Validating drop down menu JavaScript

Question

I'm working on an existing site with a contact form that's using JavaScript to validate the fields. The original developer wrote the JavaScript and it isn't validating one of the fields correctly. the Field is a dropdown list and it has a default value that they don't want to be selectable, so I need it to return an invalid response if the default option is selected to force the user to make a selection.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

// Check to make sure Area of Interest is Valid
   var areaVal = $("#req_area").val();
   var areaRegexObj = /^\s*[\w\s]*\s*$/;

   if (areaRegexObj.test(areaVal)) {
      isValid = (isValid == false) ? false : true;
   } else {
      $("#req_area").val("Please specify your Area of Interest");
      isValid = false;
   }

Jules · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-08 20:40:59Z

1

Try

var areaVal = $("#req_area option:selected").val();

if (!areaRegexObj.test(areaVal))
    $("#req_area").val("Please specify your Area of Interest");

It is a good idea to have server side validation (if not already) so that a user won't disable JS and submit the form anyway.

edited Nov 8, 2012 at 20:40

answered Nov 8, 2012 at 20:34

Jules

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3 Comments

Stephen P Over a year ago

I would go beyond "It is a good idea" -- if you don't have server-side validation in addition to client-side validation you are open to attack.

user1272433 Over a year ago

It will have server side validation, I'm just having trouble working with the JavaScript.

user1272433 Over a year ago

Thank you for the help, I managed to solve the problem. The default option had a value associated with it, I removed the value and changed the the if statement to if (areaVal == null). and removed the areaRegexObj. Thanks!

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