Can jQuery check whether input content has changed?

Question

Is it possible to bind javascript (jQuery is best) event to \"change\" form input value somehow?

I know about .change() method, but it does not trigger

Answer 1

You can employ the use of data in jQuery and catch all of the events which then tests it against it's last value (untested):

$(document).ready(function() {  
    $("#fieldId").bind("keyup keydown keypress change blur", function() {
        if ($(this).val() != jQuery.data(this, "lastvalue") {
         alert("changed");
        }
        jQuery.data(this, "lastvalue", $(this).val());
    });
});

This would work pretty good against a long list of items too. Using jQuery.data means you don't have to create a javascript variable to track the value. You could do $("#fieldId1, #fieldId2, #fieldId3, #fieldId14, etc") to track many fields.

UPDATE: Added blur to the bind list.