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Algorithm-CouponCode-1.005
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/ Algorithm::CouponCode

NAME

Algorithm::CouponCode - Generate and validate 'CouponCode' strings

SYNOPSIS

  use Algorithm::CouponCode qw(cc_generate cc_validate);

  print cc_generate(parts => 3);  # generate a 3-part code

  my $valid_code = cc_validate(code => $code, parts => 3) or die "Invalid code";

DESCRIPTION

A 'Coupon Code' is made up of letters and numbers grouped into 4 character 'parts'. For example, a 3-part code might look like this:

  1K7Q-CTFM-LMTC

Coupon Codes are random codes which are easy for the recipient to type accurately into a web form. An example application might be to print a code on a letter to a customer who would then enter the code as part of the registration process for web access to their account.

Features of the codes that make them well suited to manual transcription:

  • The codes are not case sensitive.

  • Not all letters and numbers are used, so if a person enters the letter 'O' we can automatically correct it to the digit '0' (similarly for I => 1, S => 5, Z => 2).

  • The 4th character of each part is a checkdigit, so client-side scripting can be used to highlight parts which have been mis-typed, before the code is even submitted to the application's back-end validation.

  • The checkdigit algorithm takes into account the position of the part being keyed. So for example '1K7Q' might be valid in the first part but not in the second so if a user typed the parts in the wrong boxes then their error could be highlighted.

  • The code generation algorithm avoids 'undesirable' codes. For example any code in which transposed characters happen to result in a valid checkdigit will be skipped. Any generated part which happens to spell an 'inappropriate' 4-letter word (e.g.: 'P00P') will also be skipped.

The Algorithm-CouponCode distribution includes a Javascript implementation of the validator function, in the form of a jQuery plugin. You can include this in your web application to do client-side validation and highlighting of errors.

Note the cc_validate function and the Javascript plugin only validate that the code is 'well-formed' (i.e.: each part has a valid checkdigit). Checking whether the code is in fact 'valid' is left up to your application and would typically involve looking for the code in a database. If you use the Javascript plugin, you might choose to tweak the CSS to keep the red highlighting of checksum errors but remove the green highlighting which might imply the code was correct.

Randomness and Uniqueness

The code returned by cc_generate() is random, but not necessarily unique. If your application requires unique codes, it is your responsibility to avoid duplicates (for example by using a unique index on your database column).

The codes are generated using a SHA1 cryptographic hash of a plaintext. If you do not supply a plaintext, one will be generated for you (using /dev/urandom if available or Perl's rand() function otherwise). In the event that an 'inappropriate' code is created, the generated hash will be used as a plaintext input for generating a new hash and the process will be repeated.

Each 4-character part encodes 15 bits of random data, so a 3-part code will incorporate 45 bits making a total of 2^45 (approximately 35 trillion) unique codes.

EXPORTS

The following functions can be exported from the Algorithm::CouponCode module. No functions are exported by default.

cc_generate( options )

Returns a coupon code as a string of 4-character parts separated by '-' characters. The following optional named parameters may be supplied:

parts

The number of parts desired. Must be a number in the range 1 - 6. Default is 3.

plaintext

A byte string which will be hashed using Digest::SHA to produce the code. If you do not supply your own plaintext then a random one will be generated for you.

bad_regex

You can supply a regular expression for matching 4-letter words which should not appear in generated output. The make_bad_regex() helper function can be used to turn a list of words into a suitable regular expression.

cc_validate( options )

Takes a code, cleans it up and validates the checkdigits. Returns the normalised (and untainted) version of the code on success or undef on error. The following named parameters may be supplied:

code

The code to be validated. The parameter is mandatory.

parts

The number of parts you expect the code to contain. Default is 3.

make_bad_regex( options )

This function is used to compile a list of 4-letter words into a regular expression suitable for passing to the cc_generate() function. You would only need to do this if you wished to augment or replace the default list of undesirable words. The following named parameters may be supplied:

words

A reference to an array of 4-letter words. The parameter is mandatory.

mode

Either the word 'add' or the word 'replace'. Default is 'add'.

SUPPORT

You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.

    perldoc Algorithm::CouponCode

You can also look for information at:

ALTERNATIVE IMPLEMENTATIONS

The code generation and server-side validation routines have been ported to other languages (Note: a listing here does not constitute an endorsement nor a guarantee of compatibility):

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright 2011-2015 Grant McLean <grantm@cpan.org>

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of either: the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; or the Artistic License.

See http://dev.perl.org/licenses/ for more information.