Optional character in input mask

Question

How do I specify an optional character in an input mask?

I found this masked input plugin http://digitalbush.com/projects/masked-input-plugin/ and these mask definitions.

$.mask.definitions['g']="[ ]";
$.mask.definitions['h']="[aApP]";
$.mask.definitions['i']="[mM]";
$.mask.definitions['2']="[0-1]";
$.mask.definitions['6']="[0-5]";
new_mask = "29:69";
$("#txtTime").mask(new_mask);

This defines an input mask for a 12 hour time format, e.g. 11:00. I'd like to allow the user to specify only one digit for the "hour". Instead of having to type 01:00, the user should be able to type 1:00. How do I do that?

Solution 1

You need to use ? for optional characters so in your case you should use "2?9:69".

Solution 2

Quote and example from the page you linked to in your question:

You can have part of your mask be optional. Anything listed after '?' within the mask is considered optional user input. The common example for this is phone number + optional extension.

jQuery(function($){
   $("#phone").mask("[phone]? x99999");
});

Solution 3

You can use $.mask.definitions['g']="[0-9 ]";

Comments

[user823527]

But this still doesn't allow the user to specify only one character for the hour. When I click out of the input field, the mask puts the minutes for the missing hour digit.

[Bruno Silva]

Good catch, this seems like a bug in the plugin. Unfortunately, I don't know of a good solution for it unless you modify the plugin itself.