How to validate a list of elements using jquery

Question

here is my form which has the childrenDetails list. I am able to validate all other attributes except this list. please help

<form:form commandName="family"
    action="${pageContext.request.contextPath}/user/family" method="POST"
    id="family-form" novalidate="novalidate">
    <table>
        <tr>
            <c:set var="marraigeStat" value="married" />
            <c:if test="${personalDetials.marriageStatus eq marraigeStat}">
                <tr>
                    <td><form:label path="spousesName">Name of Spouse</form:label>
                    </td>
                    <td><form:input path="spousesName" id="spousesName" /></td>
                </tr>
                <tr>
                    <td><form:label path="spousesAge">Spouses Age</form:label>
                    <td><form:input path="spousesAge" id="spousesAge" />
                </tr>
                <tr>
                    <td><form:label path="weddingDate">Wedding Date</form:label></td>
                    <td><form:input path="weddingDate" type="date"
                            name="weddingDate" id="weddingDate" /></td>
                    <td><form:errors path="weddingDate" /></td>
                </tr>
            </c:if>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td><form:label path="fatherName">Father Name</form:label></td>
            <td><form:input path="fatherName" id="fatherName" /></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>

            <td><form:label path="motherName">Mother Name</form:label></td>
            <td><form:input path="motherName" id="motherName" /></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td><form:label path="fatherAge">Father Age</form:label></td>
            <td><form:input path="fatherAge" type="date" name="fatherAge"
                    id="fatherAge" /></td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td><form:label path="motherAge">Mother Age</form:label></td>
            <td><form:input path="motherAge" type="date" name="motherAge"
                    id="motherAge" /></td>
        </tr>

        <tr>
            <c:set var="childerStat" value="true" />
            <c:if test="${personalDetials.childerStatus eq childerStat}">

                <h5>child should be there</h5>

                <c:forEach items="${family.childrenDetails}" varStatus="status">
                    <tr>
                        <td><form:label
                                path="childrenDetails[${status.index}].childName"> Child Name</form:label>
                        <td><form:input
                                path="childrenDetails[${status.index}].childName" id="childName" /></td>

                        <td><form:label
                                path="childrenDetails[${status.index}].childGender">Child Gender</form:label>
                        </td>
                        <td><form:radiobutton
                                path="childrenDetails[${status.index}].childGender" value="male"
                                label="male" id="childGender" /></td>
                        <td><form:radiobutton
                                path="childrenDetails[${status.index}].childGender"
                                value="female" label="female" id="childGender" /></td>
                        <td><form:radiobutton
                                path="childrenDetails[${status.index}].childGender"
                                value="others" label="others" id="childGender" /></td>
                        <td><form:label
                                path="childrenDetails[${status.index}].childDob">Child Date of Birth</form:label></td>
                        <td><form:input
                                path="childrenDetails[${status.index}].childDob" type="date" id="childDob"/></td>

                        <td><form:label
                                path="childrenDetails[${status.index}].childCompanyName">Child Company Name</form:label></td>
                        <td><form:input
                                path="childrenDetails[${status.index}].childCompanyName" id="childCompanyName" /></td>

                        <td><form:label
                                path="childrenDetails[${status.index}].childPosition">Child Position</form:label></td>
                        <td><form:input
                                path="childrenDetails[${status.index}].childPosition" id="childPosition" /></td>
                    </tr>

                </c:forEach>
                <tr>
                    <c:if test="${familyDetails.getChildrenDetails().size()!=0 }">
                    <td><form:button name="submit" value="ADD">ADD</form:button></td>
                    <td><form:button name="submit" value="REMOVE">REMOVE</form:button></td>
                    </c:if>
                </tr>
            </c:if>



            <c:if test="${family.childrenDetails != null }">
                <tr>
                    <td><h2>CHILD DISPLAY</h2></td>
                <tr>
                    <th>Child Name</th>
                    <th>childGender</th>
                    <th>childDob</th>
                    <th>childCompanyName</th>
                    <th>childPosition</th>
                </tr>
                <tr>
                    <c:forEach items="${family.childrenDetails}" var="child"
                        varStatus="status">
                        <tr>
                            <td>${child.childName}</td>
                            <td>${child.childGender}</td>
                            <td>${child.childDob}</td>
                            <td>${child.childCompanyName}</td>
                            <td>${child.childPosition}</td>
                        </tr>
                    </c:forEach>
                </tr>
            </c:if>
        </tr>

in the able code i have to this of children details where i have assigned the id for each attributes of the list. And now with the help of this id's i am trying to validate the fields. My validations are not working only for the childrenDetails list which is inside the family. here is my javascript for validation

$(function() {
    $("#family-form").validate({

        rules : {
            spousesName : "required",
            spousesAge : "required",
            weddingDate : "required",
            fatherName : "required",
            motherName : "required",
            fatherAge : "required",
            motherAge : "required",
            childName : "required",
            childGender : "required",
            childDob : "required",
            childCompanyName :  "required",
            childPosition : "required"

        },
        messages : {
            spousesName : "please enter your spouses name",
            spousesAge : "Please enter the age of your spouses",
            weddingDate : "what is your wedding date",
            fatherName : "please enter your father name",
            motherName : "please enter your mother name",
            fatherAge : "please enter your father age",
            motherAge : "please enter your mothers age",
            childName : "required",
            childGender : "required",
            childDob : "required",
            childCompanyName :  "required",
            childPosition : "required"

        },
        submitHandler : function(form) {
            form.submit();
        }

    });
});
function goBack(){
    window.history.back();
}

please help. Thanks in advance

One of the problem is you are using `id` attribute e.g *childName* inside the for:each statement... And the basic rule is that `id` must be unique in the while DOM. So, That should be causing the issue. So, Make them unique and it should work as expected. — Runcorn, Jul 24 '15 at 07:27
Thanks, But how do I make it unique in this case, because i don't even know how many childrenDetails Objects the user would need. As and every click of add button a new childrenDetails will be created and an empty input forms will be displayed in to front end for the user to enter the value. Now how do i make there childrenDetails attributes Id's unique. please help — Nitesh kumar, Jul 24 '15 at 07:43
Ok, If you are using HTMl5. Then the simplest solution would be using `required` attribute instead of mentioning the rules in `validate`. Sort of `` and simply validating using `$(#form-id).valdiate()`. But, The problem will be custom validation message. — Runcorn, Jul 24 '15 at 07:48
So, For that you could create custom validation. Please follow this answer : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15749419/jquery-validate-with-custom-selectors-and-logic — Runcorn, Jul 24 '15 at 07:50
It allows you to use `class` instead of `id` as validation selector. I will update an answer demonstrating it. — Runcorn, Jul 24 '15 at 07:51

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:44

There could be two reasons for the Validation not working.

Uniqueness of id : MAIN Issue
Dynamic Element : New child details is being created by JavaScript. i.e. After ADD button new form block is generated : Might be the Issue

Case UN-uniqueness

Ok, The problem lies on the UN-uniqueness of the id in the DOM. So, The Basic principle is that id attribute should be unique on the whole rendered document.

<c:forEach items="${family.childrenDetails}" varStatus="status">
    <tr>
        <td>
            <form:label path="childrenDetails[${status.index}].childName">Child Name</form:label>
            <td>
                <form:input path="childrenDetails[${status.index}].childName" id="childName" />
            </td>
            <td>
                <form:label path="childrenDetails[${status.index}].childGender">Child Gender</form:label>
 //So In this block childName id will be duplicate if more than one children exists

So, Here is the example on the similar issue you are facing when id is duplicate :

JSFIDDLE DEMO 1

So, The solution would be to use class selector instead of id for the Validation. Which you can use as :

    $('#family-form').validate({ 
            rules : {
            spousesName : "required",
            spousesAge : "required",
            weddingDate : "required",
            fatherName : "required",
            motherName : "required",
            fatherAge : "required",
            motherAge : "required",
        },
        messages : {
            spousesName : "please enter your spouses name",
            spousesAge : "Please enter the age of your spouses",
            weddingDate : "what is your wedding date",
            fatherName : "please enter your father name",
            motherName : "please enter your mother name",
            fatherAge : "please enter your father age",
            motherAge : "please enter your mothers age",
        },
            submitHandler : function(form) {
            form.submit();
        }
        });

        $('.childNameValidation').each(function() {
            $(this).rules('add', {
                required: true,
                messages: {
                    required:  "Child Name is invalid",
                }
            });
        });

It could be hectic to define such for each and every other element though. But, It should do the job.

Needs to include : http://ajax.aspnetcdn.com/ajax/jquery.validate/1.11.0/additional-methods.js

JSFIDDLE DEMO 2

CASE Dynamic Element

Please follow this : Adding jQuery validator rules to dynamically created elements in ASP

Diffrent Appraoch for the Issue

The easiest solution for this problem might be using the data-attribute on the form element itself :

See : Declaring jQuery Validate plugin rules -- attribute vs. class vs. code

The solution mentioned above is just my intuitive guess. So, It might or mightn't solve the issue you are facing.

Thanks a lot this helped me – Nitesh kumar Jul 28 '15 at 07:00 — Nitesh kumar, Jul 28 '15 at 07:00