jQuery Validate: Not default value

I have a category dropdown selection element in my form. The form is validated with jQuery as follows:

    $('#myForm').validate({
    rules: {
        text: {
              required: true
        },
        category: {
            required: true
        }
    },
    messages: {
        text: {
            required: "Text required"
        },
        category: {
            required: "Category required"
        }
    }

When loading the page, the default value of category is: '---' (without quotes). When I submit the form, the validation says eveything is ok, because '---' is not nothing. How can I开发者_高级运维 get it to stop submitting when '---' is used as category? The other categories are something like this: Category1. One of the possibilities have to be choosen and I can't change the dropdown selection thing.

Thanks!!

---

You could add a custom rule, like this:

jQuery.validator.addMethod("notEqual", function(value, element, param) {
  return this.optional(element) || value !== param;
}, "Please choose a value!");

Then use that rule in your rules, like this:

    category: {
        required: true,
        notEqual: "---"
    }

You can test it out here.

---

I used plugin from http://jqueryvalidation.org/ in MVC view and modified as below :

note: using when dropdown item -> value: 0, text: --Please Select--

-->add custom required type

//====find "message {: ..."
messages: {
    required: "This field is required.",
    remote: "Please fix this field.",
    email: "Please enter a valid email address.",....

//====modify to
messages: {
    noDefaultVal: "This field is required.", //<-- modified
    required: "This field is required.",
    remote: "Please fix this field.",
    email: "Please enter a valid email address.",....

-->add custom required method

//====and find "methods: {: ..."
methods: {
   // http://docs.jquery.com/Plugins/Validation/Methods/required
   required: function( value, element, param ) {
   // check if dependency is met
   if ( !this.depend(param, element) ) {....

//====modify to
methods: {
    noDefaultVal: function (value, element, param) {
        return this.optional(element) || value != param;
    },
   // http://docs.jquery.com/Plugins/Validation/Methods/required
   required: function( value, element, param ) {
   ....

-->on-page script

$("#frmSave").validate({
  //set required fields
  rules: {
     ITEM_TYPE: {
         required: true ,
         noDefaultVal: "0"
     }
  }
});

Regard.