CardValidator Control

Properties   Methods   Events   Config Settings   Errors  

The CardValidator control is used to verify that a given credit card number is formatted properly, and could be a valid card number. Validating a card before actually submitting a transaction for authorization can reduce the fees that may be associated with invalid or declined transactions.

Syntax

CardValidator

Remarks

Utilization of this control catches accidentally mistyped card numbers and allows buyers to re-input their number without having the transaction declined. It can also determine the type of credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, etc) to easily determine if the customer is presenting a payment type which you do not support. The control can also parse swiped track data and perform these same checks on it.

There are three checks performed on the customer's credit card information:

The card number is checked for validity using the Luhn mod-10 algorithm.
The type of the card (Visa, MasterCard, etc.) is computed from the card number.
The expiration date is checked against the current system date.
The ValidateCard method explains these checks in more detail.

Property List


The following is the full list of the properties of the control with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

CardExpMonthExpiration month of the credit card specified in CardNumber .
CardExpYearExpiration year of the credit card specified in CardNumber .
CardNumberCredit card number to be validated.
CardTypeIndicates the results of the Luhn Digit Check algorithm.
CardTypeDescriptionHuman-readable description of the CardType .
DateCheckPassedIndicates whether the card is expired or not.
DigitCheckPassedIndicates the results of the Luhn Digit Check algorithm.
TrackDataMagnetic stripe data read off the credit card.
TrackTypeIndicates the type of the specified TrackData .

Method List


The following is the full list of the methods of the control with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

ConfigSets or retrieves a configuration setting.
ResetClears all properties to their default values.
ValidateCardChecks the card number and expiration date for validity.

Event List


The following is the full list of the events fired by the control with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

ErrorInformation about errors during data delivery.

Config Settings


The following is a list of config settings for the control with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.

NameOnCardThe name encoded in the track data on the credit card.

CardExpMonth Property (CardValidator Control)

Expiration month of the credit card specified in CardNumber .

Syntax

cardvalidatorcontrol.CardExpMonth[=integer]

Default Value

1

Remarks

This field contains the month portion of the expiration date of the customer's credit card. This property must be in the range 1 - 12. The ValidateCard method compares this property against the system time to determine if the card is expired.

Data Type

Integer

CardExpYear Property (CardValidator Control)

Expiration year of the credit card specified in CardNumber .

Syntax

cardvalidatorcontrol.CardExpYear[=integer]

Default Value

0

Remarks

This field contains the year portion of the expiration date of the customer's credit card. This property must be in the range 00-99, or 2000-2099. The ValidateCard method compares this property against the system time to determine if the card is expired.

Data Type

Integer

CardNumber Property (CardValidator Control)

Credit card number to be validated.

Syntax

cardvalidatorcontrol.CardNumber[=string]

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property contains the customer's credit card number. A credit card number may be of any length, and may optionally include dashes or spaces. However, in practice the maximum length of the supported CardTypes is 19 characters (excluding whitespace), and the minimum length is 13 characters.

Data Type

String

CardType Property (CardValidator Control)

Indicates the results of the Luhn Digit Check algorithm.

Syntax

cardvalidatorcontrol.CardType

Possible Values

vctUnknown(0), 
vctVisa(1), 
vctMasterCard(2), 
vctAmex(3), 
vctDiscover(4), 
vctDiners(5), 
vctJCB(6), 
vctVisaElectron(7), 
vctMaestro(8), 
vctCUP(9), 
vctLaser(10)

Default Value

0

Remarks

This property is filled after a call to the ValidateCard method. Allowable values include:

ctUnknown (0) The control could not determine the type of the card based on the CardNumber prefix and length.
vctVisa (1) Visa card.
vctMasterCard (2) MasterCard card.
vctAmex (3) American Express card.
vctDiscover (4) Discover Card
vctDiners (5) Diner's Club card (Carte Blanche or International - the CardTypeDescription will contain the full name).
vctJCB (6) Japan Credit Bureau card.
vctVisaElectron (7) International Visa debit card (not available in US or Canada).
vctMaestro (8) International debit card (owned and operated by MasterCard).
vctCUP (9) China UnionPay - China's only credit card organization.
vctLaser (10) Primary debit card used in Ireland.

This property is read-only and not available at design time.

Data Type

Integer

CardTypeDescription Property (CardValidator Control)

Human-readable description of the CardType .

Syntax

cardvalidatorcontrol.CardTypeDescription

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property is filled after calling the ValidateCard method, and will contain a text description of the CardType. This is useful to distinguish different program cards. For instance, a CardType of ccDiners might have a corresponding CardTypeDescription of "Diner's Club International", "Diner's Club Carte Blanche", or "Diner's Club enRoute".

This property is read-only.

Data Type

String

DateCheckPassed Property (CardValidator Control)

Indicates whether the card is expired or not.

Syntax

cardvalidatorcontrol.DateCheckPassed

Default Value

False

Remarks

The ValidateCard method checks whether the card's expiration date (CardExpMonth and CardExpYear) is a valid future date, and stores that result in the DateCheckPassed property.

This property is read-only.

Data Type

Boolean

DigitCheckPassed Property (CardValidator Control)

Indicates the results of the Luhn Digit Check algorithm.

Syntax

cardvalidatorcontrol.DigitCheckPassed

Default Value

False

Remarks

The ValidateCard method checks whether or not the CardNumber conforms to the mod-10 digit check algorithm, and stores that result in the DigitCheckPassed property. Note that a card may pass this check and still be an invalid card. (Either a fake number that passes the digit check, or an unknown CardType).

This property is read-only.

Data Type

Boolean

TrackData Property (CardValidator Control)

Magnetic stripe data read off the credit card.

Syntax

cardvalidatorcontrol.TrackData[=string]

Default Value

""

Remarks

This property may be set with the magnetic stripe read off the back of a credit card using any commercially available card reader. You may set this property with either Track1 or Track2 data. If TrackData is set, the values contained in CardNumber, CardExpMonth, and CardExpYear are ignored when calling ValidateCard. Instead, these properties are parsed out of the track data. This allows you to easily retrieve the expiration date and card number from either Track1 or Track2 data. For instance:

CardValidator1.TrackData = "4012000033330026=21121015432112345678" CardValidator1.ValidateCard()

The CardNumber, CardExpMonth, and CardExpYear will now contain the values parsed from the track data. TrackType will also indicate whether the TrackData is Track1 or Track2 (in this case, it's Track2 data).

Data Type

String

TrackType Property (CardValidator Control)

Indicates the type of the specified TrackData .

Syntax

cardvalidatorcontrol.TrackType

Possible Values

ttUnknown(0), 
ttTrack1(1), 
ttTrack2(2)

Default Value

0

Remarks

This property will be filled after a call to ValidateCard. If magnetic stripe data was supplied in the TrackData field, this property will indicate which type of track was entered. If no track data was entered (ie, the CardNumber was specified instead) then the TrackType will be ttUnknown.

This property is read-only and not available at design time.

Data Type

Integer

Config Method (CardValidator Control)

Sets or retrieves a configuration setting.

Syntax

cardvalidatorcontrol.Config ConfigurationString

Remarks

Config is a generic method available in every control. It is used to set and retrieve configuration settings for the control.

These settings are similar in functionality to properties, but they are rarely used. In order to avoid "polluting" the property namespace of the control, access to these internal properties is provided through the Config method.

To set a configuration setting named PROPERTY, you must call Config("PROPERTY=VALUE"), where VALUE is the value of the setting expressed as a string. For boolean values, use the strings "True", "False", "0", "1", "Yes", or "No" (case does not matter).

To read (query) the value of a configuration setting, you must call Config("PROPERTY"). The value will be returned as a string.

Reset Method (CardValidator Control)

Clears all properties to their default values.

Syntax

cardvalidatorcontrol.Reset 

Remarks

This method clears all properties to their default values.

ValidateCard Method (CardValidator Control)

Checks the card number and expiration date for validity.

Syntax

cardvalidatorcontrol.ValidateCard 

Remarks

This method performs several checks on customer information to determine if the card information submitted could be valid. This should be done before submitting an actual transaction for authorization. The tests performed are listed below:

Luhn Digit CheckThis process checks the digits of the CardNumber to make sure that it could be a valid card number. The mathematical algorithm used to determine validity is outlined in the Visa External Interface Specification: Authorization Record Formats Version 5.8, page 63.
Card Type CheckThis process checks the length and the beginning digits of the CardNumber to determine if it is a valid card type. The results of this check is stored are the CardType and CardTypeDescription properties.
Expiration Date CheckThe date given in CardExpMonth and CardExpYear is compared to the current system date to make sure that the card is still valid.

Error Event (CardValidator Control)

Information about errors during data delivery.

Syntax

Sub cardvalidatorcontrol_Error(ErrorCode As Integer, Description As String)

Remarks

The Error event is fired in case of exceptional conditions during message processing.

ErrorCode contains an error code and Description contains a textual description of the error. For a list of valid error codes and their descriptions, please refer to the Error Codes section.

Config Settings (CardValidator Control)

The control accepts one or more of the following configuration settings. Configuration settings are similar in functionality to properties, but they are rarely used. In order to avoid "polluting" the property namespace of the control, access to these internal properties is provided through the Config method.

CardValidator Config Settings

NameOnCard:   The name encoded in the track data on the credit card.

If the TrackData you're parsing is Track1 data, it contains the customer's name, and should be identical to the name printed on the face of the card. Track2 data does not contain this name. This field will be filled after a call to ValidateCard.

Trappable Errors (CardValidator Control)

CardValidator Errors

20505    Luhn digit check failed.
20506    Card date invalid.
20507    Card expired.
20704    Invalid CardNumber format (contains letters or unknown characters).
20705    Could not determine the Credit Card type.
20706    Error parsing TrackData. Format cannot be determined.