Validating e-mail adresses is kinda complicated.
Take a look at this list:
Valid email addresses
- niceandsimple@example.com
- very.common@example.com
- a.little.lengthy.but.fine@dept.example.com
- disposable.style.email.with+symbol@example.com
- user@[IPv6:2001:db8:1ff::a0b:dbd0]
- "much.more unusual"@example.com
- "very.unusual.@.unusual.com"@example.com
- "very.(),:;<>[]\".VERY.\"very@\
\"very\".unusual"@strange.example.com
- postbox@com (top-level domains are valid hostnames)
- admin@mailserver1 (local domain name with no TLD)
- !#$%&'*+-/=?^_`{}|~@example.org
- "()<>[]:,;@\\"!#$%&'*+-/=?^_`{}| ~.a"@example.org
- " "@example.org (space between the quotes)
- üñîçøðé@example.com (Unicode characters in local part)
Invalid email addresses
- Abc.example.com (an @ character must separate the local and domain
parts)
- A@b@c@example.com (only one @ is allowed outside quotation marks)
- a"b(c)d,e:f;gi[j\k]l@example.com (none of the special characters
in this local part are allowed outside quotation marks)
- just"not"right@example.com (quoted strings must be dot separated, or
the only element making up the local-part)
- this is"not\allowed@example.com (spaces, quotes, and backslashes may
only exist when within quoted strings and preceded by a backslash)
- this\ still\"not\allowed@example.com (even if escaped (preceded by
a backslash), spaces, quotes, and backslashes must still be
contained by quotes)
Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Email_address
Allmost all e-mail validation implementations are "bugged" but the php implementation is fine to work with because it accepts all common e-mail adresses
UPDATE:
Found on http://www.php.net/manual/en/filter.filters.validate.php
Regarding "partial" addresses with no . in the domain part, a comment in the source code (in ext/filter/logical_filters.c) justifies this rejection thus:
* The regex below is based on a regex by Michael Rushton.
* However, it is not identical. I changed it to only consider routeable
* addresses as valid. Michael's regex considers a@b a valid address
* which conflicts with section 2.3.5 of RFC 5321 which states that:
*
* Only resolvable, fully-qualified domain names (FQDNs) are permitted
* when domain names are used in SMTP. In other words, names that can
* be resolved to MX RRs or address (i.e., A or AAAA) RRs (as discussed
* in Section 5) are permitted, as are CNAME RRs whose targets can be
* resolved, in turn, to MX or address RRs. Local nicknames or
* unqualified names MUST NOT be used.
And here is a link to the class from Michael Rushton (link broken see source below)
Which supports both RFC 5321/5322
<?php
/**
* Squiloople Framework
*
* LICENSE: Feel free to use and redistribute this code.
*
* @author Michael Rushton <michael@squiloople.com>
* @link http://squiloople.com/
* @package Squiloople
* @version 1.0
* @copyright © 2012 Michael Rushton
*/
/**
* Email Address Validator
*
* Validate email addresses according to the relevant standards
*/
final class EmailAddressValidator
{
// The RFC 5321 constant
const RFC_5321 = 5321;
// The RFC 5322 constant
const RFC_5322 = 5322;
/**
* The email address
*
* @access private
* @var string $_email_address
*/
private $_email_address;
/**
* A quoted string local part is either allowed (true) or not (false)
*
* @access private
* @var boolean $_quoted_string
*/
private $_quoted_string = FALSE;
/**
* An obsolete local part is either allowed (true) or not (false)
*
* @access private
* @var boolean $_obsolete
*/
private $_obsolete = FALSE;
/**
* A basic domain name is either required (true) or not (false)
*
* @access private
* @var boolean $_basic_domain_name
*/
private $_basic_domain_name = TRUE;
/**
* A domain literal domain is either allowed (true) or not (false)
*
* @access private
* @var boolean $_domain_literal
*/
private $_domain_literal = FALSE;
/**
* Comments and folding white spaces are either allowed (true) or not (false)
*
* @access private
* @var boolean $_cfws
*/
private $_cfws = FALSE;
/**
* Set the email address and turn on the relevant standard if required
*
* @access public
* @param string $email_address
* @param null|integer $standard
*/
public function __construct($email_address, $standard = NULL)
{
// Set the email address
$this->_email_address = $email_address;
// Set the relevant standard or throw an exception if an unknown is requested
switch ($standard)
{
// Do nothing if no standard requested
case NULL:
break;
// Otherwise if RFC 5321 requested
case self::RFC_5321:
$this->setStandard5321();
break;
// Otherwise if RFC 5322 requested
case self::RFC_5322:
$this->setStandard5322();
break;
// Otherwise throw an exception
default:
throw new Exception('Unknown RFC standard for email address validation.');
}
}
/**
* Call the constructor fluently
*
* @access public
* @static
* @param string $email_address
* @param null|integer $standard
* @return EmailAddressValidator
*/
public static function setEmailAddress($email_address, $standard = NULL)
{
return new self($email_address, $standard);
}
/**
* Validate the email address using a basic standard
*
* @access public
* @return EmailAddressValidator
*/
public function setStandardBasic()
{
// A quoted string local part is not allowed
$this->_quoted_string = FALSE;
// An obsolete local part is not allowed
$this->_obsolete = FALSE;
// A basic domain name is required
$this->_basic_domain_name = TRUE;
// A domain literal domain is not allowed
$this->_domain_literal = FALSE;
// Comments and folding white spaces are not allowed
$this->_cfws = FALSE;
// Return the EmailAddressValidator object
return $this;
}
/**
* Validate the email address using RFC 5321
*
* @access public
* @return EmailAddressValidator
*/
public function setStandard5321()
{
// A quoted string local part is allowed
$this->_quoted_string = TRUE;
// An obsolete local part is not allowed
$this->_obsolete = FALSE;
// Only a basic domain name is not required
$this->_basic_domain_name = FALSE;
// A domain literal domain is allowed
$this->_domain_literal = TRUE;
// Comments and folding white spaces are not allowed
$this->_cfws = FALSE;
// Return the EmailAddressValidator object
return $this;
}
/**
* Validate the email address using RFC 5322
*
* @access public
* @return EmailAddressValidator
*/
public function setStandard5322()
{
// A quoted string local part is disallowed
$this->_quoted_string = FALSE;
// An obsolete local part is allowed
$this->_obsolete = TRUE;
// Only a basic domain name is not required
$this->_basic_domain_name = FALSE;
// A domain literal domain is allowed
$this->_domain_literal = TRUE;
// Comments and folding white spaces are allowed
$this->_cfws = TRUE;
// Return the EmailAddressValidator object
return $this;
}
/**
* Either allow (true) or do not allow (false) a quoted string local part
*
* @access public
* @param boolean $allow
* @return EmailAddressValidator
*/
public function setQuotedString($allow = TRUE)
{
// Either allow (true) or do not allow (false) a quoted string local part
$this->_quoted_string = $allow;
// Return the EmailAddressValidator object
return $this;
}
/**
* Either allow (true) or do not allow (false) an obsolete local part
*
* @access public
* @param boolean $allow
* @return EmailAddressValidator
*/
public function setObsolete($allow = TRUE)
{
// Either allow (true) or do not allow (false) an obsolete local part
$this->_obsolete = $allow;
// Return the EmailAddressValidator object
return $this;
}
/**
* Either require (true) or do not require (false) a basic domain name
*
* @access public
* @param boolean $allow
* @return EmailAddressValidator
*/
public function setBasicDomainName($allow = TRUE)
{
// Either require (true) or do not require (false) a basic domain name
$this->_basic_domain_name = $allow;
// Return the EmailAddressValidator object
return $this;
}
/**
* Either allow (true) or do not allow (false) a domain literal domain
*
* @access public
* @param boolean $allow
* @return EmailAddressValidator
*/
public function setDomainLiteral($allow = TRUE)
{
// Either allow (true) or do not allow (false) a domain literal domain
$this->_domain_literal = $allow;
// Return the EmailAddressValidator object
return $this;
}
/**
* Either allow (true) or do not allow (false) comments and folding white spaces
*
* @access public
* @param boolean $allow
* @return EmailAddressValidator
*/
public function setCFWS($allow = TRUE)
{
// Either allow (true) or do not allow (false) comments and folding white spaces
$this->_cfws = $allow;
// Return the EmailAddressValidator object
return $this;
}
/**
* Return the regular expression for a dot atom local part
*
* @access private
* @return string
*/
private function _getDotAtom()
{
return "([!#-'*+\/-9=?^-~-]+)(?>\.(?1))*";
}
/**
* Return the regular expression for a quoted string local part
*
* @access private
* @return string
*/
private function _getQuotedString()
{
return '"(?>[ !#-\[\]-~]|\\\[ -~])*"';
}
/**
* Return the regular expression for an obsolete local part
*
* @access private
* @return string
*/
private function _getObsolete()
{
return '([!#-\'*+\/-9=?^-~-]+|"(?>'
. $this->_getFWS()
. '(?>[\x01-\x08\x0B\x0C\x0E-!#-\[\]-\x7F]|\\\[\x00-\xFF]))*'
. $this->_getFWS()
. '")(?>'
. $this->_getCFWS()
. '\.'
. $this->_getCFWS()
. '(?1))*';
}
/**
* Return the regular expression for a domain name domain
*
* @access private
* @return string
*/
private function _getDomainName()
{
// Return the basic domain name format if required
if ($this->_basic_domain_name)
{
return '(?>' . $this->_getDomainNameLengthLimit()
. '[a-z\d](?>[a-z\d-]*[a-z\d])?'
. $this->_getCFWS()
. '\.'
. $this->_getCFWS()
. '){1,126}[a-z]{2,6}';
}
// Otherwise return the full domain name format
return $this->_getDomainNameLengthLimit()
. '([a-z\d](?>[a-z\d-]*[a-z\d])?)(?>'
. $this->_getCFWS()
. '\.'
. $this->_getDomainNameLengthLimit()
. $this->_getCFWS()
. '(?2)){0,126}';
}
/**
* Return the regular expression for an IPv6 address
*
* @access private
* @return string
*/
private function _getIPv6()
{
return '([a-f\d]{1,4})(?>:(?3)){7}|(?!(?:.*[a-f\d][:\]]){8,})((?3)(?>:(?3)){0,6})?::(?4)?';
}
/**
* Return the regular expression for an IPv4-mapped IPv6 address
*
* @access private
* @return string
*/
private function _getIPv4MappedIPv6()
{
return '(?3)(?>:(?3)){5}:|(?!(?:.*[a-f\d]:){6,})(?5)?::(?>((?3)(?>:(?3)){0,4}):)?';
}
/**
* Return the regular expression for an IPv4 address
*
* @access private
* @return string
*/
private function _getIPv4()
{
return '(25[0-5]|2[0-4]\d|1\d{2}|[1-9]?\d)(?>\.(?6)){3}';
}
/**
* Return the regular expression for a domain literal domain
*
* @access private
* @return string
*/
private function _getDomainLiteral()
{
return '\[(?:(?>IPv6:(?>'
. $this->_getIPv6()
. '))|(?>(?>IPv6:(?>'
. $this->_getIPv4MappedIPv6()
. '))?'
. $this->_getIPv4()
. '))\]';
}
/**
* Return either the regular expression for folding white spaces or its backreference
*
* @access private
* @param boolean $define
* @return string
*/
private function _getFWS($define = FALSE)
{
// Return the backreference if $define is set to FALSE otherwise return the regular expression
if ($this->_cfws)
{
return !$define ? '(?P>fws)' : '(?<fws>(?>(?>(?>\x0D\x0A)?[\t ])+|(?>[\t ]*\x0D\x0A)?[\t ]+)?)';
}
}
/**
* Return the regular expression for comments
*
* @access private
* @return string
*/
private function _getComments()
{
return '(?<comment>\((?>'
. $this->_getFWS()
. '(?>[\x01-\x08\x0B\x0C\x0E-\'*-\[\]-\x7F]|\\\[\x00-\x7F]|(?P>comment)))*'
. $this->_getFWS()
. '\))';
}
/**
* Return either the regular expression for comments and folding white spaces or its backreference
*
* @access private
* @param boolean $define
* @return string
*/
private function _getCFWS($define = FALSE)
{
// Return the backreference if $define is set to FALSE
if ($this->_cfws && !$define)
{
return '(?P>cfws)';
}
// Otherwise return the regular expression
if ($this->_cfws)
{
return '(?<cfws>(?>(?>(?>'
. $this->_getFWS(TRUE)
. $this->_getComments()
. ')+'
. $this->_getFWS()
. ')|'
. $this->_getFWS()
. ')?)';
}
}
/**
* Establish and return the valid format for the local part
*
* @access private
* @return string
*/
private function _getLocalPart()
{
// The local part may be obsolete if allowed
if ($this->_obsolete)
{
return $this->_getObsolete();
}
// Otherwise the local part must be either a dot atom or a quoted string if the latter is allowed
if ($this->_quoted_string)
{
return '(?>' . $this->_getDotAtom() . '|' . $this->_getQuotedString() . ')';
}
// Otherwise the local part must be a dot atom
return $this->_getDotAtom();
}
/**
* Establish and return the valid format for the domain
*
* @access private
* @return string
*/
private function _getDomain()
{
// The domain must be either a domain name or a domain literal if the latter is allowed
if ($this->_domain_literal)
{
return '(?>' . $this->_getDomainName() . '|' . $this->_getDomainLiteral() . ')';
}
// Otherwise the domain must be a domain name
return $this->_getDomainName();
}
/**
* Return the email address length limit
*
* @access private
* @return string
*/
private function _getEmailAddressLengthLimit()
{
return '(?!(?>' . $this->_getCFWS() . '"?(?>\\\[ -~]|[^"])"?' . $this->_getCFWS() . '){255,})';
}
/**
* Return the local part length limit
*
* @access private
* @return string
*/
private function _getLocalPartLengthLimit()
{
return '(?!(?>' . $this->_getCFWS() . '"?(?>\\\[ -~]|[^"])"?' . $this->_getCFWS() . '){65,}@)';
}
/**
* Establish and return the domain name length limit
*
* @access private
* @return string
*/
private function _getDomainNameLengthLimit()
{
return '(?!' . $this->_getCFWS() . '[a-z\d-]{64,})';
}
/**
* Check to see if the domain can be resolved to MX RRs
*
* @access private
* @param array $domain
* @return integer|boolean
*/
private function _verifyDomain($domain)
{
// Return 0 if the domain cannot be resolved to MX RRs
if (!checkdnsrr(end($domain), 'MX'))
{
return 0;
}
// Otherwise return true
return TRUE;
}
/**
* Perform the validation check on the email address's syntax and, if required, call _verifyDomain()
*
* @access public
* @param boolean $verify
* @return boolean|integer
*/
public function isValid($verify = FALSE)
{
// Return false if the email address has an incorrect syntax
if (!preg_match(
'/^'
. $this->_getEmailAddressLengthLimit()
. $this->_getLocalPartLengthLimit()
. $this->_getCFWS()
. $this->_getLocalPart()
. $this->_getCFWS()
. '@'
. $this->_getCFWS()
. $this->_getDomain()
. $this->_getCFWS(TRUE)
. '$/isD'
, $this->_email_address
))
{
return FALSE;
}
// Otherwise check to see if the domain can be resolved to MX RRs if required
if ($verify)
{
return $this->_verifyDomain(explode('@', $this->_email_address));
}
// Otherwise return 1
return 1;
}
}
Edit 2016: In PHP 7.1 beta i noticed the following:
- Implemented email validation as per RFC 6531. (Leo Feyer, Anatol).
See Section 3.3 https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6531#section-3.3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_email
And some nice extra examples
用户@例子.广告 (Chinese, Unicode)
उपयोगकर्ता@उदाहरण.कॉम (Hindi, Unicode)
юзер@екзампл.ком (Ukrainian, Unicode)
θσερ@εχαμπλε.ψομ (Greek, Unicode)
Dörte@Sörensen.example.com (German, Unicode)
