Using the HTML5 required attribute for a group of checkboxes

Question

When using the newer browsers that support HTML5  FireFox 4 for example   and a form field has the attribute required  required   and the form field is empty blank  and the submit button is clicked  the browsers detects that the  quot required quot  field is empty and does not submit the form  instead browser shows a hint asking the user to type text into the field  Now  instead of a single text field  I have a group of checkboxes  out of which at least one should be checked selected by the user  How can I use the HTML5 required attribute on this group of checkboxes   Since only one of the checkboxes needs to be checked  I can t put the required attribute on each and every checkbox  ps  I am using simple form  if that matters   UPDATE Could the HTML 5 multiple attribute be helpful here  Has anyone use it before for doing something similar to my question  UPDATE It appears that this feature is not supported by the HTML5 spec  ISSUE-111  What does input  required mean for  type   checkbox   Issue status  Issue has been marked closed without prejudice   And here is the explanation  UPDATE 2 It s an old question  but wanted to clarify that the original intent of the question was to be able to do the above without using Javascript - i e  using a HTML5 way of doing it  In retrospect  I should ve made the  quot without Javascript quot  more obivous

User · Answer

Here is another simple trick using Jquery!!

HTML

<form id="hobbieform">
        <div>
            <input type="checkbox" name="hobbies[]">Coding
            <input type="checkbox" name="hobbies[]">Gaming
            <input type="checkbox" name="hobbies[]">Driving
        </div>
</form>

JQuery

$('#hobbieform').on("submit", function (e) {
    var arr = $(this).serialize().toString();
    if(arr.indexOf("hobbies") < 0){
        e.preventDefault();
        alert("You must select at least one hobbie");
    }
});

That's all.. this works because if none of the checkbox is selected, nothing as regards the checkbox group(including its name) is posted to the server

User · Answer

You don t need jQuery for this  Here s a vanilla JS proof of concept using an event listener on a parent container  checkbox-group-required  of the checkboxes  the checkbox element s  checked property and Array some   x000D   x000D  const validate   el   gt      const checkboxes   el querySelectorAll  input type  checkbox        return     checkboxes  some e   gt  e checked       const formEl   document querySelector  form    const statusEl   formEl querySelector   status-message    const checkboxGroupEl   formEl querySelector   checkbox-group-required     checkboxGroupEl addEventListener  click   e   gt      statusEl textContent   validate checkboxGroupEl     valid     invalid        formEl addEventListener  submit   e   gt      e preventDefault         if  validate checkboxGroupEl         statusEl textContent    Form submitted           Send data from e target to your backend       else       statusEl textContent    Error  select at least one checkbox           x000D   lt form gt     lt div class  checkbox-group-required  gt       lt input type  checkbox  gt       lt input type  checkbox  gt       lt input type  checkbox  gt       lt input type  checkbox  gt     lt  div gt     lt input type  submit    gt     lt div class  status-message  gt  lt  div gt   lt  form gt  x000D   x000D   x000D   If you have multiple groups to validate  add a loop over each group  optionally adding error messages or CSS to indicate which group fails validation   x000D   x000D  const validate   el   gt      const checkboxes   el querySelectorAll  input type  checkbox        return     checkboxes  some e   gt  e checked      const allValid   els   gt      els  every validate    const formEl   document querySelector  form    const statusEl   formEl querySelector   status-message    const checkboxGroupEls   formEl querySelectorAll   checkbox-group-required     checkboxGroupEls forEach el   gt    el addEventListener  click   e   gt        statusEl textContent   allValid checkboxGroupEls     valid     invalid            formEl addEventListener  submit   e   gt      e preventDefault         if  allValid checkboxGroupEls         statusEl textContent    Form submitted          else       statusEl textContent    Error  select at least one checkbox from each group           x000D   lt form gt     lt div class  checkbox-group-required  gt       lt label gt        Group 1         lt input type  checkbox  gt         lt input type  checkbox  gt         lt input type  checkbox  gt         lt input type  checkbox  gt       lt  label gt     lt  div gt     lt div class  checkbox-group-required  gt       lt label gt        Group 2         lt input type  checkbox  gt         lt input type  checkbox  gt         lt input type  checkbox  gt         lt input type  checkbox  gt       lt  label gt     lt  div gt     lt input type  submit    gt     lt div class  status-message  gt  lt  div gt   lt  form gt  x000D   x000D   x000D

User · Answer

I added an invisible radio to a group of checkboxes  When at least one option is checked  the radio is also set to check  When all options are canceled  the radio is also set to cancel  Therefore  the form uses the radio prompt  Please check at least one option    You can t use display  none because radio can t be focused  I make the radio size equal to the entire checkboxes size  so it s more obvious when prompted    HTML   lt form gt     lt div class  checkboxs-wrapper  gt       lt input id  radio-for-checkboxes  type  radio  name  radio-for-required-checkboxes  required  gt       lt input type  checkbox  name  option    value  option1   gt       lt input type  checkbox  name  option    value  option2   gt       lt input type  checkbox  name  option    value  option3   gt     lt  div gt     lt input type  submit  value  submit   gt   lt  form gt    Javascript  var inputs   document querySelectorAll   name  option       var radioForCheckboxes   document getElementById  radio-for-checkboxes   function checkCheckboxes          var isAtLeastOneServiceSelected   false      for var i   inputs length-1  i  gt   0  --i            if  inputs i  checked  isAtLeastOneCheckboxSelected   true            radioForCheckboxes checked   isAtLeastOneCheckboxSelected   for var i   inputs length-1  i  gt   0  --i        inputs i  addEventListener  change   checkCheckboxes      CSS   checkboxs-wrapper     position  relative     checkboxs-wrapper input name  radio-for-required-checkboxes         position  absolute      margin  0      top  0      left  0      width  100       height  100       -webkit-appearance  none      pointer-events  none      border  none      background  none      https   jsfiddle net codus q6ngpjyc 9

User · Answer

Unfortunately HTML5 does not provide an out-of-the-box way to do that   However  using jQuery  you can easily control if a checkbox group has at least one checked element   Consider the following DOM snippet    lt div class  checkbox-group required  gt       lt input type  checkbox  name  checkbox name    gt       lt input type  checkbox  name  checkbox name    gt       lt input type  checkbox  name  checkbox name    gt       lt input type  checkbox  name  checkbox name    gt   lt  div gt    You can use this expression      div checkbox-group required  checkbox checked   length  gt  0   which returns true if at least one element is checked  Based on that  you can implement your validation check

User · Answer

I realize there are a ton of solutions here  but I found none of them hit every requirement I had    No custom coding required Code works on page load No custom classes required  checkboxes or their parent  I needed several checkbox lists to share the same name for submitting Github issues via their API  and was using the name label   to assign labels across many form fields  two checkbox lists and a few selects and textboxes  - granted I could have achieved this without them sharing the same name  but I decided to try it  and it worked    The only requirement for this one is jQuery  You can combine this with  ewall s great solution to add custom validation error messages    x000D   x000D     required checkboxes    x000D   function       x000D     function      x000D    var  requiredCheckboxes      input type  checkbox   required     x000D   x000D       init all checkbox lists    x000D     requiredCheckboxes each function  i  el    x000D       this could easily be changed to suit different parent containers x000D     var  checkboxList     this  closest  div  span  p  ul  td    x000D   x000D     if    checkboxList hasClass  requiredCheckboxList    x000D       checkboxList addClass  requiredCheckboxList    x000D        x000D   x000D    var  requiredCheckboxLists       requiredCheckboxList    x000D   x000D     requiredCheckboxLists each function  i  el    x000D     var  checkboxList     this   x000D      checkboxList on  change    input type  checkbox     function  e    x000D      updateCheckboxesRequired   this  parents   requiredCheckboxList     x000D         x000D   x000D     updateCheckboxesRequired  checkboxList   x000D        x000D   x000D    function updateCheckboxesRequired  checkboxList    x000D     var  chk    checkboxList find  input type  checkbox     eq 0   x000D      cblName    chk attr  name    x000D      cblNameAttr     name      cblName         x000D       checkboxes    checkboxList find  input type  checkbox      cblNameAttr   x000D   x000D     if   checkboxList find cblNameAttr     checked   length  gt  0    x000D       checkboxes prop  required   false   x000D       else   x000D       checkboxes prop  required   true   x000D       x000D      x000D   x000D       x000D     jQuery   x000D   lt script src  https   cdnjs cloudflare com ajax libs jquery 3 3 1 jquery min js  gt  lt  script gt  x000D   x000D   lt form method  post  action  post php  gt  x000D   lt div gt  x000D   Type of report  x000D   lt  div gt  x000D   lt div gt  x000D    lt input type  checkbox  id  chkTypeOfReportError  name  label    value  Error  required gt  x000D    lt label for  chkTypeOfReportError  gt Error lt  label gt  x000D   x000D    lt input type  checkbox  id  chkTypeOfReportQuestion  name  label    value  Question  required gt  x000D    lt label for  chkTypeOfReportQuestion  gt Question lt  label gt  x000D   x000D    lt input type  checkbox  id  chkTypeOfReportFeatureRequest  name  label    value  Feature Request  required gt  x000D    lt label for  chkTypeOfReportFeatureRequest  gt Feature Request lt  label gt  x000D   lt  div gt  x000D   x000D   lt div gt  x000D   Priority x000D   lt  div gt  x000D   lt div gt  x000D    lt input type  checkbox  id  chkTypeOfContributionBlog  name  label    value  Priority  High  required gt  x000D    lt label for  chkPriorityHigh  gt High lt  label gt  x000D   x000D   x000D    lt input type  checkbox  id  chkTypeOfContributionBlog  name  label    value  Priority  Medium  required gt  x000D    lt label for  chkPriorityMedium  gt Medium lt  label gt  x000D   x000D   x000D    lt input type  checkbox  id  chkTypeOfContributionLow  name  label    value  Priority  Low  required gt  x000D    lt label for  chkPriorityMedium  gt Low lt  label gt  x000D   lt  div gt  x000D   lt div gt  x000D    lt input type  submit    gt  x000D   lt  div gt  x000D   lt  form gt  x000D   x000D   x000D

User · Answer

Hi just use a text box additional to  group of check box When clicking on any check box put values in to that text box Make that that text box required and readonly

User · Answer

Its a simple trick  This is jQuery code that can exploit the html5 validation by changing the required properties if any one is checked  Following is your html code  make sure that you add required for all the elements in the group     lt input type  checkbox  name  option    id  option-1  value  option1  required  gt  Option 1  lt input type  checkbox  name  option    id  option-2  value  option2  required  gt  Option 2  lt input type  checkbox  name  option    id  option-3  value  option3  required  gt  Option 3  lt input type  checkbox  name  option    id  option-4  value  option4  required  gt  Option 4  lt input type  checkbox  name  option    id  option-5  value  option5  required  gt  Option 5   Following is jQuery script  which disables further validation check if any one is selected  Select using name element    cbx group      input checkbox name  option         cbx group      input checkbox id   option-         name is not always helpful      cbx group prop  required   true   if  cbx group is   checked        cbx group prop  required   false       Small gotcha here  Since you are using html5 validation  make sure you execute this before the it gets validated i e  before form submit       but this might not work as expected    form   submit function         code goes here         So  better USE THIS INSTEAD     button type  submit     on  click   function          skipping validation part mentioned above

User · Answer

Inspired by the answers from  thegauraw and  Brian Woodward  here s a bit I pulled together for JQuery users  including a custom validation error message    cbx group      input checkbox name   group       cbx group on  click   function         if   cbx group is   checked                 checkboxes become unrequired as long as one is checked          cbx group prop  required   false  each function                 this setCustomValidity                        else              require checkboxes and set custom validation error message          cbx group prop  required   true  each function                 this setCustomValidity  Please select at least one checkbox                             Note that my form has some checkboxes checked by default   Maybe some of you JavaScript JQuery wizards could tighten that up even more

User · Answer

Try   self request get  sports played   allow multiple True    or  self request POST getall  sports played     More specifically   When you are reading data from the checkbox array  make sure array has   len gt 0    In this case    len self request get  array   allow multiple True    gt  0

User · Answer

Really simple way to verify if at least one checkbox is checked  function isAtLeastOneChecked name        let checkboxes   Array from document getElementsByName name        return checkboxes some e   gt  e checked      Then you can implement whatever logic you want to display an error

User · Answer

HTML5 does not directly support requiring only one at least one checkbox be checked in a checkbox group   Here is my solution using Javascript   HTML   lt input class  acb  type  checkbox  name  acheckbox    value  1  onclick  deRequire  acb    required gt  One  lt input class  acb  type  checkbox  name  acheckbox    value  2  onclick  deRequire  acb    required gt  Two   JAVASCRIPT         function deRequireCb elClass                el document getElementsByClassName elClass                var atLeastOneChecked false   at least one cb is checked             for  i 0  i lt el length  i                      if  el i  checked     true                        atLeastOneChecked true                                               if  atLeastOneChecked     true                    for  i 0  i lt el length  i                          el i  required   false                                  else                   for  i 0  i lt el length  i                          el i  required   true                                              The javascript will ensure at least one checkbox is checked  then de-require the entire checkbox group   If the one checkbox that is checked becomes un-checked  then it will require all checkboxes  again

User · Answer

I had the same problem and I my solution was this    HTML    lt form id  processForm php  action  post  gt     lt div class  input check boxes required wish payment type  gt       lt div class  wish payment type  gt       lt span class  checkbox payment-radio  gt         lt label for  wish payment type 1  gt           lt input class  check boxes required  id  wish payment type 1  name  wish payment type     type  checkbox  value  1  gt Foo        lt  label gt       lt  span gt       lt span class  checkbox payment-radio  gt         lt label for  wish payment type 2  gt           lt input class  check boxes required  id  wish payment type 2  name  wish payment type     type  checkbox  value  2  gt Bar        lt  label gt       lt  span gt       lt span class  checkbox payment-radio  gt         lt label for  wish payment type 3  gt           lt input class  check boxes required  id  wish payment type 3  name  wish payment type     type  checkbox  value  3  gt Buzz        lt  label gt          lt input id  submit  type  submit  value  Submit  gt     lt  div gt   lt  form gt    JS   var verifyPaymentType   function        var checkboxes       wish payment type  checkbox      var inputs   checkboxes find  input      var first   inputs first   0      inputs on  change   function          this setCustomValidity               first setCustomValidity checkboxes find  input checked   length     0    Choose one                submit   click verifyPaymentType     https   jsfiddle net oywLo5z4

User · Answer

I guess there s no standard HTML5 way to do this  but if you don t mind using a jQuery library  I ve been able to achieve a  checkbox group  validation using webshims   group-required  validation feature   The docs for group-required say      If a checkbox has the class  group-required  at least one of the   checkboxes with the same name inside the form document has to be   checked    And here s an example of how you would use it    lt input name  checkbox-group  type  checkbox  class  group-required  id  checkbox-group-id    gt   lt input name  checkbox-group  type  checkbox    gt   lt input name  checkbox-group  type  checkbox    gt   lt input name  checkbox-group  type  checkbox    gt   lt input name  checkbox-group  type  checkbox    gt    I mostly use webshims to polyfill HTML5 features  but it also has some great optional extensions like this one   It even allows you to write your own custom validity rules  For example  I needed to create a checkbox group that wasn t based on the input s name  so I wrote my own validity rule for that

User · Answer

we can do this easily with html5 also  just need to add some jquery code  Demo  HTML   lt form gt    lt div class  form-group options  gt      lt input type  checkbox  name  type    value  A  required   gt  A     lt input type  checkbox  name  type    value  B  required   gt  B     lt input type  checkbox  name  type    value  C  required   gt  C     lt input type  submit  gt    lt  div gt   lt  form gt    Jquery    function        var requiredCheckboxes       options  checkbox required         requiredCheckboxes change function            if requiredCheckboxes is   checked                  requiredCheckboxes removeAttr  required              else               requiredCheckboxes attr  required    required

[forms] Using the HTML5 "required" attribute for a group of checkboxes?

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