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---
title: "jQuery Validate and Jeditable, Part 2"
date: 2010-01-02T23:47:00-06:00
slug: jquery-validate-and-jeditable-part-2
published: true
---
When using [Jeditable](http://www.appelsiini.net/projects/jeditable), there is no form element to bind [jQuery Validate](http://bassistance.de/jquery-plugins/jquery-plugin-validation/) rules with.  Instead, when an editable element is clicked or activated, it dynamically creates a new form and input element and destroys them after the user is done editing.  For the ViewModel from [Part 1](/2010/01/01/jQueryValidateAndJeditablePart1.aspx), the View might be rendered like so for [Jeditable](http://www.appelsiini.net/projects/jeditable):<%@ Page Language="C#" Inherits="System.Web.Mvc.ViewPage<ValidateViewModel>" %>
<asp:Content ContentPlaceHolderID="MainContent" runat="server">
<% using(Html.BeginForm()) {%>
<%= Html.ValidationSummary() %>
<label for="StringRequired">StringRequired:</label>
<div class="editable" id="StringRequired" name="StringRequired">
<%= Model.StringRequired %>
</div>
<label for="DoubleRange13_100">DoulbeRange13_100:</label>
<div class="editable" id="DoubleRange13_100" name="DoubleRange13_100">
<%= Model.DoubleRange13_100%>
</div>
<%} %>
</asp:Content>
[xVal](http://xval.codeplex.com/)s ClientSideValidation<TViewModel>() used in [Part 1](/2010/01/01/jQueryValidateAndJeditablePart1.aspx) wont work to validate this.  The reason?  It generates a script that binds validation directly to the form elements on page load.  The rendered script looks for the ViewModel looks like:<script type="text/javascript">
xVal.AttachValidator(null,
{"Fields":[
{
"FieldName":"StringRequired",
"FieldRules":[
{
"RuleName":"Required",
"RuleParameters":{
},
"Message":"This string is required"
},
{
"FieldName":"DoubleRange13_100",
"FieldRules":[
{
"RuleName":"Range",
"RuleParameters":{
"Min":"13",
"Max":"100",
"Type":"decimal"
},
"Message":"Must be between 13 and 100"
}
]
}
]
}
]}, {})
</script>
The rules are in the xVals StandardJSON format and the AttachValidator function (in xVal.jquery.validate.js) scans the DOM and attaches [jQuery Validate](http://bassistance.de/jquery-plugins/jquery-plugin-validation/) rules as attributes to the matched input elements.  Since [Jeditable](http://www.appelsiini.net/projects/jeditable) doesnt create these elements until theyre actively being edited, the rules have nothing to attach to since they dont exist yet.  Fortunately, [jQuery Validate](http://bassistance.de/jquery-plugins/jquery-plugin-validation/) provides several strategies for defining the rules.  In addition to being able to attach attributes to the input elements, the rules can be placed in a separate data structure.  [jQuery Validate](http://bassistance.de/jquery-plugins/jquery-plugin-validation/) refers to these as “static rules”.  Instead of attaching the xVal rule set directly to the elements, it can be adapted to the static rule set that [jQuery Validate](http://bassistance.de/jquery-plugins/jquery-plugin-validation/) can use directly.  The structure for the ViewModel rules will look like: {
rules: {
StringRequired: {
required: true
},
DoubleRange13_100: {
number: true,
range: ["13”, "100"]
}
}
messages: {
StringRequired: {
required: "This string is required."
},
DoubleRange13_100: {
range: "Must be between 13 and 100"
}
}
}
I've adapted some javascript to do this conversion - it's available [here](http://popcyclical.com/content/binary/images/jQueryValidateandJeditable_E71E/xValRuleAdapter.js).  To get the ViewModels rules into this format for javascript consumption, this line is added:<script type="text/javascript">
var validateOptions
= convertXvalToValidateOptions(
<%= Html.ClientSideValidationRules<ValidateViewModel>()%>
);
</script>
 
To get these attached to form elements as soon as the user activates them, [Jeditable](http://www.appelsiini.net/projects/jeditable)s “plugin” feature is utilized:$(function() { // <- on document ready
// register plugin with Jeditable to tie in jQuery Validate
$.editable.types['text'].plugin = bindValidate;
// attach Jeditable to each element with class "editable"
// Note: this must be done one-by-one so that the
// element's name can be assigned to Jeditable's "name"
// option which is used by jQuery Validate
$('.editable').each(function() {
var element = $(this);
element.editable(
'SaveUrlOrFunctionGoesHere',
{
// submit when the element is blurred
onblur: 'submit',
onsubmit: jeditableValidate,
// assign the name of the input element
// from the element's name - this is needed
// because it's what jQuery Validate uses
// to bind the rules to the input element
name: element.attr('name')
}
);
});
});
// Jeditable plugin
function bindValidate(settings, self) {
// attach jQuery Validate to
// Jeditable's dynamically created form
$('form', self).validate(validateOptions);
}
// runs before values are submitted to server
function jeditableValidate(settings, self) {
// validate the Jeditable dynamically created form
return $('form', self).valid();
}
With this glue in place, the form elements will now be validated with the rules defined in the ViewModel.  All fields valid:
[![jQueryValidateJeditable1](http://popcyclical.com/content/binary/images/jQueryValidateandJeditable_E71E/jQueryValidateJeditable1_thumb.png)](http://popcyclical.com/content/binary/images/jQueryValidateandJeditable_E71E/jQueryValidateJeditable1.png)
…and here after both have invalid values:
[![jQueryValidateJeditable2](http://popcyclical.com/content/binary/images/jQueryValidateandJeditable_E71E/jQueryValidateJeditable2_thumb.png)](http://popcyclical.com/content/binary/images/jQueryValidateandJeditable_E71E/jQueryValidateJeditable2.png)
A few notes:
- Any additional options to be sent to [jQuery Validate](http://bassistance.de/jquery-plugins/jquery-plugin-validation/) can be attached to the validateOptions object. Ive used this to place all error messages into a separate errorLabelContainer (like [here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/61456/mvc-net-jquery-validation)).
- I feel that AttachValidator function in xVal.jquery.validate.js from could become more loosely coupled by separating the rule conversion from the DOM element attachment.
I think both of these jQuery libraries provide a great benefit when creating interactive and helpful forms.  Kudos to [Jörn Zaefferer](http://bassistance.de/) and [Mika Tuupola](http://www.appelsiini.net/) for the good work.  xVal is likewise an excellent library thanks to [Steve Sanderson](http://www.codeplex.com/site/users/view/SteveSanderson).