private boolean checkID(String id, String uf_format) {
    	//checks for errors in length of id
    	if(id.length() < uf_format.length() - 1)
    		idError("length");
        //checks for invalid inputs in the id
    	for(int i = 0; i < id.length(); i++) {
            if(id.charAt(i) < 45 || id.charAt(i) > 57 || id.charAt(i) == 46 ||
                    id.charAt(i) == 47)
            idError("character");
    	}
    	//return true if id value is appropriate length with no hyphen
    	boolean check_id = false;
    	for(int i = 0; i < uf_format.length(); i++) {
    	    if(uf_format.charAt(i) != 45 && id.length() == (uf_format.length() -1))
    	        check_id = true;
    	}
    	
    	return check_id;
    }