jQuery Validate method checking for special characters

Question

I am trying (and failing) to write a regular expression statement that checks for special characters such as !@#$%^&*()_+<>?\'\"{}[] in my Javascript form validation.

Answer 1

Few changes

jQuery.validator.addMethod("specialChars", function( value, element ) {
        var regex = new RegExp("^[a-zA-Z0-9]+$");
        var key = value;

        if (!regex.test(key)) {
           return false;
        }
        return true;
    }, "please use only alphanumeric or alphabetic characters");

1. You need to return the value true, if the test is valid
   
2. The validator is not a event handler so you cannot use event.preventDefault(), this has to be done in the keypress event.
   
3. You need to test the value passed to the validate method.

Demo: Fiddle

Note: Since you are using + wild char at least one character is required in the text box, you may want to split it into two rules using the required rule and change the wild char to *.

Answer 2

Instead of writing your own custom method from scratch, include the additional-methods.js file and use the alphanumeric rule.

$(document).ready(function () {

    $('#myform').validate({
        rules: {
            field: {
                alphanumeric: true
            }
        }
    });

});

Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/YsAKx/

---

If you don't want to include an additional external file, simply copy the default alphanumeric method out of it...

jQuery.validator.addMethod("alphanumeric", function(value, element) {
    return this.optional(element) || /^\w+$/i.test(value);
}, "Letters, numbers, and underscores only please");

Answer 3

^[a-zA-Z0-9;,.!@#$%:{}[]?"^&*()/\']*|[^&;<>\`]*

you want special charecter add here in this [] braces ^[a-zA-Z0-9;,.!@#$%:{}[]?"^&*()/\'] and you dont want then add here this part [^&;<>\]`