How to set an input mask for a textbox field

Purpose of an input mask

The purpose of an input mask is to control the number, placement and type of characters that can be entered in to a form field. For example, all landline and mobile phone numbers follow their own set structure. Setting an input mask to permit only eight digits in the text-box field collecting a home phone number limits the human error from the input and allows the format of the phone number to remain consistent through multiple submissions.

Note: Use an Email Address content block instead of an input mask to define an email address. Email addresses vary widely in the number of characters they contain and thus are not suited to the input mask approach.

Implementing an input mask

To set an input mask on a text-box, follow these steps:

1. In the form builder, find the field whose value you want to apply a mask to.
2. Click on the field to open the field properties pop-up window.
3. Use a selection of the following characters to constrain the field’s input.

Characters that define input masks

The following table lists the placeholder and literal characters for an input mask and explains how it controls data entry:

Character	Explanation
9	User can enter a digit (0 to 9)
A	User can enter a letter - user to define case
a	User can enter a lowercase letter
*	User can enter either a letter or a digit - user to define letter case
. , : ; – /	All other characters will be inserted literally

Examples of input masks

The examples in the following table demonstrate some ways that you can use input masks.

This input mask	Provides this type of value	Notes
([phone]	([phone]	Landline phone number with a required area code
([phone]	([phone]	Landline Phone number with a predetermined area code
9999 ****	8555-TELE	Allows you to substitute the last four digits of a phone number with letters
999,999,999	22,129 434,432,995	Include thousands separators for a number lower than 1 billion
S999 AAA	S123ABC	A South Australian vehicle registration number with a literal 'S' and a predefined list of letters and numbers

If you have any trouble setting input masks, you can submit a request at the top of this page.