# TextField.restrict

#### Availability

Flash Player 6.

#### Usage

    my_txt.restrict

#### Description

Property; indicates the set of characters that a user may enter into the text field. If the value of the `restrict` property is `null`, you can enter any character. If the value of the `restrict` property is an empty string, you can't enter any character. If the value of the `restrict` property is a string of characters, you can enter only characters in the string into the text field. The string is scanned from left to right. A range may be specified using the dash (-). This only restricts user interaction; a script may put any text into the text field. This property does not synchronize with the Embed Font Outlines check boxes in the Property inspector.

If the string begins with ^, all characters are initially accepted and succeeding characters in the string are excluded from the set of accepted characters. If the string does not begin with ^, no characters are initially accepted and succeeding characters in the string are included in the set of accepted characters.

#### Example

The following example allows only uppercase characters, spaces, and numbers to be entered into a text field:

    my_txt.restrict = "A-Z 0-9";

The following example includes all characters, but excludes lowercase letters:

    my_txt.restrict = "^a-z";

You can use a backslash to enter a ^ or - verbatim. The accepted backslash sequences are \-, \^ or \\. The backslash must be an actual character in the string, so when specified in ActionScript, a double backslash must be used. For example, the following code includes only the dash (-) and caret (^):

    my_txt.restrict = "\\-\\^";

The ^ may be used anywhere in the string to toggle between including characters and excluding characters. The following code includes only uppercase letters, but excludes the uppercase letter Q:

    my_txt.restrict = "A-Z^Q";

You can use the `\u` escape sequence to construct `restrict` strings. The following code includes only the characters from ASCII 32 (space) to ASCII 126 (tilde).

    my_txt.restrict = "\u0020-\u007E";