如何使用jQuery验证插件来验证字符串集合？

Question

I have a Java (Spring MVC) bean that has a collection of strings as a bean property. I can render these in the Freemarker something like this:

[#list listOfStrings as aString]
    <input name="${fieldName}[${aString_index}]" type="text" value="${(currentValue!'')?html}" maxlength="50"/>
[/#list]

That gives me a series of input fields named as "aString[n]", which correctly get passed into the List on the serverside.

This was a single String field and I've recently moved to having a collection. How can I modify my jQuery validation plugin plugin to validate each instance of that field and display validation messages as appropriate for each field?

Current validation stuff using syntax like this:

$('#myform').validate({
    rules: {
         aString: {
             minlength: 16
         }
    },
    messages: {
         aString: {
             minLength: "failed validation"
         }
    }
});

I need to be able to reference the collection of strings (aString[0], aString[1] .... etc) and render a message so the user knows which of those instances are in error.

Answer 1

For a min-size validation you don't need to create a new Rule, just mark your fields with minlength='16' and make sure they have ID and NAME, and that they have a label for then:

[#list listOfStrings as aString]
    <label for="${fieldName}_${aString_index}">String: </label>
    <input name="${fieldName}_${aString_index}" name="${fieldName}_${aString_index}" type="text" value="${(currentValue!'')?html}" maxlength="50" minlength="16"/>
[/#list]

And then, you call:

$("#myform").validate();

Answer 2

I ended up defining custom methods and applying them using a class. This meant I had to add a

<label for="xyz" class="error" />

element in the appropriate place in the HTML.

        $.validator.addMethod("codeRequired", $.validator.methods.required,"Please enter a code");
    $.validator.addMethod("codeMinLength", $.validator.methods.minlength, $.format("The code appears to be too short, Please enter a valid {0} digit code."));
    $.validator.addClassRules("code", { codeRequired: true, codeMinLength: 16 });

I then add a class="code" to my input fields I want validating.

This appears to work, I'll update later if I find issues with this solution.