Mastering custom validation in Angular with Reactive Forms

Angular’s Reactive Forms offer a robust framework for building dynamic and data-driven forms and custom validation. While built-in validators like required and email handle common scenarios, complex applications often require validation rules. This article delves into creating custom validators in Angular, empowering you to tailor form validation to your specific needs.

Understanding Reactive Forms validation

In Reactive Forms, form controls possess validation functions that determine their validity. These functions return null if valid or an error object ({ [key: string]: any }) with key-value pairs describing the error. Angular automatically triggers validation upon user interaction and during asynchronous operations.

Crafting your custom validator

1. Define the Validator Function: This function takes the control’s value as input and performs validation logic. Return null for valid or an error object for invalid states. Here’s an example for validating passwords:

function passwordStrengthValidator(control: FormControl): ValidationErrors | null {
  const value = control.value;
  const hasLowerCase = /[a-z]/.test(value);
  const hasUpperCase = /[A-Z]/.test(value);
  const hasNumber = /[0-9]/.test(value);
  const hasSpecialChar = /[!@#$%^&*()_+\-=\[\]{};':",\\|,.<>/?]/.test(value);

  if (value.length < 8) {
    return { minimumLength: 8 };
  } else if (!hasLowerCase || !hasUpperCase || !hasNumber || !hasSpecialChar) {
    return { complexity: true };
  }
  return null;
}

2. Applying the Validator: Integrate the function into your form control definition using the validators array:

const formGroup = new FormGroup({
  password: new FormControl('', [Validators.required, passwordStrengthValidator]),
});

Advanced Techniques for custom validation

1. Asynchronous Validation: For server-side checks, use asyncValidators and return an observable that resolves to an error object or null:

async emailUniqueValidator(control: FormControl): Promise<ValidationErrors | null> {
  const email = control.value;
  const response = await this.http.get<boolean>(`api/users/exists/${email}`);
  return response ? { emailTaken: true } : null;
}

2. Cross-field Validation: Validate relationships between controls using custom validators that access multiple control values within your FormGroup:

function confirmPasswordValidator(control: FormControl): ValidationErrors | null {
  const password = this.formGroup.get('password');
  if (!password) {
    return null;
  }
  return password.value !== control.value ? { mismatch: true } : null;
}

3. Dynamic Validation: Update validation rules based on form state by dynamically adding or removing validators from controls.

Additional Considerations

• Provide clear and informative error messages to guide users.
• Test your custom validators thoroughly to ensure robust and reliable behavior.
• Consider using existing validation libraries like angular2-custom-validation for advanced features.

Conclusion on custom validation

By mastering validation techniques, you unlock the full potential of Angular’s Reactive Forms. Tailor your form validation to your specific requirements, ensuring data integrity and enhancing the user experience with clear and relevant validation messages. Remember, careful planning and testing are key to creating robust and user-friendly forms. Embrace the power of custom validation and take your Angular applications to the next level!

You can have more informations on the Angular official site.