As a Google Forms user, you may have found yourself wishing that the service had some of the features that it lacks. For example, say your organization has a set of questions that must be answered in order to complete an application. There are ways around this limitation, but they require advanced programming skills and/or high-level permission in Google Drive. In this guide, we’ll walk through some simple regular expressions to help make your life easier as a Google Forms user by giving you more control over what data is allowed into your form fields!
Description
Regular expressions are a powerful tool for validating input in Google Forms. They allow you to check that a user’s input follows certain rules, such as requiring alphabetic characters only or having a length of at least three characters.
Regular expressions are written using special symbols and syntax that allow them to be easily read and understood by humans, but they are not easy for computers to understand. In order to make regular expressions work with Google Forms, we need to convert them into another language called “JavaScript”.
Required Field Validator
To validate a field for required status, use the regex pattern ^\(.*?\)$ . This pattern ensures that there is no whitespace between the opening parenthesis and first character of the input string.
If you want to require an email address or phone number in your form, use one of these patterns:
- regex pattern ^[A-Za-z0-9._%-]{1}@[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Za-z]{2,3}$
- regex pattern ^[A-Za-z0-9._%-]{1}(\-|\/)([A-Za-z0-9.-]+)?([-+.]){2}$
Optional Field Validator
If you want to ensure that an optional field is not left blank, but don’t care about the content within it, use the asterisk as a wildcard for any character and one or more characters. For example, if you need an email address from a user but don’t care what kind of email address they provide (i.e., @gmail.com or @yahoo), use this regex:
- @gmail\.com$|[a-zA-Z0-9]+([-+.]?[a-zA-Z0-9]+)+
Email Address Validator
Email address validation is easy. The regular expression to check for an email address is [\w\.\-]{1,3}@([\w\.\-]{1,3})\.([\w\.\-]{1,3})$
This expression says that there should be at least one word character (a-z or A-Z), then a dot, then between 1 and 3 word characters followed by an @ symbol (which means anything). After the @ symbol you can have any number of letters or numbers before ending in .com or .net as long as it matches both domains.
Phone Number Validator
To check phone numbers, use the following regex:
^(
Regular expressions are a powerful tool for validating input in Google Forms. They’re also relatively easy to use, as long as you know how they work and how to construct them.
Google Form regular expressions can be used to check for specific formatting requirements and reject any that don’t meet those requirements. For example:
- If the first character of an input field is not a number (0-9), then reject it as invalid.* If an email address doesn’t have both @ and .com, then reject it as invalid.* If phone number looks like “(123) 456-7890”, but doesn’t have spaces between each group of three digits (no parentheses), then reject it as invalid
We hope that you’ve found these regular expressions useful. If you have any questions, or if there are other regular expressions that you would like to see added here, please let us know in the comments below!
Outline of the Article:
I. Introduction
- Introduce the importance of data validation in Google Forms.
- Discuss the role of regular expressions in ensuring accurate and valid user inputs.
II. What Are Regular Expressions?
- Provide a brief explanation of regular expressions (regex).
- Discuss their significance in pattern matching and data validation.
III. Basic Regular Expressions for Google Forms
- Explain simple regex patterns for validating email addresses.
- Provide examples of regex patterns for validating numeric input fields.
- Discuss how to use regex to validate phone numbers in various formats.
IV. Advanced Regular Expressions for Specific Input
- Demonstrate regex patterns for validating dates and date formats.
- Explain how to validate URLs and web addresses using regular expressions.
- Discuss regex patterns for validating specific formats like social security numbers or postal codes.
V. Implementing Regular Expressions in Google Forms
- Provide step-by-step instructions on implementing regular expressions in Google Forms.
- Explain how to access the form editor and apply regex patterns to form fields.
- Discuss common mistakes to avoid and tips for effective implementation.
VI. Error Messages and User Experience
- Explain the importance of clear error messages for users.
- Provide examples of user-friendly error messages for different types of validation.
VII. Best Practices for Using Regular Expressions in Google Forms
- Discuss best practices for creating efficient and effective regex patterns.
- Explain how to balance between strict validation and user-friendly input.
VIII. Real-life Examples and Use Cases
- Provide real-life examples of how businesses and organizations use regex validation in Google Forms.
- Discuss the impact of accurate data collection on decision-making processes.
IX. Conclusion
- Summarize the importance of regex validation in Google Forms.
- Emphasize the role of regex in ensuring data accuracy and reliability.
- Encourage users to implement regex validation in their forms for improved data quality.
Useful Regular Expressions for Validating Input in Google Forms
I. Introduction
Google Forms serve as powerful tools for data collection, but ensuring the accuracy and validity of user inputs is crucial. Regular expressions (regex) play a vital role in this process by enabling precise pattern matching. In this article, we’ll explore various regex patterns that can be applied to Google Forms, enhancing data validation and ensuring high-quality responses.
II. What Are Regular Expressions?
Regular expressions, often abbreviated as regex, are sequences of characters defining a search pattern. They are invaluable for pattern matching and validating input. Regex patterns can be as simple as validating email addresses or as complex as verifying intricate data formats.
III. Basic Regular Expressions for Google Forms
- Email Validation: Use regex to validate email addresses, ensuring they follow the correct format. Example:
^[a-zA-Z0-9._%+-]+@[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+\\.[a-zA-Z]{2,}$ - Numeric Input: Employ regex to validate numerical fields, allowing only numeric characters. Example:
^[0-9]+$ - Phone Number Validation: Create regex patterns to validate phone numbers in different formats, ensuring consistency. Example:
^\(?\d{3}\)?[-.\s]?\d{3}[-.\s]?\d{4}$
IV. Advanced Regular Expressions for Specific Input
- Date Formats: Validate dates in specific formats (MM/DD/YYYY or DD-MM-YYYY) using regex patterns. Example:
^(0[1-9]|1[0-2])/(0[1-9]|[12][0-9]|3[01])/(19|20)\d{2}$ - URL Validation: Ensure URLs are valid and well-formed, preventing broken links. Example:
^(https?|ftp):\/\/[^\s/$.?#].[^\s]*$ - Social Security Numbers: Implement regex for validating social security numbers (SSN) in the desired format. Example:
^\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4}$
V. Implementing Regular Expressions in Google Forms
Implementing regex in Google Forms is straightforward:
- Access Form Editor: Open your Google Form and click on the form field you want to validate.
- Apply Regex: In the field settings, choose “Response validation” and select “Regular expression.”
- Paste Pattern: Paste the appropriate regex pattern for the specific validation requirement.
VI. Error Messages and User Experience
Clear and friendly error messages are essential for guiding users. For instance, if an email format is incorrect, display a message like “Please enter a valid email address” to assist users in correcting their input.
VII. Best Practices for Using Regular Expressions in Google Forms
- Balance Strictness: Balance between strict validation and user-friendly input to avoid frustrating users with overly complex patterns.
- Test Thoroughly: Test regex patterns with various inputs to ensure they function as intended.
VIII. Real-life Examples and Use Cases
In businesses, regex validation ensures accurate data collection, leading to informed decision-making. For instance, validating phone numbers helps sales teams maintain accurate contact details, improving customer communication.
IX. Conclusion
Regex patterns in Google Forms significantly enhance data accuracy. By implementing appropriate regex validation, businesses and organizations can rely on the integrity of the collected data. As users become accustomed to providing accurate information, the overall quality of responses improves, leading to more reliable analyses and strategic decisions.
FAQs About Regular Expressions in Google Forms
Q1. Can regular expressions be applied to all types of form fields in Google Forms? Yes, regular expressions can be applied to text, email, and numeric fields in Google Forms, ensuring precise data validation.
Q2. Are there pre-built regex patterns available for common validations? Yes, numerous online resources offer pre-built regex patterns for common validations like email addresses, phone numbers, and dates. These patterns can be customized as needed.
Q3. Can regex patterns be used for multistep forms in Google Forms? Yes, regex patterns can be applied to fields in multistep forms, ensuring each step of the form collects accurate and validated data.
Q4. How can I test my regex patterns before applying them to my Google Form? Several online regex testers allow you to input test data and validate it against your regex pattern, ensuring it functions as expected before implementation.
Q5. Can regex validation be combined with other types of validation in Google Forms? Yes, regex validation can be combined with other types of validation, such as length requirements, allowing for comprehensive data validation in Google Forms.
