How can I limit the number of decimal points in a UITextField?

Question

I have a UITextField that when clicked brings up a number pad with a decimal point in the bottom left. I am trying to limit the field so that a user can only place 1 decimal

Answer 1

Building on the accepted answer, the following approach validates three cases that are helpful when dealing with money formats:

1. Extremely large amounts
2. More than 2 characters after the decimal point
3. More than 1 decimal points

Make sure your text field's delegate is set properly, your class conforms to the UITextField protocol, and add the following delegate method.

- (BOOL)textField:(UITextField *)textField shouldChangeCharactersInRange:(NSRange)range replacementString:(NSString *)string
{
  // Check for deletion of the $ sign
  if (range.location == 0 && [textField.text hasPrefix:@"$"])
    return NO;

  NSString *updatedText = [textField.text stringByReplacingCharactersInRange:range withString:string];
  NSArray *stringsArray = [updatedText componentsSeparatedByString:@"."];

  // Check for an absurdly large amount
  if (stringsArray.count > 0)
  {
    NSString *dollarAmount = stringsArray[0];
    if (dollarAmount.length > 6)
      return NO;
  }

  // Check for more than 2 chars after the decimal point
  if (stringsArray.count > 1)
  {
    NSString *centAmount = stringsArray[1];
    if (centAmount.length > 2)
      return NO;
  }

  // Check for a second decimal point
  if (stringsArray.count > 2)
    return NO;

  return YES;
}