checking data format with a function instead of multiple preg_matches - php

Question

I'm trying to check the data format of multiple variables, 21 to be precise, with a function instead of using a preg_match for every single variable as they are supposed to be dates, numeric, alphabetic, alphanumeric and not empty and I'm using the following function for multiple data check in a single row, the function seems to return false, is there anything wrong with them?Thanks for any help in advance, here's the code.
<?php
function alphabetic_check(){
$numargs = func_num_args();
$arg_list = func_get_args();
for($n = 0; $n < $numargs; $n++){
$x = preg_match("^[a-zA-Z\s]*$/", $arg_list[$n]);
if($x == false){
return false;
} else if($n == $numargs - 1 && $x == true){
return true;
}
}
}
function numeric_check(){
$numargs = func_num_args();
$arg_list = func_get_args();
for($n = 0; $n < $numargs; $n++){
$x = preg_match("^[0-9]*$/", $arg_list[$n]);
if($x == false){
return false;
} else if($n == $numargs - 1 && $x == true){
return true;
}
}
}
function alphanumeric_check(){
$numargs = func_num_args();
$arg_list = func_get_args();
for($n = 0; $n < $numargs; $n++){
$x = preg_match("^[a-zA-Z0-9\s]*$/", $arg_list[$n]);
if($x == false){
return false;
} else if($n == $numargs - 1 && $x == true){
return true;
}
}
}
function not_empty(){
$n = func_num_args();
$args = func_get_args();
for($i = 0; $i < $n; $i++){
$x = !empty($args[$i]);
if($x == false){
return false;
} else if($i == $n - 1 && $x == true){
return true;
}
}
}
?>
and here's the code for kinda a reservation system I'm developing returning a promt saying that the data format is incorrect even if it is supposed to excecute the code inside the if block...
if(numeric_check($id, $cellphone, $people, $single, $double, $twin, $superior, $suite, $triple, $quadruple, $disabled, $ccn, $ccm, $ccy, $cccvc) && alphabetic_check($fistname, $lastname, $type) && not_empty($id, $user, $firstname, $lastname, $cellphone, $arrival, $departure, $people, $ccn, $ccm, $ccy, $cccvc, $type)){
echo "ok";
} else {
mysqli_close($connection);
echo "
<script type=\"text/javascript\">
window.alert('Data format wrong, retry.');
window.location.replace('control_panel.php');
</script>
";
}
This is the handwritten code that actually works but I was wondering how to squeeze this stuff as above:
if(preg_match("/^[0-9]*$/", $id) && preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z0-9\-\_]*$/", $user) && preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z\s]*$/", $firstname) && preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z\s]*$/", $lastname) && preg_match("/^[\+0-9]{10,}$/", $cellphone) && preg_match("/^[0-9\-]*$/", $arrival) && preg_match("/^[0-9\-]*$/", $departure) && preg_match("/^[0-9]*$/", $people) && $people > 0 && preg_match("/^[0-9]{16}$/", $ccn) && preg_match("/^[0-9]{1,2}$/", $ccm) && preg_match("/^[0-9]{4}$/", $ccy) && preg_match("/^[0-9]{3}$/", $cccvc) && preg_match("/^[a-z]*$/", $type) && !empty($id) && !empty($user) && !empty($firstname) && !empty($lastname) && !empty($cellphone) && !empty($arrival) && !empty($departure) && !empty($people) && !empty($ccn) && !empty($ccm) && !empty($ccy) && !empty($cccvc) && !empty($type)){
echo "ok";
} else {
mysqli_close($connection);
echo "
<script type=\"text/javascript\">
window.alert('Formato dati errato, riprova.');
window.location.replace('pannello.php');
</script>
";
}
Question solved by Mark, here below the working code with some tests:
<?php
function alphabetic_check(){
$numargs = func_num_args();
$arg_list = func_get_args();
for($n = 0; $n < $numargs; $n++){
$x = preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z\s]*$/", $arg_list[$n]);
if($x == false){
return false;
} else if($n == $numargs - 1){
return true;
}
}
}
function numeric_check(){
$numargs = func_num_args();
$arg_list = func_get_args();
for($n = 0; $n < $numargs; $n++){
$x = preg_match("/^[0-9]*$/", $arg_list[$n]);
if($x == false){
return false;
} else if($n == $numargs - 1){
return true;
}
}
}
function alphanumeric_check(){
$numargs = func_num_args();
$arg_list = func_get_args();
for($n = 0; $n < $numargs; $n++){
$x = preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z0-9\s]*$/", $arg_list[$n]);
if($x == false){
return false;
} else if($n == $numargs - 1){
return true;
}
}
}
function not_empty(){
$n = func_num_args();
$args = func_get_args();
for($i = 0; $i < $n; $i++){
$x = !empty($args[$i]);
if($x == false){
return false;
} else if($i == $n - 1){
return true;
}
}
}
$a = "voda";
$b = 17;
$c = "coding101";
$d = NULL;
echo "Alphabetic check: " . (alphabetic_check($a, $b, $c) ? "true" : "false") . "<br /><br />";
echo "Alphanumeric check: " . (alphanumeric_check($a, $b, $c) ? "true" : "false") . "<br /><br />";
echo "Numeric check: " . (numeric_check($a, $b, $c) ? "true" : "false") . "<br /><br />";
echo "Not empty: " . (not_empty($a, $b, $c) ? "true" : "false") . "<br /><br />";
echo "Not empty 2: " . (not_empty($a, $b, $c, $d) ? "true" : "false") . "<br /><br />";
?>

Answer 1

I can see a couple of problems:
None of your preg_matches have an opening delimeter, e.g. you have: preg_match("^[a-zA-Z\s]*$/", this is missing a forward slash at the start, should be: preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z\s]*$/". This applies to all preg_matches so a error is thrown.
You have an incorrectly named variable, you have alphabetic_check($fistname, , should be $firstname as used elsewhere
Fixing those 2 and plugging in some valid data and your functions work fine.
May I suggest a slight change to the functions though that may make them easier toread, for example:
function alphabetic_check(){
$arg_list = func_get_args();
$valid = true;
foreach($arg_list as $arg){
if(!preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z\s]*$/", $arg))
{
$valid = false;
break;
}
}
return $valid;
}
With my version we set a variable, $valid, to be true. If any of the preg_matches fail then we set valid to false and break out the loop. This way there is no need to check if you are on the last arg in the list. As a result you can also change to a foreach loop and no need to count the number of arguments passed in.