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Text Box Display Type

A text box display type can be used without customization, but you must customize it when you want to:

  • specify a default value for it
  • use regular expressions to validate the data users enter in the text box
  • force users to provide a unique value for the field

What are Regular Expressions?​

A regular expression is a pattern of text that consists of ordinary characters (for example, letters a through z) and special characters, known as metacharacters. You can use regular expressions to ensure that users enter data in an input field according to a standard pattern. For example, the regular expression for a US phone number of the pattern: (555) 123-4567 will be: ^(\d\d\d) \d\d\d-\d\d\d\d.

To learn about regular expressions and their syntax, see

Predefined Text Box Display Types​

A few text box display types used in the default portal template are:

| | Display Type Name | Default Value | Regular Expression | Regex Example | | --- | ------------------ | ------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------ | ----------------- | ------------------- | | 1. | maskPhoneUSwithExt | None | ^(\d\d\d) \d\d\d-\d\d\d\d x\d\d\d$ | (555) 123-4567 x890 | | 2. | SmtpEmail | None | ^([a-zA-Z0-9_-.]+)@(([[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+.) | (([a-zA-Z0-9-]+.)+))([a-zA-Z]+ | [0-9]+)(]?)$ | someone@netwrix.com | | 3. | maskPhoneUS | None | ^(\d\d\d) \d\d\d-\d\d\d\d$ | (555) 123-4567 | | 4. | maskEmailAddress | None | ^([a-zA-Z0-9_-.]+)@(([[0-9]3.[0-9]3.[0-9]3.) | (([a-zA-Z0-9-]+.)+))([a-zA-Z]4 | [0-9]3)(]?)$ | user@domain.com | | 5. | maskZipCode | None | \d5(-\d4)? | NNNNN-NNNN |

Define a Text Box Display Type​

  1. In Admin Center, select Applications in the left pane.
    On the GroupID Portal tab, a portal's card displays its info.

  2. Click the ellipsis button for a portal and select Settings.

  3. Select an identity store under Design Settings to define a custom display type for it.
    All identity stores associated with the portal are listed under Design Settings. You can design a different portal for each of these.

  4. Click Custom Display Types in the left pane. The Custom Display Types page is displayed.

  5. Click Add on the Custom Display Types tab.

  6. On the New Display Type pane, enter a name for the display type in the Name box.
    You cannot change the name of a custom display type once you have created it.

  7. Select Textbox in the Type drop-down list.

  8. Specify a value in the Default Value box to set it as the default value for the text box. Users can modify this value in the portal.

  9. In the Regular Expression box, type a regular expression to use for validating data that users enter in the text box using the portal. Leave this box blank if you do not want to apply a validation rule to the data.

    1. Click Test Regular Expression to check if the regular expression is valid.
    2. On the Test Regular Expression dialog box, type an example that satisfies the regular expression and click Test.

  10. In the Error Message box, enter the text to be displayed as an error message when portal users enter data in the text box that does not conform to the regular expression.

  11. You can place a real-time validation check to ensure that users enter a unique value for the field. Directory Manager can look up the value for uniqueness in the directory or an external data source. The portal prevents users from proceeding unless a unique value is provided.

    • Select the Unique check box to force the user to enter a value that is unique for the field (attribute) in the directory.
    • You can also use an external data source, such as an Excel file, to validate the uniqueness of the value in real time. Use an API to connect to the external data source. Select the External Validation URL check box and enter the URL of your API in the box.

    Example: Link this text box display type to the group name field on the Create New Group page. When a user enters a name for the group, the portal will look up this name for uniqueness in the directory/external data source in real time and display an error message if it is not unique.

  12. Click OK.

  13. Click Save on the Custom Display Types page.

External API Reference​

The external API for real-time validation should receive the following parameters:

ParameterDescription
objectTypeThe type of object the user is creating or updating (for example, group, user)
attributeNameThe name of the attribute the user is updating (for example, name, first name, logon name)
attributeNameThe attribute value to be validated
objectIDIf an existing user is being updated, the ID of that user is sent; else it is an empty string

The API returns the following parameters:

ParameterDescription
statusShould be ‘true’ (when the attribute value is unique) or ‘false’ (when the attribute value is not unique).
message(Optional) For the ‘false’ status, you can return an error message in this parameter, that is displayed to the user.
dataNot in use

NOTE: Data should be in JSON format.

See Also