Question

I’m using the jQuery Validate plugin and want to validate an input field using a fixed amount of numbers with a dash in the middle like so: XXXXXX-XXXX. I know how to validate numbers but how can I get the plugin to validate this specific format?!

Thanks!

Answer 1

You could use a regex. Add a custom validator method as illustrated here:

$.validator.addMethod(
    "regex",
    function(value, element, regexp) {
        var re = new RegExp(regexp);
        return re.test(value);
    },
    "Please check your input."
);

And then attach it to the input element that you need to validate:

$('#id_of_textbox').rules('add', { regex: '^[0-9]{6}-[0-9]{4}$' })

or if you are using it with the form:

$('#id_of_form').validate({
    rules: {
        name_of_textbox: {
            regex: '^[0-9]{6}-[0-9]{4}$'
        }
    },
    messages: {
        name_of_textbox: {
            regex: 'Please provide a valid input for this field'
        }
    }
});

And here’s a live demo.