PHP VIN number validation code
Here's something I wrote up real quick using the example in the wikipedia article.
Not guaranteed perfect or bug free or super efficient, but should provide you with a solid starting point:
Note: I included the edits provided by Confluence below, making the procedure slightly more succinct.
function validate_vin($vin) {
$vin = strtolower($vin);
if (!preg_match('/^[^\Wioq]{17}$/', $vin)) {
return false;
}
$weights = array(8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 10, 0, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2);
$transliterations = array(
"a" => 1, "b" => 2, "c" => 3, "d" => 4,
"e" => 5, "f" => 6, "g" => 7, "h" => 8,
"j" => 1, "k" => 2, "l" => 3, "m" => 4,
"n" => 5, "p" => 7, "r" => 9, "s" => 2,
"t" => 3, "u" => 4, "v" => 5, "w" => 6,
"x" => 7, "y" => 8, "z" => 9
);
$sum = 0;
for($i = 0 ; $i < strlen($vin) ; $i++ ) { // loop through characters of VIN
// add transliterations * weight of their positions to get the sum
if(!is_numeric($vin{$i})) {
$sum += $transliterations[$vin{$i}] * $weights[$i];
} else {
$sum += $vin{$i} * $weights[$i];
}
}
// find checkdigit by taking the mod of the sum
$checkdigit = $sum % 11;
if($checkdigit == 10) { // checkdigit of 10 is represented by "X"
$checkdigit = "x";
}
return ($checkdigit == $vin{8});
}
Note: there is a small percent error with verifying VINs because of the nature of the checksum:
...a match does not prove the VIN is correct, because there is still a 1 in 11 chance of any two distinct VINs having a matching check digit.
Also note: 11111111111111111
will validate against the procedure above. Whether or not you want to check for that is up to you:
Straight-ones (seventeen consecutive '1's) will suffice the check-digit. This is because a value of one, multiplied against 89 (sum of weights), is still 89. And 89 % 11 is 1, the check digit. This is an easy way to test a VIN-check algorithm.
reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_identification_number#Check_digit_calculation
Here's a version of the code by jordan ported to Javascript, hope it's helpful to someone...
function validate_vin(vin)
{
function isnumeric(mixed_var) {
return (typeof(mixed_var) === 'number' || typeof(mixed_var) === 'string') && mixed_var !== '' && !isNaN(mixed_var);
}
var pattern = /^[^\Wioq]{17}$/;
var weights = Array(8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 10, 0, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2);
var transliterations = {
"a" : 1, "b" : 2, "c" : 3, "d" : 4,
"e" : 5, "f" : 6, "g" : 7, "h" : 8,
"j" : 1, "k" : 2, "l" : 3, "m" : 4,
"n" : 5, "p" : 7, "r" : 9, "s" : 2,
"t" : 3, "u" : 4, "v" : 5, "w" : 6,
"x" : 7, "y" : 8, "z" : 9
};
vin = vin.toLowerCase();
if(!vin.match(pattern)) { return false; }
var sum = 0;
for(var i=0; i<vin.length; i++) {
if(!isnumeric(vin.charAt(i))) {
sum += transliterations[vin.charAt(i)] * weights[i];
} else {
sum += parseInt(vin.charAt(i)) * weights[i];
}
}
var checkdigit = sum % 11;
if(checkdigit == 10) { // check digit of 10 represented by X
checkdigit = 'x';
}
return (checkdigit == vin.charAt(8));
}
It's "VIN." "VIN Number" = "Vehicle Identification Number Number," which doesn't make sense.
You can see a definition of the structure of VINs here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_identification_number
And you can work from there, or you can grab this script here:
http://www.geekpedia.com/code29_Check-if-VIN-number-is-valid.html
Here is an improved version of the function posted by jordan:
$vin = "1M8GDM9AXKP042788";
function validate_vin($vin) {
$vin = strtolower($vin);
if (!preg_match('/^[^\Wioq]{17}$/', $vin)) {
return false;
}
$weights = array(8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 10, 0, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2);
$transliterations = array(
"a" => 1, "b" => 2, "c" => 3, "d" => 4,
"e" => 5, "f" => 6, "g" => 7, "h" => 8,
"j" => 1, "k" => 2, "l" => 3, "m" => 4,
"n" => 5, "p" => 7, "r" => 9, "s" => 2,
"t" => 3, "u" => 4, "v" => 5, "w" => 6,
"x" => 7, "y" => 8, "z" => 9
);
$sum = 0;
for($i = 0 ; $i < strlen($vin) ; $i++ ) { // loop through characters of VIN
// add transliterations * weight of their positions to get the sum
if(!is_numeric($vin{$i})) {
$sum += $transliterations[$vin{$i}] * $weights[$i];
} else {
$sum += $vin{$i} * $weights[$i];
}
}
// find checkdigit by taking the mod of the sum
$checkdigit = $sum % 11;
if($checkdigit == 10) { // checkdigit of 10 is represented by "X"
$checkdigit = "x";
}
return ($checkdigit == $vin{8});
}