$data =~ s/\s+/ /g;
  # Remove extra spaces to nothing
  $data =~ s/  +//g;

##</code><code>##

$length = length( $data );
if ( ! $length ) { # empty string
   if ( $obligatory ) {
      bail_out( "Obligatory field not filled in" );
   } else {
      return;
   }
}
if ( $data =~ /([^-\@\w. ])/) {
   bail_out( "Bad character: $1 -- Only alphanumerics and -@. allowed" );
}
if ( $numeric and $data =~ /[^\d]/ ) {
   bail_out( "Non-numeric character(s) in numeric field" );
}
if ( $min and $length < $min ) {
   bail_out( "too short" );
}
if ( $max and $length > $max ) {
   bail_out( "too long" );
}
return $data;