Client Data Validation

Summary

Client-side validation in AdapTable can be used to prevent invalid Edits from completing
They are essentially a special type of Alert

AdapTable provides Client Data Validation via Alerts (defined in Alert State)

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AdapTable also offers Server Validation where the validation is handled externally

These Data Validation rules will prevent cell edits before the new value is sent to the server.

Note

Ulitmately, these are simply Alerts with the PreventEdit property in the Alert Definition to true.
If the Alert Rule is broken, AdapTable will undo the cell edit and fire the Alert.

This avoids the irritating scenario where an edit is made and commmitted which all other users of the application see before server validation forces the cell to 'jump back' to its initial value.

Caution

This is not the same as Pre-Edit Validation which prevents all edits to read-only cells
Cllient Data validation is for the use case where a cell is editable but not all edits are necessarily valid

Client Data Validation

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In this (slightly contrived) example, we have prevented cells in the Language column being changed to Python.
We have set the Alert to display a Toast Notification with a custom Message, and a Type of Error, to appear at the top of the Grid.

Expand to see the Alert Definition

Alert: {
  AlertDefinitions: [
    {
      Name: 'alert-language',
      Scope: {
        ColumnIds: ['language'],
      },
      Rule: {
        Predicates: [{
          PredicateId: 'Is',
          Inputs: ['Python'],
        }],
      },
      AlertProperties: {
        PreventEdit: true,
        DisplayNotification: true,
      },
      MessageType: 'Error',
      MessageText: 'You cannot change the Language to "Python"!',
    },
  ],
},

Try It Out

Change a cell in the Language column to Python and see how it triggers a Prevent Edit Alert
Or go a stage further and create an Alert with a custom form enabling users to provide a new value. This can be achieved via an Adaptable Form with 2 Buttons that reference Grid API methods when clicked.

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See Validation Alerts for more details
Alerts with Data Validation Rules are defined in Alert Initial State

FAQ

Why add Prevent Edit Alerts which perform validation on the client - surely it should take place on the server? That is correct, validation should ideally take place on the server and hopefully it does for our users. And AdapTable offers Server Validation for this reason. Instead Prevent Edit Alerts specifically deal with 3 common validation-related use cases:

add an extra level of validation so that you can prevent edits which are usually permitted, but which in particular scenarios or use cases should be avoided
avoid unnecessary round trips to the server, particularly if this has other knock-on consequences or effect other users that might see their screen flash first with the new value and then again with the old value
as a temporary measure before Server Validation has been added; like all AdapTable objects, Alert Definitions will come into effect immediately after that they are created in the UI - there is no down-time needed, nor any custom development required, and no systems need to be restarted

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