JQuery Validation Plugin: Ensure Form Field is not a specific Value

Question

Hi there, i am using the Jquery validation plugin, sourced from here.

It is function well for required fields, email etc, however I would like to set up some specific validation rules for certain form fields. For example, I have a select form field which contains the following options...

    <select name="salutation" id="salutation" class="conditional">
    <option value="0">--- Please Select ---</option>
            <option value="1">--- MR ---</option>
            <option value="2">--- MRS ---</option>
    </select>

I would then like to use the validation plugin to display a message if a salutation has not been selected..I.E

    $("#userForm").validate({
   // Validate Fields On Blur   
      onfocusout: function(element){
      this.element(element);
   },
     // Set Specific Rules for Validation
     rules:{
     salutation: {
        NEQ:0                   
             }
    },
    messages:{
    salutation: {
    NEQ: "please select a salutation"               
     }
    }
   });

Wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to customize the plugin to allow such things. Many thanks

Answer 1

Leave the value empty for the "Please select" option and make the select field required by assigning it the class required. That should be enough to ensure that one of the other options is chosen. Note that it will have the default message: "This field is required." instead of your custom message, but you could adjust that as well.

<select name="salutation" id="salutation" class="required"> 
    <option value="">--- Please Select ---</option> 
    <option value="1">--- MR ---</option> 
    <option value="2">--- MRS ---</option> 
</select> 

$("#userForm").validate({ 
  // Validate Fields On Blur    
  onfocusout: function(element){ 
                  this.element(element); 
              }
});

Answer 2

you could use range in this case

range: [1, 2]