<>()[\]\\.,;:\s@\""]+" + @"(\.[^<>()[\]\\.,;:\s@\""]+)*)|(\"".+\""))@" + @"((\[[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}\.[0-9]{1,3}" + @"\.[0-9]{1,3}\])|(([a-zA-Z\-0-9]+\.)+" + @"[a-zA-Z]{2,}))$";Comment
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NickFitz is awarded one million Zimbabwean Xeno geek points.
(The value of your geek points may go up as well as down and you may get back less than the number of Zimbabwean Xeno geek points you originally invested. DiscoStu is in no way authorised to award Xeno geek points whether they're Zimbabwean or not, these are a novelty item and must not be used for any illegal or immoral purposes.)ǝןqqıʍComment
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Originally posted by DiscoStu View PostNickFitz is awarded one million Zimbabwean Xeno geek points.
(The value of your geek points may go up as well as down and you may get back less than the number of Zimbabwean Xeno geek points you originally invested. DiscoStu is in no way authorised to award Xeno geek points whether they're Zimbabwean or not, these are a novelty item and must not be used for any illegal or immoral purposes.)
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