JS Validation if dropdown value selected or not

Question

I am trying to write a validation block inside my JS to check if the user has selected a value or not and pop up a message if the value is not selected.

function validate(form) {
    var success = true;
    var message = "";

    if (form.dropdown.selectedIndex ==  0 )  {  
        form.save.disabled=true;

        if (0 < message.length) {
            message += "\n"; 
        }
        message += "dropdown  value should be selected.";
    }

    if (0 < message.length) {
        alert(message);
        success = false;
    }

    return success;
}

When I click on Save button I call this function. I don't see errors in the logs. Can anyone tell me what am I doing wrongly here? Or can you guide me what is the correct method to validate if the user has selected a value before allowing to save?

Thanks!

@smiley—don't use tabs for indenting, it messes with SO's formatting. — RobG
– RobG, Commented Sep 20, 2012 at 22:53
Your code works for me: jsfiddle.net/jd5Ka. It must be somewhere else in your code. — Ethan Brown
– Ethan Brown, Commented Sep 20, 2012 at 22:54

RobG · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-20 22:57:29Z

3

If no option is selected, the select element's selectedIndex will be -1. It's recommended that one option is always set to selected, that way you know what the default selected option is (user agents may make the first option selected by default if you don't).

So the test:

if (form.dropdown.selectedIndex ==  0 )  {

will only be true if the first option has the selected attribute. So either test against -1 or make the first option selected by default, e.g.

<select name="dropdown" ...>
  <option selected value="default">Please select an option
  ...
</select>

answered Sep 20, 2012 at 22:57

RobG

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2 Comments

smiley Over a year ago

THis is how i am populating the list .... <% con= DataObjectConnectionPool.getInstance().getConnection(); dPreparedStatement = con.prepareStatement("SELECT RTRIM(LTRIM(X.OWNER)) AS OWNER FROM ( SELECT DISTINCT RTRIM(LTRIM(OWNER)) AS OWNER FROM MGD_CONTENT WHERE OWNER IS NOT NULL AND 0 < LENGTH(RTRIM(LTRIM(OWNER)))) X ORDER BY LOWER(RTRIM(LTRIM(X.OWNER))) "); dResultSet = dPreparedStatement.executeQuery(); while (dResultSet != null && dResultSet.next()) { String owner = dResultSet.getString("OWNER"); if (ownerArray == null) { ownerArray = new ArrayList(); } ownerArray.add(owner); %>

smiley Over a year ago

<tr> <td valign="middle" align="right" width="135"><label for="dropdown">User id:<span class="font_red"><strong>*</strong></span></label></td> <td><img src="common/images/shim.gif" border="0" height="1" width="10" alt=""/> <select name="dropdown" id="dropdown"> <option value="">Select Your User ID</option> <% for (int b = 0; ownerArray != null && b < ownerArray.size(); b++) { String ownerx = (String) ownerArray.get(b); %> <option value="<%=ownerx%>"><%=ownerx%></option> <% } %> </select> </td> <td valign="middle" align="left"></td> </tr>

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