Extension Developer: Web Assist
Developer Web Site: www.webassist.com
Price: $99.99

Massaging user input is one of those tedious jobs most Web developers would rather do without. But if someone leaves out important data while filling out a Web form, your Web application might not work - after all, how can you e-mail a user his weekly newsletter if he forgot to enter his e-mail address in the sign-up form? Even worse, bad data can bring a Web application to its knees. If you've ever tried to insert a word - "one" -- into a database field meant to hold a number ... 1 ... you know what I mean.

WA Validation Toolkit is one extension that can make this job a lot easier. It lets you add both client - and server-side validation to your forms. Novices will like the simple wizard that makes adding validation just a matter of filling out a few dialog boxes; while experienced developers can take advantage of Dreamweaver behaviors or server-side behaviors to create more complex validation options.

The extension provides 15 types of built-in validation methods that let you check for data that matches common patterns such as e-mail addresses, URLs, Social Security numbers, dates, ZIP codes, credit card numbers, and more. Of course, it performs the most basic validation - making sure a field isn't empty - and if none of the extension's other validation types fits your data, you can create your own validation pattern with the extension's regular expression support.

Using JavaScript, the client-side validation features can check for valid input as the user fills out the form - either triggering JavaScript error boxes explaining the problem, or making hidden layers visible. This last option lets you create more professional-looking error dialog boxes.

The server-side validation features support three server models - PHP, ASP, and ColdFusion - and let you validate data from a form after it's been submitted to the server. This lets you validate forms even if the user has disabled JavaScript, and also lets you integrate your error messages into your Web page, instead of through a JavaScript alert box or a pop-up layer. For example, if the user entered incorrect data, the form could reappear with the message "The information you submitted is incorrect" at the top of the page, and individual messages after each form field holding incorrect data. The extension can make sure the form "remembers" data that was properly entered, so the user doesn't have to re-enter everything she typed.

The extension is very flexible with many options for validating data and presenting errors. If you find that your Web visitors consistently supply incorrect data - or no data at all- this extension can make sure they fill out your Web forms the right way.

Have a favorite extension? Is there an extension you just couldn't live with out? We're always on the lookout for awesome extensions, so drop us a line at: DaveMcFarland@sys-con.com