What is jQuery Unobtrusive Validation?

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I know what the jQuery Validation plugin is. I know the jQuery Unobtrusive Validation library was made by Microsoft and is included in the ASP.NET MVC framework. But I cannot find a single online source that explains what it is. What is the difference between the standard jQuery Validation library and the "unobtrusive" version?

4 Answers

With the unobtrusive way:

  • You don't have to call the validate() method.
  • You specify requirements using data attributes (data-val, data-val-required, etc.)

Jquery Validate Example:

<input type="text" name="email" class="required">
<script>
        $(function () {
            $("form").validate();
        });
</script>

Jquery Validate Unobtrusive Example:

<input type="text" name="email" data-val="true" 
data-val-required="This field is required.">  

<div class="validation-summary-valid" data-valmsg-summary="true">
    <ul><li style="display:none"></li></ul>
</div>
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