.Net Mvc 3 Trigger (other than submit button) Unobtrusive Validation

$('form').valid() should work. Let’s exemplify.

Model:

public class MyViewModel
{
    [Required]
    public string Foo { get; set; }
}

Controller:

public class HomeController : Controller
{
    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        return View(new MyViewModel());
    }
}

View:

@model MyViewModel

<script src="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6301492/@Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery.validate.js")" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6301492/@Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery.validate.unobtrusive.js")" type="text/javascript"></script>

@using (Html.BeginForm())
{
    @Html.LabelFor(x => x.Foo)
    @Html.EditorFor(x => x.Foo)
    @Html.ValidationMessageFor(x => x.Foo)
}

<div id="validate">Hover here to trigger validation</div>

<script type="text/javascript">
    $('#validate').hover(function () {
        $('form').valid();
    });
</script>