Using depends with the jQuery Validation plugin

Question

I've got a form with a bunch of textboxes that are disabled by default, then enabled by use of a checkbox next to each one.

When enabled, the values in these textboxes are required to be a valid number, but when disabled they don't need a value (obviously). I'm using the jQuery Validation plugin to do this validation, but it doesn't seem to be doing what I expect.

When I click the checkbox and disable the textbox, I still get the invalid field error despite the depends clause I've added to the rules (see code below). Oddly, what actually happens is that the error message shows for a split second then goes away.

Here is a sample of the list of checkboxes & textboxes:

<ul id="ItemList">
<li>
    <label for="OneSelected">One</label><input id="OneSelected" name="OneSelected" type="checkbox" value="true" />
    <input name="OneSelected" type="hidden" value="false" />
    <input disabled="disabled" id="OneValue" name="OneValue" type="text" />
</li>
<li>
    <label for="TwoSelected">Two</label><input id="TwoSelected" name="TwoSelected" type="checkbox" value="true" />
    <input name="TwoSelected" type="hidden" value="false" />
    <input disabled="disabled" id="TwoValue" name="TwoValue" type="text" />
</li>
</ul>

And here is the jQuery code I'm using

//Wire up the click event on the checkbox
jQuery('#ItemList :checkbox').click(function(event) {
    var textBox = jQuery(this).siblings(':text');
    textBox.valid();
    if (!jQuery(this).attr("checked")) {
        textBox.attr('disabled', 'disabled');
        textBox.val('');
    } else {
        textBox.removeAttr('disabled');
        textBox[0].focus();
    }
});

//Add the rules to each textbox
jQuery('#ItemList :text').each(function(e) {
    jQuery(this).rules('add', {
        required: {
            depends: function(element) {
                return jQuery(element).siblings(':checkbox').attr('checked');
            }
        },
        number: {
            depends: function(element) {
                return jQuery(element).siblings(':checkbox').attr('checked');
            }
        }
    });
});

Ignore the hidden field in each li it's there because I'm using asp.net MVC's Html.Checkbox method.

Answer 1

Using the "ignore" option (http://docs.jquery.com/Plugins/Validation/validate#toptions) might be the easiest way for you to deal with this. Depends on what else you have on the form. For i.e. you wouldn't filter on disabled items if you had other controls that were disabled but you still needed to validate for some reason. However, if that route doesn't work, using an additional class to filter on (adding and removing with your checkboxes) should get you to where you want to go, but easier.

I.e.

        $('form').validate({
            ignore: ":disabled",
            ...
        });