Simplify Credit Card Forms with Web Components
As developers, we’ve all been there – building forms that take credit card information, only to repeat the same code on each website, modifying it to fit into a PHP site here, a React site there, and into the strange custom-built content management system that can’t go down for a second. But what if we could wrap all those separate credit card fields into one single field, add its own error correction, and use it seamlessly across every site in your portfolio, no modifications needed?
The Power of Web Components
Web components are essentially custom HTML elements that work across all the different platforms you must support. By using web components, we can create a credit card form that’s easy to use, validate, and maintain.
Creating a Credit Card Form
Let’s start with the basics. A credit card form typically consists of four main fields: the name on the card, the card number, the expiration date, and the CVV code. We can expand on this by adding a billing address and other relevant information, but we’ll stick to these four fields for now.
Building a Web Component for Credit Card Fields
To create a web component for our credit card fields, we’ll need to define a custom HTML element, let’s call it <credit-card>. This element will consist of three major parts: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
HTML Template
Our HTML template will include the four credit card fields, wrapped in a div element to ensure consistent layout across instances.
JavaScript Element
Next, we’ll set up our custom element in JavaScript by extending the HTMLElement class. We’ll add properties and capabilities to our element, including the ability to insert the template into the shadow DOM.
CSS Styles
We’ll encapsulate our CSS styles within the element using a style element in our template. This ensures that our styles won’t interfere with other elements on the page.
Form-Associated Web Components
To hook our web component into the form’s built-in processes, we’ll make it a form-associated web component. This involves setting a formAssociated variable to true and attaching an ElementInternals object to the web component.
Content Validation
We’ll add content validation to our web component using the setValidity function. This will allow us to flag errors and display error messages on input. We’ll validate each field separately, using techniques such as the Luhn algorithm for credit card numbers and date parsing for expiration dates.
Putting it all Together
With our web component built, we can now use it in our code by simply placing the <credit-card> element in our form. Our form will automatically submit the values from the four subfields, and our validation scripts will ensure that the input is correct.
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