Validity Check

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What Does Validity Check Mean?

A validity check is the process of ensuring that a concept or construct is acceptable in the context of the process or system that it is to be used in. for example, in computer systems which revolve around the creation, consumption and manipulation of data, it is very important that all data are correct before processing to ensure that no errors are encountered. A validity check is done on the input data to ensure that it meets the requirements of the system.

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Techopedia Explains Validity Check

Validity checking is a universal process used across different industries, particularly in information and technology where data and processes must meet quality standards that ensure the proper function of the software or hardware device. The simplest examples for validity checking is in a data entry system, where some specific fields may require numerical data, then a validity check algorithm can be put in place to detect if what the user inputs are numbers or not, immediately notifying the user of an error. A redundancy validity check is done on the submitted input on the field if the data entered are pure numbers and an error is returned if they are not.

The validity and correctness of data is essential in data-intensive systems, especially those that deal with finances; that is why it is very important to maintain proper validity checking from input to processing and even output. Companies have lost millions of dollars resulting from erroneous input. Therefore, in essence a validity check is just a mechanism used to determine if an input, data or process conforms with the standards set by the system for which it is being applied on, and the details to how this checking is done varies from process to process and system to system.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.