From looking at the validator source code, I think this should do it:
$.validator.addMethod('min-length', function (val, element) {
return this.optional(element) || val.length >= $(element).data('min');
}, function(params, element) {
return 'The field cannot be less than than ' + $(element).data('min') + ' length.';
});
In your original code, the message string is NOT within the closure; the closure is the 2nd argument of addMethod
, and the error message is the 3rd argument.