Thread: Input verification suggestions?

This really depends entirely on the context of your program. If you're creating a little example program for fun and education, then it doesn't really matter. If you're creating some secure banking software or a nuclear missile controller, then you might have some more restrictions.

Originally Posted by KevinWorkman

This really depends entirely on the context of your program. If you're creating a little example program for fun and education, then it doesn't really matter. If you're creating some secure banking software or a nuclear missile controller, then you might have some more restrictions.

Well lol not really something that big, just a two-player game application with GUI.
If it helps, my game has a leaderboard. Do you think it makes sense not to allow players to enter the same names each and every time they play the game? (Since during the game, if it's their turn their name will be displayed, if you get what I mean)

--- Update ---

Originally Posted by KucerakJM

Seems like you already have something working. Best way to test this part of the program is to type something in that shouldn't be valid to be sure that the program catches it.

Thanks! Yep that part about my program considering only (') and (-) valid among the other special symbols and accepting letters and numbers works; the part that makes me unsure about these restrictions is that names tend to be diverse, right? Like should I allow the players to enter purely numbers into the text field? Something like that.

Originally Posted by KucerakJM

A common restriction is the number of characters

That does make sense, I'll add that, thanks again!

Originally Posted by lorenxvii

Well lol not really something that big, just a two-player game application with GUI.
If it helps, my game has a leaderboard. Do you think it makes sense not to allow players to enter the same names each and every time they play the game?

You tell me. Why wouldn't you allow a player to enter the same name twice?

What problem are you trying to solve here? It seems like you're anticipating problems that haven't happened yet.

Originally Posted by KevinWorkman

You tell me. Why wouldn't you allow a player to enter the same name twice?

What problem are you trying to solve here? It seems like you're anticipating problems that haven't happened yet.

I thought not to allow the players enter the same names since during the game, as each player takes his/her turn, his/her name will be displayed to indicate that it's his/her turn and I thought to avoid confusion for the players themselves, I'd do that check before they proceed to the game.

And also, what if the player enters purely special symbols, like #%@%!#$#%. Do you think it should be considered invalid when what the program asks for is the player's name?

Oh, you're talking about disallowing the players from entering the same name? Again, all of this is up to you, and there are ways around it. For example, you could display the names in different colors or automatically add a number to similar names.

However, this is at best a corner case, and IMHO you're wasting time worrying too much about problems that haven't happened yet. You'd be much better off spending this time polishing your game and making it look better than trying to think of every corner case ahead of time.