Validation
React Bootstrap 5 Validation
Provide valuable, actionable feedback to your users with HTML5 form validation, via browser default behaviors or custom styles and JavaScript.
Note: We currently recommend using custom validation styles, as native browser default validation messages are not consistently exposed to assistive technologies in all browsers (most notably, Chrome on desktop and mobile).
Basic example
For custom MDB form validation messages, you’ll need to add the
noValidate
boolean prop to your <MDBValidation>
. This disables
the browser default feedback tooltips, but still provides access to the form validation APIs
in JavaScript. Try to submit the form below; our JavaScript will intercept the submit button
and relay feedback to you. When attempting to submit, you’ll see the :invalid
and
:valid
styles applied to your form controls.
Custom feedback styles apply custom colors, borders, focus styles, and background icons to better communicate feedback.
How it works
Here’s how form validation works with MDB:
-
HTML form validation is applied via CSS’s two pseudo-classes,
:invalid
and:valid
. It applies to<input>
and<textarea>
elements. -
MDB scopes the
:invalid
and:valid
styles to parent.was-validated
class, usually applied to the<form>
. Otherwise, any required field without a value shows up as invalid on page load. This way, you may choose when to activate them (typically after form submission is attempted). -
As a fallback,
.is-invalid
and.is-valid
classes may be used instead of the pseudo-classes for server-side validation. They do not require a.was-validated
parent class. -
Due to constraints in how CSS works, we cannot (at present) apply styles to a
<label>
that comes before a form control in the DOM without the help of custom JavaScript. - All modern browsers support the constraint validation API, a series of JavaScript methods for validating form controls.
- Feedback messages may utilize the browser defaults (different for each browser, and unstylable via CSS) or our custom feedback styles with additional HTML and CSS.
-
You may provide custom validity messages with
setCustomValidity
in JavaScript.
With that in mind, consider the following demos for our custom form validation styles, optional server-side classes, and browser defaults.
Browser defaults
Not interested in custom validation feedback messages or writing JavaScript to change form behaviors? All good, you can use the browser defaults. Try submitting the form below. Depending on your browser and OS, you’ll see a slightly different style of feedback.
While these feedback styles cannot be styled with CSS, you can still customize the feedback text through JavaScript.
Server side
We recommend using client-side validation, but in case you require server-side validation, you
can indicate invalid and valid form fields with
.is-invalid
and .is-valid
. Note that
.invalid-feedback
is also supported with these classes.
Supported elements
Tooltips
Add validationTooltip
prop to display validation feedback in a styled tooltip. Be
sure to have a parent with position: relative
on it for tooltip positioning. In
the example below, our column classes have this already, but your project may require an
alternative setup.
Validation - API
Import
Properties
MDBValidation
Name | Type | Default | Description | Example |
---|---|---|---|---|
formRef
|
React.MutableRefObject<any> | false |
Reference to form element |
<MDBValidation formRef={reference} />
|
isValidated
|
boolean | false |
Set MDBValidation form validated |
<MDBValidation isValidated />
|
MDBValidationItem
Name | Type | Default | Description | Example |
---|---|---|---|---|
feedback
|
React.ReactNode | 'Looks good!' |
Feedback displayed on validation |
<MDBValidationItem feedback='Correct!' />
|
invalid
|
boolean | false |
Sets input validation to invalid mode |
<MDBValidationItem invalid />
|
tag
|
string | 'div' |
MDBValidationItem tag element |
<MDBValidationItem tag="span" />
|
tooltip
|
boolean | false |
Enables tooltip mode |
<MDBValidationItem tooltip />
|