Using data-attributes with jquery validate

Question

Is it possible to use data-attributes to with the JQuery Validate plugin. I currently use the class name e.g.

class="{required:true, messages:{required:'You must choose a site.'}}"` 

but need to use the data attribute e.g.

data-validate="{required:true, messages:{required:'You must choose a site.'}}"`

The inputs may have more than one data attribute associated with it which won't be related to the validation e.g.

<input name="txt_txt001" type="text" maxlength="30" id="txt_txt001" class= "     
{required:true, messages:{required:'This field is required.'} }" data-
children="ddl_txt007,ddl_txt008" data-optionGroup="1" data-optionGroupParent=""  />

I know the ketchup plugin offers this but dont want to move over to it as I've put loads of work into getting the page setup with JQuery Validate.

Thanks

Answer 1

Try making the following chages to validate 1.9.0. I've made a few mods so my line numbers may be off, but here goes:

Around ln 149:

var data = $.validator.normalizeRules(
    $.extend(
        {},
        $.validator.metadataRules(element),
        $.validator.classRules(element),
        $.validator.dataRules(element), // add this
        $.validator.attributeRules(element),
        $.validator.staticRules(element)
    ), element);

Add this after classRules around ln 782:

// pretty much steal everything from the class based settings
dataRules: function(element) {
    var rules = {};
    var classes = $(element).data("validation");
    classes && $.each(classes.split(' '), function() {
        if (this in $.validator.classRuleSettings) {
            $.extend(rules, $.validator.classRuleSettings[this]);
        }
    });
    return rules;
},

Add any additional validators to the class rules:

jQuery.validator.addClassRules({
    phone: {
        phoneUS: true
    },
    zipcode: {
        zipcode: true
    },
    notFirstSelect: {
        notFirstSelect : true
    }
});

Then add a data-validation attribute to your for fields:

<input type="text" data-validation="zipcode required" maxlength="10" class="inputText med" value="" name="zip" id="zip">

This has been working really well for me. Check out: http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/business_interiors/contactus/send.do for an example of this in use.