Perform validation on hidden fields

Question

I have the view below:

    @Html.LabelFor(m => m.CompanyPostCode)
    @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.CompanyPostCode)

    @Html.LabelFor(m => m.CompanyCity)
    @Html.TextBoxFor(m => m.CompanyCity)

    @Html.HiddenFor(m => m.CompanyCityID)

All attributes are marked as [Required] in my view model. Then problem is that my CompanyCityID (marked as Required) is hidden and thus no validation is done in the view. If I show this attribute in my view the validation is done.

My question: is it possible to perform a validation on a hidden field? A workaround exist?

It may seems a little strange to validate a hidden field. The reason is that this field is filled from jQuery based on special rules. If it is not filled, I know something is not valid on the view.

Thanks.

Answer 1

The possible reason can be that there is ignore: ':hidden' line in jquery.validate.unobtrusive.js file.

After 1.9.0 version it is a default behaviour. You can fix that manually by adding

$.validator.setDefaults({ ignore: [] });

As you can see here

Another change should make the setup of forms with hidden elements easier, these are now ignored by default (option “ignore” has “:hidden” now as default). In theory, this could break an existing setup. In the unlikely case that it actually does, you can fix it by setting the ignore-option to “[]” (square brackets without the quotes).