The process of checking and analyzing whether the provided data is correct and acceptable or need some changes is called data validation. It is also referred to as data vetting or data cleaning in IT field. This is a process which is held to check if the data fulfills the needs and specifications as provided before. We also refer to this process as the data comparison process in which the data is compared with other documents and provided facts and figures to see if it’s applicable or needs to be collected again. This process also determines the level of implementation up to which the data is valid and doesn’t need any changes. Organizations and businesses use automatic computer programs which check the data for errors and mistakes and when they found one, the computers inform the operators to make changes or correct the mistakes. Whether you are creating a business application or entertainment software, the verification of the data provides a professionalism look to the programming.
There are some concepts that need to explain before we move on to the types of data validation such as:
- User interactivity screens and forms:
some part of the application needs the user to enter some data like their name and DOB and this part is the most important part to validate in this data validation process. Any existing mistake at this point can cause the whole application to fail so it’s an essential part of the data validation process.
- File manipulation routines:
it includes the file related actions like reading from the file or writing on the file. As the data saved to the file is entered by a human and it’s not uncommon to enter wrong data by mistake so it’s very important to validate all the input data before implementing it to the file.
- Import and export routines:
when you want your application to save the data in different formats so that the other applications can open the file without any mistake or error, you need to validate the data at this point.
Some common data validation techniques are:
- 1. Field level validation:
in this technique, you provide the user with a list of options and ask him or her to select an option and enter its value so that it will be saved in the database which you can check later to see if there is any error or not.
- 2. Form level validation:
here the user is asked to enter different values for the list same as the above mentioned method but in this type, the data is not saved on every step but once the user is done with the whole form, it’s saved as a whole file which you can check after for the possible errors.
- 3. Data saving validation:
this validation method is used to actually save the data in the database once the user has finished entering into the form. This method is usually used in option screens and multiple data entry forms that all need to be filled out before the data is saved in the database. The user is free to go to any form without a certain pattern and at the end, he just needs to click on the “Save” or”Ok” button and the data will be immediately saved.
Here is preview of a Useful Common Data Validation Chart that can help anyone in day to day tasks,
Here is download link,