My asp.net page has multiple text-boxes and DropDownLists that all have required-field validators.
My site also has multiple pages that you can move between with the click of a button. (All pages have all the buttons) When a page loads and decide I want to go to a different page without entering information into the form, I click a button to move to a separate page and the validation pops up and I can't change the page, it stops me every time?
Any ideas on how to stop this?
I know you already found a solution, but I just wanted to throw in another method for people to see. When using validators it is common practice to use ValidationGroups. When a validator belongs to a ValidationGroup, it is only triggered by another control in the validation group. For example:
<asp:TextBox ID="NameBox" runat="server"/>
<asp:RequiredFieldValidator ID="NameVal" ControlToValidate="NameBox"
ValidationGroup="ValSubmit" runat="server"/>
//...More input fields and validators...
<asp:Button ID="SubmitButton" ValidationGroup="ValSubmit" runat="server"/>
Using this method any validators with the "ValSubmit" ValidationGroup will be triggered only by the SubmitButton and not by other controls. Now you don't have to put CausesValidation="false" on EVERYTHING else that causes a postback.
As everyone else had mentioned, set the CausesValidation property to false.
<asp:Button ID="MyButton" Text="Go Back" CausesValidation="False" />
This is straight from the Microsoft Help Page:
By default, page validation is performed when a Button control is clicked. Page validation determines whether the input controls associated with a validation control on the page all pass the validation rules specified by the validation control.
You can specify or determine whether validation is performed on both the client and the server when a Button control is clicked by using the CausesValidation property. To prevent validation from being performed, set the CausesValidation property to false.
Note: You should set the CausesValidation property to false when you are using the PostBackUrl property to post back to a different page. You should explicitly check validation when posting back to a different page. For an example, see the Remarks section of the PostBackUrl property. This property is commonly set to false for a reset or clear button to prevent validation from being performed when the button is clicked.
When the value of the CausesValidation property is set to true, you can also use the ValidationGroup property to specify the name of the validation group for which the Button control causes validation.
set property CausesValidation = "false" to the buttons where you don't want to trigger validation
CausesValidation="false" on the button ;)
<asp:Button CausesValidation="True|False" />
Gets or sets a value indicating whether validation is performed when the Button control is clicked.
read more about Button.CausesValidation Property