[PHP] Regex: catchall function to validate Last and First names

[Carl E Shmidt]

I have a guest book , and I want to make sure that those people who sign the
guest book can't impersonate a member of the web site.  the code below
checks the input string, which is the guestbook signer's name, against a
list of defined web site members.  Is there any way to circumvent the code
as I've written it?

  function validateGuestbookSigner($valToEval,&$errorArray){
echo "Value: $valToEval<BR>";
    $valToEval=preg_replace("/[^A-Za-z0-9]/","",$valToEval);
echo "Value after stripping all nonessential debris: $valToEval<BR>";

    //obtain the list of names to test against
    $names=getGuestBookNames();

    //iterate through each person in the list
    foreach($names as $name){

      //explode to get first and last name
      $namePieces=explode(",",$name);


      //look for the last name,case insensitive
      if(preg_match("/" . $namePieces[0] . "/i", $valToEval)){
        $errorArray[]="The last name that it matched is: $namePieces[0]";
        $errorArray[]="Please consult the Guestbook Rules for a list of
names of those people in the band or are affilliated with the web site
";
        $errorArray[]="Part of the guestbook signer's name matches a last
name that cannot be used";
        return false;
      }

      //look for the first name,case insensitive
      //(the name might just be Webmaster, so make sure
      // to check if first name exists at all)
      if(count($namePieces)>1){
         if(preg_match("/" . $namePieces[1]  . "/i", $valToEval)){
           $errorArray[]="The first name that it matched is:
$namePieces[1]";
           $errorArray[]="Please consult the Guestbook rules for a list of
names of those people in the band or are affilliated with the web s
ite";
           $errorArray[]="Part of the guestbook signer's name matches a last
name that cannot be used";
           return false;
         }
      }
    }
    return true;
  }



-- 
PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/)
To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php