New to Dialog Boxes and I'm stuck

Question

Seems there is no way to format a field in a Dialog Box. How can a field be checked to determine if the correct type of data was entered in it, when the user moves to the next field, before data is committed?
I am stuck on how to limit the number of characters entered into the postal code and phone fields. I want to limit the number of numeric characters that can be entered in each phonenumber field ie  3 numbers, 3numbers and 4 numbers (999 999 9999)  And postal code field ie 3 characters and 3 characters (A9A 9A9)
Also, once the user enters the required number of characters in the phone and postal code fields, the code should tab to the next field. And yes, I read about tab_first and next_tab, but don't understand how it works. The way I see it working is that once a phone or postal code field is filled with the required number of characters, control automatically tabs to the next field.
I am using Adobe Acrobat Professional 8
This code was written by trail and error using examples from various sources ie Acrobat JavaScript Scripting reference - version 7.0.5, Acrobat JavaScript Scripting Guide - version 7.0, and I have very little experience in creating a dialog box and its code - forgive the mess.
//============================================================================
var goon=true;
var result;
var address;
var city;
var province;
var sign;
var postalcodea;
var postalcodeb;
var homephone;
var homephoneareacode;
var homephoneprefix;
var homephonenumber;
var businessphone;
var businessphoneareacode;
var businessphoneprefix;
var businessphonenumber;
address = this.getField("Text1-2-Address").value;
city = this.getField("Text1-2-City").value;
var provincelist = new Array();
provincelist[1] = " ";
provincelist[2] = "Alberta";
provincelist[3] = "British Columbia";
provincelist[4] = "Manitoba";
provincelist[5] = "New Brunswick";
provincelist[6] = "Newfoundland & Labrador";
provincelist[7] = "Northwest Territories";
provincelist[8] = "Nova Scotia";
provincelist[9] = "Nunavut";
provincelist[10] = "Ontario";
provincelist[11] = "Prince Edward Island";
provincelist[12] = "Québec";
provincelist[13] = "Saskatchewan";
provincelist[14] = "Yukon";
var sign = new Array();
for (var i=0; i<15; i++)
            sign[i] = "-";
            if(provincelist[i] == this.getField("Client's Full Province Name").value)
                        sign[i] = "+";
postalcodea = "";
postalcodeb = "";
if(this.getField("Text1-2-Postal-Code").value != "")
            postalcodea = this.getField("Text1-2-Postal-Code").value;
            postalcodea = util.printx("A9A", postalcodea);
            postalcodeb = this.getField("Text1-2-Postal-Code").value;
            postalcodeb = postalcodeb[4]  + postalcodeb[5] + postalcodeb[6];
homephoneareacode = "";
homephoneprefix = "";
homephonenumber = "";
if(this.getField("Text1-2-Home-Phone-Number").value != "")
            homephone = util.printx("9999999999", this.getField("Text1-2-Home-Phone-Number").value);
            homephoneareacode = homephone[0] + homephone[1] + homephone[2];
            homephoneprefix = homephone[3] + homephone[4] + homephone[5];
            homephonenumber = homephone[6] + homephone[7] + homephone[8] + homephone[9];
businessphoneareacode = "";
businessphoneprefix = "";
businessphonenumber = "";
if(this.getField("Text1-2-Business-Phone-Number").value != "")
            businessphone = util.printx("9999999999", this.getField("Text1-2-Business-Phone-Number").value);
            businessphoneareacode = businessphone[0] + businessphone[1] + businessphone[2];
            businessphoneprefix = businessphone[3] + businessphone[4] + businessphone[5];
            businessphonenumber = businessphone[6] + businessphone[7] + businessphone[8] + businessphone[9];
var dialog2 =
            initialize: function(dialog)
                         dialog.load(
                                                 stat:     "Client Address and Phone Information is required in forms you are about to link to. To save time, enter Address and Phone Information before linking to these documents.",
                                                str1: address,
                                                str2: city,
                                                stra: postalcodea,
                                                strb: postalcodeb,
                                                str5: homephoneareacode,
                                                str6: homephoneprefix,
                                                str7: homephonenumber,
                                                str8: businessphoneareacode,
                                                str9: businessphoneprefix,
                                                sts1: businessphonenumber,
                                                str3:
                                                            "  ": (sign[1] + "1"),
                                                            "Alberta": (sign[2] + "2"),
                                                            "British Columbia": (sign[3] + "3"),
                                                            "Manitoba": (sign[4] + "4"),
                                                            "New Brunswick": (sign[5] + "5"),
                                                            "Newfoundland & Labrador": (sign[6] + "6"),
                                                            "Northwest Territories": (sign[7] + "7"),
                                                            "Nova Scotia": (sign[8] + "8"),
                                                            "Nunavut": (sign[9] + "9"),
                                                            "Ontario": (sign[10] + "10"),
                                                            "Prince Edward Island": (sign[11] + "11"),
                                                            "Québec": (sign[12] + "12"),
                                                            "Saskatchewan": (sign[13] + "13"),
                                                            "Yukon": (sign[14] + "14"),
            cancel: function(dialog)
                        return;
            destroy: function(dialog)
                        return;
            commit:function (dialog)
                        results = dialog.store();
                        var elements = dialog.store() ["str3"]
                        province = "";
                        for(var i in elements)
                                    if(elements[i]  > 0)
                                                province = i;
                        return;
                        description:
                        name: "Address and Phone Information",
                        //align_children: "align_left",
                        //type: "static_text",
                        //char_height: 9,
                        //width: 350,
                        //height: 75,
                        elements:
                                                type: "cluster",
                                                name: "",
                                                align_children: "align_left",
                                                elements:
                                                                        align_children: "align_top",
                                                                        alignment: "align_fill",
                                                                        type: "view",
                                                                        width: 254,
                                                                        elements:
                                                                                                 alignment: "align_fill",
                                                                                                 bold: true,
                                                                                                 font: "default",
                                                                                                 char_height: 9,
                                                                                                 italic: true,
                                                                                                 item_id: "stat",
                                                                                                 multiline: false,
                                                                                                 type: "static_text",
                                                                                                 width: 150,
                                                                                                 height: 50,
                                                                        type: "view",
                                                                        align_children: "align_distribute",
                                                                        elements:
                                                                                                 type: "static_text",
                                                                                                 name: "Address: "
                                                                                                 item_id: "str1",                         
                                                                                                 type: "edit_text",
                                                                                                 alignment: "align_left",
                                                                                                 char_width: 60,
                                                                                                 height: 20,
                                                                        type: "view",
                                                                        align_children: "align_distribute",
                                                                        elements:
                                                                                                 type: "static_text",
                                                                                                 name: "       City: "
                                                                                                 item_id: "str2",
                                                                                                 type: "edit_text",
                                                                                                 alignment: "align_left",
                                                                                                 char_width: 16,
                                                                                                 height: 20,
                                                                                                 type: "static_text",
                                                                                                 name: "Province: "
                                                                                                 item_id: "str3",
                                                                                                 type: "popup",
                                                                                                 alignment: "align_left",
                                                                                                 char_width: 16,
                                                                                                 type: "static_text",
                                                                                                 name: "Postal Code: "
                                                                                                 item_id: "stra",
                                                                                                 type: "edit_text",
                                                                                                 alignment: "align_left",
                                                                                                 char_width: 3,
                                                                                                 height: 20,
                                                                                                 type: "static_text",
                                                                                                 name: "-"
                                                                                                 item_id: "strb",
                                                                                                 type: "edit_text",
                                                                                                 alignment: "align_left",
                                                                                                 char_width: 3,
                                                                                                 height: 20,
                                                                        type: "view",
                                                                        align_children: "align_distribute",
                                                                        elements:
                                                                                                 type: "static_text",
                                                                                                 name: "Home Phone Number: ("
                                                                                                 item_id: "str5",
                                                                                                 type: "edit_text",
                                                                                                 alignment: "align_left",
                                                                                                 char_width: 3,
                                                                                                 height: 20,
                                                                                                 next_tab: 3,
                                                                                                 type: "static_text",
                                                                                                 name: ")"
                                                                                                 item_id: "str6",
                                                                                                 type: "edit_text",
                                                                                                 alignment: "align_left",
                                                                                                 char_width: 3,
                                                                                                 height: 20,
                                                                                                 type: "static_text",
                                                                                                 name: "-"
                                                                                                 item_id: "str7",
                                                                                                 type: "edit_text",
                                                                                                 alignment: "align_left",
                                                                                                 char_width: 4,
                                                                                                 height: 20,
                                                                                                 type: "static_text",
                                                                                                 name: "Business Phone Number: ("
                                                                                                 item_id: "str8",
                                                                                                 type: "edit_text",
                                                                                                 alignment: "align_left",
                                                                                                 char_width: 3,
                                                                                                 height: 20,
                                                                                                 type: "static_text",
                                                                                                 name: ")"
                                                                                                 item_id: "str9",
                                                                                                 type: "edit_text",
                                                                                                 alignment: "align_left",
                                                                                                 char_width: 3,
                                                                                                 height: 20,
                                                                                                 type: "static_text",
                                                                                                 name: "-"
                                                                                                 item_id: "sts1",
                                                                                                 type: "edit_text",
                                                                                                 alignment: "align_left",
                                                                                                 char_width: 4,
                                                                                                 height: 20,
                                                alignment: "align_center",
                                                type: "ok_cancel",
                                                ok_name: "Continue",
                                                cancel_name: "Cancel"
var dialog3 =
            initialize: function (dialog)
            cancel: function(dialog)
                        goon=false;
                        return;
            destroy: function(dialog)
                        return;
while (goon)
            result = app.execDialog(dialog2);
            if (result=="cancel")
                        goon=false;                  
            if (result=="ok")
                        this.getField("Text1-2-Address").value = results["str1"];
                        this.getField("Text1-2-City").value = results["str2"];
                        this.getField("Client's Full Province Name").value = province;
                        this.getField("Text1-2-Postal-Code").value = results["stra"] + " " + results["strb"];
                        this.getField("Text1-2-Home-Phone-Number").value = results["str5"] + results["str6"] + results["str7"];
                        this.getField("Text1-2-Business-Phone-Number").value = results["str8"] + results["str9"] + results["sts1"];
                        goon=false;

Answer 1

If you know a link that has what he wants, wouldn't it be prudent just to provide that?
I got overwhelmed trying to understand all of the different related elements of the Flash family when I was starting, so I know what that's like. Roughly (and Ned might want to correct or clarify some of this), Actionscript 3 is the programming language Flash/Flex/AIR content is based upon. Flash is a blanket term encompassing the developing environment (Flash Pro), code libraries, and runtime (Flash Player). AIR is a runtime environment built upon Flash Player, but with added functionality and cross-platform support. Flex is an extension of Flash, offering MXML components in addition to the libraries available in Flash Pro. Adobe intends for you to use Flex with Flash Builder, a separate IDE built upon Eclipse.
I haven't used MXML yet, but my impression is that (at least in Flash Builder) it is functionally similar to WYSIWYG editing in Microsoft's Visual Studio.
If you are developing games, you can edit entirely in Flash Pro, entirely in Flash Builder, or combine both of them. Flash Pro lets you put code on the timeline, which can make some coding much easier, but also makes it very, very easy to write messy and disorganized code. Flash Builder doesn't provide access to the timeline and is intended for class-based development. Personally, I like to combine the two, writing some timeline code in Pro and doing my class files in Builder, but I'm not the greatest developer.
As a heads-up, the code editor in Flash Pro is absolutely terrible, and is full of bugs that have existed for many generations, because Adobe wants you to buy Flash Builder for the additional $600, but if you are a student or "unemployed", you can get FB for free from Adobe.