Simple validation rules using rule editor

Hi ​@kolluax,

1. Current Limitations: Rule Editor vs Regex

Rule Editor in Core Components is intentionally expression-based, not regex-based:

• It supports conditions like equals, contains, startsWith, endsWith, numeric comparison, etc.
• It does not support arbitrary regex patterns as a first-class operator.
• That means:
  • You cannot express a "no special characters" rule for a Name field in one expression the way you would with regex.
  • You also cannot define a custom pattern like xx-xxxxxx (Account Number) purely as a regex via Rule Editor.

For validation patterns, Core Components rely on either:

1. Built‑in validation types (Email, Phone, SSN, Zip, etc.), or
2. Custom validation (typically custom JS or server-side validation).

2. Name Field – "No Special Characters" Without Custom JS

If you absolutely must avoid custom JS:

• You're limited to combinatorial logic in the Rule Editor, such as:

  • Rejecting certain characters with multiple contains checks, but this scales poorly and is brittle.
  • You'd need something like:
    • If Name contains @ or Name contains # or Name contains $ … → set error
  • This quickly becomes unmanageable and still won't behave like a proper regex (e.g., range-based classes like [A-Za-z ]+).

So realistically:

• You can't cleanly achieve "no special characters" for Name purely with Rule Editor in a robust, maintainable way.
• You either:
  • Accept a simpler "good enough" check with a few explicit forbidden characters, or
  • Introduce a central, vetted custom validation (e.g., a single shared JS validator or server-side validation) and lock it down via your security practices.

3. Account Number – Custom Pattern (e.g., xx-xxxxxx)

For patterns like xx-xxxxxx:

• Foundation allowed you to specify a regex, and the browser‑side validator enforced it.
• Core Components:
  • Give you some OOTB patterns (SSN, Phone, Email, Zip) as you noticed.
  • Do not expose a UI for arbitrary regex patterns for text fields.
  • Rule Editor cannot express "2 letters, dash, 6 digits" cleanly without regex.

Therefore:

• You cannot replicate arbitrary regex patterns like xx-xxxxxx solely via Rule Editor in Core.
• If you need strict pattern enforcement, your realistic options are:
  1. Custom validation logic (recommended, but written once and reused), or
  2. Backend/form-submission validation:
     • Accept any input in UI
     • Validate on submit server-side
     • Return a structured error to the headless consumer so they can display it.

Thanks
Pranay