Q:

jQuery Minimum Character Counter for Codeigniter Textarea

I'm struggling to get a minimum character counter to work with CI / jQuery. I want to be able to prevent form submission and display an alert if the user has entered too few chars.  The form just submits as normal using the code:
function checktextarea(minLength) {

  var textarea = jQuery('#field').value.length;
     if(textarea < minLength) {
        e.preventDefault();
        alert('You need to enter at least ' + minLength ' + characters');
        return false;
     }
};

And in CI I have:
<?php $attributes = array ('onsubmit' => 'checktextarea(15)'); ?>
<?php echo form_open('controller/function', $attributes); ?>

// I know this is standard HTML
  <textarea name="content" class="textarea_css" rows="10" cols="73" id="field"></textarea>

<?php echo form_submit('send', 'Submit Your Textarea'); ?>
<?php echo form_close(); ?>

Many thanks for any help!

A:

You have a reference to an e var, which isn't in the scope of your function. I'm assuming you're trying to cancel an event, but you should do that in your parent function.
The line e.preventDefault(); causes compile errors.
Next, you are accessing the value of the text area improperly, try jQuery('#field').val().length;.
Finally, the line alert('You need to enter at least ' + minLength ' + characters'); is malformed, it should read alert('You need to enter at least ' + minLength  + ' characters');
Added a fiddle, just for fun and proof: http://jsfiddle.net/TSbK8/7/

