MVC3 Client Side Validation not working with an Ajax.BeginForm form

Question

I have the following form in a partial view

@model PartDetail
@using (Ajax.BeginForm("Create", "Part", null, new AjaxOptions { UpdateTargetId =       "update_panel"}))
{
    <h3>New @Model.PartType</h3>
    <p> Serial Number: 
        <strong>
            @Html.EditorFor(model => model.SerialNumber)
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.SerialNumber)
        </strong>
    </p>
    <p> Name: 
        <strong>
            @Html.EditorFor(model => model.Name)
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Name)
        </strong>
    </p>
    ...... more relatively boiler plate code here......
    <p>
        <input type="submit" class="btn primary" value="Save Part"/>
    </p>
}

With a model of

public class PartDetail
{
    public string DateCreated { get; set; }
    [StringLength(255, MinimumLength = 3)]
    public string Description { get; set; }
    public Guid ID { get; set; }
    public string IsActive { get; set; }
    public string Manufacturer { get; set; }
    public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> Manufacturers { get; set; }
    [StringLength(100, MinimumLength = 3)]
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string PartType { get; set; }
    [Required]
    [StringLength(100, MinimumLength = 3)]
    public string SerialNumber { get; set; }
}

And I reference (in parent views of my partial view)

<script src="@Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery-1.7.1.min.js")" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="@Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery.unobtrusive-ajax.min.js")" type="text/javascript"> </script>
<script src="@Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery.validate.js")" type="text/javascript"> </script>
<script src="@Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery.validate.unobtrusive.js")" type="text/javascript"> </script> 

And nothing gets validated. If I type nothing into the Serial Number text box and press submit it saves it to the database with no problems.

Answer 1

Try adding an OnBegin callback to the AjaxOptions and this should work.

function validateForm() { 
   return $('form').validate().form(); 
} 

@using (Ajax.BeginForm("Create", "Part", null, new AjaxOptions { UpdateTargetId = "update_panel", OnBegin = "validateForm" }))
...

If this doesn't work for you, an alternative solution may be to submit the form using jQuery. This would be my preferred solution.

<div id="result"></div> 

@using (Html.BeginForm()) 
{ 
<h3>New @Model.PartType</h3>
<p>Serial Number: 
    <strong>
        @Html.EditorFor(model => model.SerialNumber)
        @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.SerialNumber)
        </strong>
    </p>
    <p> Name: 
        <strong>
            @Html.EditorFor(model => model.Name)
            @Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.Name)
        </strong>
    </p>
    ...... more relatively boiler plate code here......
    <p>
        <input type="submit" class="btn primary" value="Save Part"/>
    </p>

    }

jQuery/JS function to submit the form

    $(function () { 
        $('form').submit(function () { 

        $.validator.unobtrusive.parse($('form'));  //added

            if ($(this).valid()) { 
                $.ajax({ 
                    url: this.action, 
                    type: this.method, 
                    data: $(this).serialize(), 
                    success: function (result) { 
                        $('#result').html(result); 
                    } 
                }); 
            } 
            return false; 
        }); 
    });