Question

I have a select list that I have hooked up to a change event..

  $('.ddlApplications').change(function () { alert('Hi'); })

If you put focus on the select and start typing this event is fired. I want to be able to force the user to select an option from the select and Not be able to type inside the select. How can I disable (or not trigger the change event) when the user types in the select box?

I tried disabling the select but then you cannot select any of the options, so this wont work..

 $('.ddlApplications').attr("disabled", true);

Answer 1

If you don’t want to select an option with the keys, just disable the keys?

$('.ddlApplications').on({
    keydown: function() {
        return false;
    },
    change: function() {
        alert('Hi');
    }
});

FIDDLE