ValidateCCNumber

The ValidateCCNumber component, which appears in the Purchase Check stage of an order processing pipeline, performs a checksum test on the credit-card number (for the most widely used cards) to ensure that its format is correct. If it fails, a pur_badcc error is generated and sent to the MessageManager object, and the component returns error level 2.

• Key. (Read-only) The name of a property on the order form used to specify the payment method. The value of this property is compared to the string specified in the Method field to determine whether to verify the credit card.
• Apply when. Specifies when to check the format of the credit-card number.
  • Equal to Method. Specifies that the format of the number should be checked if the value of the field specified for Key is the same as the string specified in the Method field.
  • Has Any Value. Specifies that the format of the number should be checked when the value of the field specified for Key has any value on the order form. If you select this option, the Method field should be left blank.
  • Always. Specifies that the format of the credit-card number is always checked.
• Method. If Equal to Method is selected, specifies a string that the component compares with the value of _payment_method on the order form to determine whether to check the format of the credit-card number. The format of the number will be checked only if there is an exact match.

Remarks

ValidateCCNumber first determines whether the credit card type specified in order.cc_type is one of the types accepted by this component. Accepted types include Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.

If the specified card is one of these types, ValidateCCNumber checks the values stored in order._cc_expmonth and order._cc_expyear, to confirm that the credit card has not expired. If the credit card has expired, ValidateCCNumber retrieves the pur_cc_expired message from the MessageManager, and writes this message to the _Purchase_Errors collection.

Otherwise, the component runs a checksum on the number stored in order._cc_number to ensure that the number is properly formed. For example, if the specified credit card type is Discover, a well-formed number must begin with a 3 and must consist of 16 digits. If the credit card checksum fails, ValidateCCNumber writes a _pur_badcc message to the _Purchase_Errors collection.

Note  You are not required to specify a value in order.cc_type . If you do not, no checksum is performed on any value stored in order._cc_number, but the date passed in order._cc_expmonth and order._cc_expyear is performed.

ValidateCCNumber tests only for well-formed credit card numbers. It will work only on certain types of cards that use the standard credit card number format (such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover).

Related Topics

• Component Coordination