Forced string formatting to include dashes

Question

String methods are not my strong suit, I've been trying to manipulate an input field value that needs to be 24 characters long

• 21 of those characters are letters or numbers (no special characters other than dash)
• 3 of those fields are dashes in the 3rd, 8th, and 17th place
• I've got it working when 21 characters have been entered, but struggling to think through if a user adds more than 21 characters, or when a user add say, 30 characters, how do I only keep the first 21 entered & add dashes?

const caseNumberInput = document.querySelector(".theme--mobile #case_number");
caseNumberInput.addEventListener("blur", (e) => {
  //get rid of all special characters other than "-"
  const value = e.target.value.toUpperCase().replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9 -]/g, "");
  const length = e.target.value.replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9 -]/g, "").length;

  if (length === 21) {
    //if length is 21, add the dashes in the 3rd, 8th, and 17th places
    caseNumberInput.value = value.slice(0, 2)+ "-" + value.slice(2,6) + "-" + value.slice(6, 14)+ "-" + value.slice(14)
  }

  if (length >= 21) {
    //remove the dashes then add them back so I don't get multipe dashes if they are already existing / keep only 21 characters?
    let newValue = e.target.value.replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/g, "").toUpperCase().slice(0, 21);
    newValue.slice(0, 2)+ "-" + temp.slice(2,6) + "-" + value.slice(6, 14)+ "-" + value.slice(14);
    caseNumberInput.value = newValue
    console.log(newValue)
  }

});

//keyup to remove any special characters except "-"

caseNumberInput.addEventListener('keyup', (e) => {
  e.target.value = e.target.value.toUpperCase().replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9 -]/g, "")
});

Answer 1

It's usually done like this:

const caseNumberInput = document.querySelector(".theme--mobile #case_number");

caseNumberInput.addEventListener("blur", (e) => {
  // Get and sanitize input
  let value = e.target.value.toUpperCase().replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/g, "");

  // Keep only the first 21 characters
  value = value.slice(0, 21);

  // Add dashes in the 3rd, 8th, and 17th positions
  const formattedValue = `${value.slice(0, 2)}-${value.slice(2, 7)}-${value.slice(7, 16)}-${value.slice(16)}`;

  caseNumberInput.value = formattedValue;
});

caseNumberInput.addEventListener('keyup', (e) => {
  // Sanitize input
  e.target.value = e.target.value.toUpperCase().replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9 -]/g, "");
});

That is, filter, trim the extra characters, and then insert - in the right places. If you need to put dashes after 21 characters, you can compare value before and after slice and add the necessary number of dashes.