MVC3 Validation for textboxes one or the other required - asp.net-mvc-3

Question

I'm looking for a way to check two textboxes in a form to make sure at least one of them is populated. The validation should fail only if both textboxes are empty. Is there an easy way to do this using Unobtrusive JScript and MVC3 form validation?
Thanks

Answer 1

You could implement something like this answer by Darin Dimitrov.
It explains how to make your own custom validator (on both client and server side). It will use the MVC3 validation and JQuery unobtrusive validation. You could check if the condition is met (one or more checkboxes are checked) and validate based on that.

Answer 2

Javascript you can do this way using Jquery
$(document).ready(function(){
var inp = $("#txt").val();
var inp2 = $("#txt2").val();
if(jQuery.trim(inp).length < 0 && jQuery.trim(inp2).length < 0)
{
//show your message.
}
})

Answer 3

You can look the conditional validation explained in below mentioned article
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/simonince/archive/2010/06/04/conditional-validation-in-mvc.aspx
you can put [RequiredIf] attribute on both text boxes and check if textBox1 is empty then textbox2 is required and vice versa.

Answer 4

Try this. It has all the info. Hope it helps:
http://derans.blogspot.com/2011/05/contact-form-revisited-with-aspnet-mvc.html

Answer 5

Try nuget package foolproof validation. It includes [Requiredif] and [Requiredifnot] http://foolproof.codeplex.com/

Answer 6

Here is mine version of AtLeastOneRequired validator with supporting DisplayAttribute:
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property)]
public class AtLeastOneRequiredAttribute : ValidationAttribute
{
private readonly string[] _members;
public AtLeastOneRequiredAttribute(params string[] members)
{
_members = members;
}
protected override ValidationResult IsValid(object value, ValidationContext validationContext)
{
if (_members == null || _members.Length < 1)
return null;
var displayNames = new List<string>();
foreach (var member in _members)
{
var propertyInfo = validationContext.ObjectType.GetProperty(member);
if (propertyInfo == null)
throw new InternalErrorException("Property '{0}' cannot be found in '{1}'", member, validationContext.ObjectType);
var propertyValue = propertyInfo.GetValue(validationContext.ObjectInstance);
var stringValue = propertyValue as string;
if (stringValue != null && stringValue.Trim().Length != 0)
return ValidationResult.Success;
var displayAttribute = propertyInfo.GetCustomAttribute<DisplayAttribute>();
displayNames.Add(displayAttribute != null ? displayAttribute.Name : member);
}
return new ValidationResult(FormatErrorMessage(String.Join(", ", displayNames)));
}
}
And very simple model:
public class FeedbackPostModel
{
[Display(Name = "Phone")]
[AtLeastOneRequired("SenderPhone", "SenderEmail", ErrorMessageResourceName = "ValidationAtLeastOnRequired", ErrorMessageResourceType = typeof(Strings))]
[StringLength(256, ErrorMessageResourceName = "ValidationFieldStringLengthMax", ErrorMessageResourceType = typeof(Strings))]
[Phone(ErrorMessageResourceName = "ValidationFieldPhoneFormat", ErrorMessageResourceType = typeof(Strings))]
public string SenderPhone { get; set; }
[Display(Name = "Email")]
[StringLength(256, ErrorMessageResourceName = "ValidationFieldStringLengthMax", ErrorMessageResourceType = typeof(Strings))]
[EmailAddress(ErrorMessageResourceName = "ValidationFieldEmailAddress", ErrorMessageResourceType = typeof(Strings))]
public string SenderEmail { get; set; }
}