Check for valid email before running remaining javascript

Question

I have a textbox where the user is required to insert a valid email address.

When the user submits a valid email address a loading graphic appears while the data is posted back.

The code below works fine for showing the loading graphic but it does not check that the email address is valid first. Can anyone help out?

$('#btnEmail1Submit').live ("click", function() {
   $('<div class="submitBg"></div>').appendTo(".emailEditContainer");
   $('<div class="submitLoadingCont"><img class="submitLoading" src="images/mypreferences/loading.gif" width="50" height="50" /></div>').appendTo(".emailEditContainer");
});

I am thinking that I need to put an if statement around the function that is run on click - so something like:

$('#btnEmail1Submit').live ("click", function() {
  if(emailvalid == true) {   
    $('<div class="submitBg"></div>').appendTo(".emailEditContainer");
    $('<div class="submitLoadingCont"><img class="submitLoading" src="images/mypreferences/loading.gif" width="50" height="50" /></div>').appendTo(".emailEditContainer");
  }
});

I am using asp.net email validation - it looks something like this:

<asp:RegularExpressionValidator Display="Dynamic" ValidationGroup="PrimarySubmit" ID="RegularExpressionValidator1" runat="server" ValidationExpression="\w+([-+.']\w+)*@\w+([-.]\w+)*\.\w+([-.]\w+)*" ControlToValidate="tbEmail1" ErrorMessage="Invalid email address - " />

Answer 1

You will need to use a regex to test the email address for validity:

function isValidEmailAddress(emailAddress) {
    var pattern = new RegExp(/^(("[\w-\s]+")|([\w-]+(?:\.[\w-]+)*)|("[\w-\s]+")([\w-]+(?:\.[\w-]+)*))(@((?:[\w-]+\.)*\w[\w-]{0,66})\.([a-z]{2,6}(?:\.[a-z]{2})?)$)|(@\[?((25[0-5]\.|2[0-4][0-9]\.|1[0-9]{2}\.|[0-9]{1,2}\.))((25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|[0-9]{1,2})\.){2}(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|[0-9]{1,2})\]?$)/i);
    return pattern.test(emailAddress);
};

That came from this question, so see that thread for more info.

You need to call that function with the email address provided by the user, so I'm assuming something like:

var email = $("#emailInput").val();
if(isValidEmailAddress(email)) {
    //Do stuff
}