Can a button validate more validation groups?

Question

I have 3 types of validators:

1. It is part of "VG1" validation group

2. It is part of "VG2" validation group

3. It is not part of any validation groups

I have two buttons, B1 and B2.

I would like to validate B1.Click if and only if all validators of the first and third type successfully validated the controls associated to them.

I would like to validate B2.Click if and only if all validators of the second and third type successfully validated the controls associated to them.

Is this possible in ASP.NET? If so, can you tell me how can I do this or where could I read something which would enlighten me in this question?

EDIT:

    function isValidButton1()
    {
        var VG1 = Page_ClientValidate("VG1");
        var empty = Page_ClientValidate("");
        return VG1 && empty;
    }

This works well, however, if VG1 is invalid, then the messages will disappear, because of the validation of the empty group. Is there a solution to show all validation error messages? Thank you.

EDIT2:

    function isValidSaveAsClosed()
    {
        Page_ClientValidate("");
        Page_ClientValidate("VG1");
        var groups = [];
        groups[0] = undefined;
        groups[1] = "VG1";
        var valid = true;
        for (var f in Page_Validators)
        {
            if (jQuery.inArray(Page_Validators[f].validationGroup, groups) >= 0)
            {
                ValidatorValidate(Page_Validators[f]);
                valid = valid && Page_Validators[f].isvalid;
            }
        }

        return valid;
    }

The function above solves my problem.

Answer 1

A simpler approach that does not involve writting any aditional code is to simply replicate the validators wherever they are needed, as shown in the sample below:

<div>
    <asp:TextBox ID="txt1" runat="server" placeholder="field1" />
    <asp:RequiredFieldValidator runat="server" ID="req1a" ControlToValidate="txt1" ValidationGroup="group1" Display="Dynamic" />
    <asp:RequiredFieldValidator runat="server" ID="req1b" ControlToValidate="txt1" Display="Dynamic" />
</div>
<div>
    <asp:TextBox ID="txt2" runat="server" placeholder="field2" />
    <asp:RequiredFieldValidator runat="server" ID="req2" ControlToValidate="txt2" />
</div>
<!-- Validate validators with empty ValidationGroup -->
<asp:Button runat="server" ID="btn1" Text="Validate All" />
<!-- Validate group1 validators -->
<asp:Button runat="server" ID="btb2" Text="Validate Group 1" ValidationGroup="group1"/>

First button will validate both textboxes, even though they are in diferent groups, while the second one will only validate the first textbox.

Answer 2

<asp:Button ID="Button1" runat="server" Text="Button" OnClientClick="return Validate()" />

<script type="text/javascript">
    function Validate() 
    {
        var isValid = false;
        isValid = Page_ClientValidate('VG1');
        if (isValid) 
        {
            isValid = Page_ClientValidate('VG2');
        }

        return isValid;
    }
</script>

try this....hope it will help

Answer 3

I am adding another answer since adding to my last existing answer would make the answer too big for anyone to read.

In this answer, I have expanded on my last answer so multiple validation groups are automatically hooked up both on client-side as well as server-side. This means you do not need to call Page_ClientValidate("group1,group2") in JavaScript onclick event of button, since it will occur automatically. Also, the server-side validation for multiple groups will happen automatically.

The markup and code-behind for this is given below. You can try the aspx code that I have provided and test it in a website project. To test if automatic server-side validation occurs, you must set EnableClientScript="false" for each of the three validators.

Explanation of approach for automatic validation of multiple groups

If you want to implement multiple validation groups, the following steps need to done in your aspx page. Make sure that in your markup you mention a comma-delimited list of validation groups for ValidationGroup property of button control if you need to validate multiple groups at a time.

1. you need to override the JavaScriptmethod IsValidationGroupMatch by adding JavaScript to end of your aspx page (The code for this override is given at end of markup code below and you can copy/paste it into your aspx page); this is a standard method provided by ASP.Net validation framework.
2. you need to hookup the button with multiple validation groups for client-side validation since this is NOT done automatically by ASP.Net; for this, you have to call the method HookupValidationForMultipleValidationGroups in code-behind in Page_Load event for each button that has multiple validation groups.(you can copy/paste this method given in second-code snippet into the code-behind of your aspx page)
3. you need to override the server-side method Validate to add functionality for multiple validation groups since this is missing in ASP.Net.(you can copy/paste this method given in second-code snippet into the code-behind of your aspx page)

Markup of aspx with multiple validation groups for a button

<%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="MultipleValidationGroupsByOneButton.aspx.cs" Inherits="MultipleValidationGroupsByOneButton" %>

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head runat="server">
    <title></title>

</head>
<body>
    <form id="form1" runat="server">
        <div>
            TextBox1 : 
            <asp:TextBox ID="TextBox1" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
            <asp:RequiredFieldValidator ID="RequiredFieldValidator1" runat="server" ErrorMessage="TextBox1 needs input"  ControlToValidate="TextBox1" ForeColor="Red" ValidationGroup="group1"></asp:RequiredFieldValidator>

            <br />
            <br />
            TextBox2 : 
            <asp:TextBox ID="TextBox2" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
            <asp:RequiredFieldValidator ID="RequiredFieldValidator2" runat="server" ErrorMessage="TextBox2 needs input"  ControlToValidate="TextBox2" ForeColor="Red" ValidationGroup="group2"></asp:RequiredFieldValidator>
            <br />
            <br />
            TextBox3 :
             <asp:TextBox ID="TextBox3" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
            <asp:RequiredFieldValidator ID="RequiredFieldValidator3" runat="server" ErrorMessage="TextBox3 needs input"  ControlToValidate="TextBox3" ForeColor="Red" ValidationGroup="group3"></asp:RequiredFieldValidator>

            <br />
            <br />
        </div>
        <asp:Button ID="btnMultipleValidationGroups" runat="server" Text="Validate group1 and group2" ValidationGroup="group1,group2" OnClick="btnMultipleValidationGroups_Click" />
        <asp:Button ID="btnGroup1" runat="server" Text="Validate only group1" ValidationGroup="group1" OnClick="btnGroup1_Click" />
        <asp:Button ID="btnGroup2" runat="server" Text="Validate only group2" ValidationGroup="group2" OnClick="btnGroup2_Click" />
        <asp:Label ID="lblMessage" runat="server" ForeColor="Red" Font-Bold="true"></asp:Label>
        <script type="text/javascript">
            window["IsValidationGroupMatch"] = function (control, validationGroup) {
                if ((typeof (validationGroup) == "undefined") || (validationGroup == null)) {
                    return true;
                }
                var controlGroup = "";
                var isGroupContained = false;
                if (typeof (control.validationGroup) == "string") {
                    controlGroup = control.validationGroup;
                    var controlGroupArray = [];
                    if (validationGroup.indexOf(",") > -1) {
                        controlGroupArray = validationGroup.split(",");// validationGroup.split(",");
                    }
                    for (var i = 0; i < controlGroupArray.length; i++) {
                        if (controlGroupArray[i].trim() == controlGroup.trim()) {
                            isGroupContained = true;
                        }
                    }
                }
                return (controlGroup == validationGroup || isGroupContained);
            }
        </script>
    </form>
</body>
</html>

Code-behind of above aspx page

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;

public partial class MultipleValidationGroupsByOneButton : System.Web.UI.Page
{
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        //always call this method in Page Load event for each button with multiple validation groups
        HookupValidationForMultipleValidationGroups(btnMultipleValidationGroups);
    }
    //the method below will automatically hook up a button with multiple validation groups for client-side validation
    private void HookupValidationForMultipleValidationGroups(IButtonControl button)
    {
     if (!Page.IsPostBack && button.ValidationGroup.Contains(","))
     {
        //hook up validation on client-side by emitting the appropriate javascript for onclick  event of the button with multiple validation groups
        PostBackOptions myPostBackOptions = new PostBackOptions((WebControl)button);
        myPostBackOptions.ActionUrl = string.Empty;
        myPostBackOptions.AutoPostBack = false;
        myPostBackOptions.RequiresJavaScriptProtocol = true;
        myPostBackOptions.PerformValidation = true;//THIS true value hooks up the client-side validation
        myPostBackOptions.ClientSubmit = true;
        myPostBackOptions.ValidationGroup = button.ValidationGroup;

        // Add postback script so cleint-side validation is automatically hooked up for control with multiple validation groups
        ((WebControl)button).Attributes.Add("onclick", Page.ClientScript.GetPostBackEventReference(myPostBackOptions));
     }
    }
    //Override default Validate method so server-side validation of buttons with multiple validation groups occurs automatically 
    public override void Validate(string validationGroup)
    {
        if (validationGroup.Contains(","))
        {
            string[] validationGroups = validationGroup.Split(",".ToCharArray());
            foreach (string group in validationGroups)
            {
                Page.Validate(group);
            }
        }
        base.Validate(validationGroup);
    }
    protected void btnMultipleValidationGroups_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (Page.IsValid)
        {
            lblMessage.Text = "Button with multiple validation groups was clicked";
        }
    }
    protected void btnGroup1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (Page.IsValid)
        {
            lblMessage.Text = "Button with Group1 validation group was clicked";
        }
    }
    protected void btnGroup2_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (Page.IsValid)
        {
            lblMessage.Text = "Button with Group2 validation group was clicked";
        }
    }

}

Answer 4

This is an old post but I had the same issue recently and the way I solved it is as explained below.

You can copy the code given in this post into your ASP.Net website project and test it for yourself. The first button i.e. the one on left is validating three validation groups at same time unlike the other two buttons.

Just include the JavaScript given at end of aspx page in code below, in which I have overridden the validation function IsValidationGroupMatch so multiple groups can be validated. Then, if you want to validate multiple groups on client-side, you must call the function Page_ClientValidate("group1,group2,group6,group5") to which you simply pass a comma-delimited list of validation groups.

(NOTE: But remember that by using this approach you can validate multiple validation groups on client-side only. This does NOT automatically also validate multiple groups on server-side. You must call the API function of Page_ClientValidate on client-side since multiple groups validation will not get automatically hooked up by ASP.Net framework.)

Sample aspx page code that allows validating multiple groups at same time on client-side

<%@ Page Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="MultipleValidationGroupsByOneButton.aspx.cs" Inherits="MultipleValidationGroupsByOneButton" %>

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head runat="server">
    <title></title>

</head>
<body>
    <form id="form1" runat="server">
        <div>
            TextBox1 : 
            <asp:TextBox ID="TextBox1" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
            <asp:RequiredFieldValidator ID="RequiredFieldValidator1" runat="server" ErrorMessage="TextBox1 needs input" ControlToValidate="TextBox1" ForeColor="Red" ValidationGroup="group1"></asp:RequiredFieldValidator>

            <br />
            <br />
            TextBox2 : 
            <asp:TextBox ID="TextBox2" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
            <asp:RequiredFieldValidator ID="RequiredFieldValidator2" runat="server" ErrorMessage="TextBox2 needs input" ControlToValidate="TextBox2" ForeColor="Red" ValidationGroup="group2"></asp:RequiredFieldValidator>
            <br />
            <br />
             TextBox3 :
             <asp:TextBox ID="TextBox3" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
            <asp:RequiredFieldValidator ID="RequiredFieldValidator3" runat="server" ErrorMessage="TextBox3 needs input" ControlToValidate="TextBox3" ForeColor="Red" ValidationGroup="group3"></asp:RequiredFieldValidator>

            <br />
            <br />
        </div>
        <asp:Button ID="btnMultipleValidationGroups" runat="server" Text="Validate group1 and group2"  onclientclick="if(!Page_ClientValidate('group1,group2,group3')) { return false;}" />
        <asp:Button ID="btnGroup1" runat="server" Text="Validate only group1" ValidationGroup="group1" />
        <asp:Button ID="btnGroup2" runat="server" Text="Validate only group2" ValidationGroup="group2" />
        <script type="text/javascript">
            window["IsValidationGroupMatch"] = function (control, validationGroup) {
                if ((typeof (validationGroup) == "undefined") || (validationGroup == null)) {
                    return true;
                }
                var controlGroup = "";
                var isGroupContained = false;
                if (typeof (control.validationGroup) == "string") {
                    controlGroup = control.validationGroup;
                    var controlGroupArray = [];
                    if (validationGroup.indexOf(",") > -1) {
                        controlGroupArray = validationGroup.split(",");
                    }
                    for (var i = 0; i < controlGroupArray.length; i++) {
                        if (controlGroupArray[i].trim() == controlGroup.trim()) {
                            isGroupContained = true;
                        }
                    }
                }
                return (controlGroup == validationGroup || isGroupContained);
            }
        </script>
    </form>
</body>
</html>

Answer 5

Yes a button can validate more then one validation groups.

Inside the button_click you can validate the groups as

    Page.Validate("VG1");
    Page.Validate("VG2");

    if (Page.IsValid)
    {

         // Page is valid  so proceed..!!

    }

Answer 6

You can use Page_ClientValidate(validationgroup) function to validate a validation grouop.

like

function Validate(vgroup) {
     return Page_ClientValidate(vgroup);
}

You can try

<asp:Button ID="B1" runat="server" Text="Button" 
     OnClientClick="return Validate('VG1') && Validate() " />

<asp:Button ID="B2" runat="server" Text="Button" 
     OnClientClick="return Validate('VG2') && Validate() " />