How to show an ASP.NET validation message next to my Save button as well as next to the validated control?

Question

I'm using asp CustomValidator to perform client-side validation on a few controls when the user clicks the Save button on a page. However, this page is quite long so often they can't see the validation message that's displayed next to a control that fails validation. How can I put a general validation message next to the Save button too, e.g. 'Please resolve the validation errors above' so the user knows why the page hasn't submitted?

Answer 1

You can use a Validation Summary control, which you can put near your save button and it will provide a summary of all the validation controls that are invalid.

You can define it using the following rules:

<asp:ValidationSummary 
     id="programmaticID" 
     DisplayMode="BulletList | List | SingleParagraph" 
     EnableClientScript="true | false"
     ShowSummary="true | false"
     ShowMessageBox="true | false"                        
     HeaderText="You need to resolve the following issues before you are able to continue:"
     runat="server"/>