<Validate Type="Compare">

The Compare validator checks the target control's value against another control's value or a hard-coded value, using a configurable comparison operator. The classic use case is "make sure the password and confirm-password fields match," but it works equally well for date ranges, type checks, and minimum-value comparisons.

Example

Confirming an email address by comparing two textboxes:

<AddForm>
  ...
  <table>
    <tr>
      <td>
        <Label For="txtEmail" Text="Email" />
        <TextBox Id="txtEmail" DataField="Email" DataType="string" />
      </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>
        <Label For="txtEmailConfirm" Text="Confirm Email" />
        <TextBox Id="txtEmailConfirm" />
        <Validate Type="Compare" Target="txtEmailConfirm" CompareTarget="txtEmail"
                  Message="The email addresses don't match" />
      </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td colspan="2">
        <AddButton Text="Add"/>&nbsp;<CancelButton Text="Cancel"/>
        <ValidationSummary />
      </td>
    </tr>
  </table>
</AddForm>

Properties

Property	Values	Default	Description
Type *	Compare		Identifies this as a Compare validator
Target *	control ID		ID of the control to validate
CompareTarget	control ID		ID of the control whose value to compare against. Use either CompareTarget or CompareValue, not both
CompareValue	string		Hard-coded value to compare against. Use either CompareTarget or CompareValue, not both
CssClass	string		CSS class name(s) for styling the validator's error display
DataType	String Integer Double Date Currency	String	The data type used for the comparison
Display	Static Dynamic	Dynamic	Whether the validator reserves layout space when no error is shown
EnableClientScript	True False	True	When True, validation runs in the browser as well as on the server
Height	size		Height of the validator's error display
Message	string		Text shown in the <ValidationSummary> when validation fails
Operator	Equal NotEqual GreaterThan GreaterThanEqual LessThan LessThanEqual DataTypeCheck	Equal	The comparison operator
Text	string		Text shown inline at the validator's location when validation fails
Width	size		Width of the validator's error display

* Required property

Deprecated Properties

These properties use ASP.NET inline styling and are no longer recommended for modern web development. Use the CssClass property to apply CSS classes or the Style property for inline CSS instead.

Property	Values	Description
BackColor	color name | #dddddd	Background color of the validator's error display
BorderColor	color name | #dddddd	Border color
BorderStyle	NotSet None Dotted Dashed Solid Double Groove Ridge Inset Outset	Border style
BorderWidth	size	Border width
Font-Bold	True False	Bold text
Font-Italic	True False	Italic text
Font-Names	string	Font family name
Font-Overline	True False	Overline text decoration
Font-Size	XX-Small X-Small Small Medium Large X-Large XX-Large or size	Font size
Font-Strikeout	True False	Strikethrough text decoration
Font-Underline	True False	Underline text decoration
ForeColor	color name | #dddddd	Text color. Note: the validator hard-codes red, bold text by default. If you set CssClass, XMP automatically clears ForeColor so your stylesheet's color rules take effect

Property Details

• Type: Set to Compare to identify this as a Compare validator.

• Target: The ID of the form control whose value should be checked.

• CompareTarget: The ID of a second control whose value the target should be compared with. Use this or CompareValue, not both. Maps to ASP.NET's ControlToCompare.

• CompareValue: A hard-coded value the target should be compared with (e.g. CompareValue="18" to require a minimum age). Use this or CompareTarget, not both. Maps to ASP.NET's ValueToCompare.

• Operator: How the two values are compared. Defaults to Equal. The special value DataTypeCheck ignores any compare value and instead just verifies that the target control's value can be parsed as the specified DataType — useful as a quick "is this a valid number/date?" check without needing a regex.

• DataType: How the values should be parsed before comparison. Defaults to String (literal text comparison). Set to Integer, Double, Date, or Currency for type-aware comparisons.

• Message: The error text shown in the <ValidationSummary> (if you have one) when validation fails. If no <ValidationSummary> is present, this text appears at the validator's location instead.

• Text: The text shown inline at the validator's location when validation fails. Used together with Message and <ValidationSummary>: a short inline marker (*, **, or an icon) at the validator + the full sentence in the summary block.

• Display: Whether the validator reserves layout space even when no error is shown. Dynamic (the default) collapses to no space until validation fails. Static always reserves space.

• EnableClientScript: When True (the default), the validator runs in the browser before the form is submitted, giving the user immediate feedback. Set to False to force server-side-only validation.