Data Mapper Patterns: Regular Expressions In this post, we are going to explore a couple new capabilities brought to the Data Mapper in the form of Regular Expression functions. We can use these new functions to help with data validation and conformity. For those of you who are new to regular expressions, A regular expression is "a sequence of characters that specifies a match pattern in text. Usually, such patterns are used by string-searching algorithms for find or find and replace operations on strings, or for input validation."
In terms of how are Regular Expressions relevant to the Data Mapper, we can leverage them in the following ways:
Some use cases where we may find the functionality useful:
When we explore the available Functions found in the data mapper, there are two Regular Expression functions:
Regular expressions offer many benefits within Data Mapper by assisting in data validation, transformation, and find-replace operations. Users can implement these patterns to maintain data consistency and ensure accurate input across various fields, ultimately improving data quality and analysis.
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Microsoft Expert Answer:
Data Mapper Patterns: Regular Expressions are a powerful tool for data validation and conformity. With regular expressions, we can validate data, transform data in the interest of consistency, and find and replace. Use cases that may benefit from the regular expression functions found in the data mapper include email addresses, postal/zip codes, URLs/IP addresses, dates, phone numbers, credit card validation, and identity information such as social security or social insurance numbers. Regular expressions can also be used to ensure data is consistent, such as capitalizing all text, replacing all special characters with underscores, or ensuring all phone numbers are in a uniform format. Data Mapper Regular Expressions allow us to quickly and easily validate, transform, and find/replace data, making it a useful tool for data management.
Data Mapper Patterns, Regular Expressions, Data Validation, Data Conformity, Find and Replace, Email Addresses