Problem with Client-Side Validation in MVC 2

[Note: This post applies to ASP.NET MVC 2, Preview 2.0]

Today while doing the demo for the previous post, I ran into an issue where the Javascript code for the client-side validation (the call to EnableClientValidation ) was not being output during the form rendering.

Take a look at the following two snippets:

First:

    <% Html.BeginForm();%>

        <%=Html.EditorForModel() %>

            <p>

                <input type="submit" value="Save" />

            </p>

    <% Html.EndForm(); %>

Second:

  <% using (Html.BeginForm())  >

        <%=Html.EditorForModel() %>

            <p>

                <input type="submit" value="Save" />

            </p>

    <% } %>

See the difference? The latter is using the using statement. In my previous post I’m using this option and all works well. However, if you go with the first option, the Javascript call will not be output. The reason for this (after debugging the source) is that the call to make this happen takes place in the Dispose method of the MvcForm. Explicitly calling Html.EndForm won’t cause this to take place.

I’ve talked to Mathew from the QA team, and he’s confirmed it’s a known issue. I think the output of the JS code should ideally be decoupled from the form construction. For instance, If I were to use a manual form tag, this wouldn’t work either [I’ve haven’t given it that much thought either].

In the meantime, if you want client-side validation, make sure you use the second option.