Edition for Web Developers — Last Updated 2 October 2024
name
attributedirname
attributemaxlength
attributeminlength
attributedisabled
attributeMost form controls have a value and a checkedness. (The latter is only used by input
elements.) These are used to describe how the user interacts with the control.
A control's value is its internal state. As such, it might not match the user's current input.
For instance, if a user enters the word "three" into a numeric field that expects digits, the user's input would
be the string "three" but the control's value would remain
unchanged. Or, if a user enters the email address " awesome@example.com"
(with leading whitespace) into an email field, the
user's input would be the string " awesome@example.com" but the browser's UI for
email fields might translate that into a value of "awesome@example.com
" (without the leading whitespace).
input
and textarea
elements have a dirty value flag.
This is used to track the interaction between the value and
default value. If it is false, value mirrors the default
value. If it is true, the default value is ignored.
input
, textarea
and select
elements have a
user validity boolean. It is initially set to false.
To define the behavior of constraint validation in the face of the input
element's multiple
attribute, input
elements
can also have separately defined values.
To define the behavior of the maxlength
and minlength
attributes, as well as other APIs specific to the
textarea
element, all form control with a value also have an algorithm for obtaining an API value. By
default this algorithm is to simply return the control's value.
The select
element does not have a value;
the selectedness of its option
elements is what is used instead.
A form control can be designated as mutable.
This determines (by means of definitions and requirements in this specification that rely on whether an element is so designated) whether or not the user can modify the value or checkedness of a form control, or whether or not a control can be automatically prefilled.
A form-associated element can have a relationship with a form
element, which is called the element's form
owner. If a form-associated element is not associated with a form
element, its form owner is said to be null.
A form-associated element has an associated parser inserted flag.
Support in all current engines.
Support in all current engines.
A form-associated element is, by default, associated with its ancestor form
element, but, if it is listed, may have a form
attribute specified to override this.
This feature allows authors to work around the lack of support for nested
form
elements.
If a listed form-associated element has a
form
attribute specified, then that attribute's value must be
the ID of a form
element in the element's
tree.
element.form
Returns the element's form owner.
Returns null if there isn't one.
name
attributeSupport in all current engines.
The name
content attribute gives the name of the form control, as
used in form submission and in the form
element's elements
object. If the attribute is specified, its value must
not be the empty string or isindex
.
A number of user agents historically implemented special support for first-in-form
text controls with the name isindex
, and this specification previously
defined related user agent requirements for it. However, some user agents subsequently dropped
that special support, and the related requirements were removed from this specification. So, to
avoid problematic reinterpretations in legacy user agents, the name isindex
is no longer allowed.
Other than isindex
, any non-empty value for name
is allowed. An ASCII case-insensitive match for
the name _charset_
is special: if used as
the name of a control with no value
attribute, then during submission the value
attribute is automatically given a value consisting of the
submission character encoding.
DOM clobbering is a common cause of security issues. Avoid using the names of
built-in form properties with the name
content attribute.
In this example, the input
element overrides the built-in method
property:
let form = document. createElement( "form" );
let input = document. createElement( "input" );
form. appendChild( input);
form. method; // => "get"
input. name = "method" ; // DOM clobbering occurs here
form. method === input; // => true
Since the input name takes precedence over built-in form properties, the JavaScript reference
form.method
will point to the input
element named "method"
instead of the built-in method
property.
dirname
attributeSupport in all current engines.
The dirname
attribute on a form control element enables the submission of the directionality of
the element, and gives the name of the control that contains this value during form
submission. If such an attribute is specified, its value must not be the empty string.
In this example, a form contains a text control and a submission button:
< form action = "addcomment.cgi" method = post >
< p >< label > Comment: < input type = text name = "comment" dirname = "comment.dir" required ></ label ></ p >
< p >< button name = "mode" type = submit value = "add" > Post Comment</ button ></ p >
</ form >
When the user submits the form, the user agent includes three fields, one called "comment", one called "comment.dir", and one called "mode"; so if the user types "Hello", the submission body might be something like:
comment=Hello&comment.dir=ltr&mode=add
If the user manually switches to a right-to-left writing direction and enters "مرحبا", the submission body might be something like:
comment=%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%AD%D8%A8%D8%A7&comment.dir=rtl&mode=add
maxlength
attributeA form
control maxlength
attribute, controlled by the dirty value flag, declares a limit on the number of characters a
user can input. The number of characters is measured using length and, in the case
of textarea
elements, with all newlines normalized to a single character (as opposed
to CRLF pairs).
If an element has its form control maxlength
attribute specified, the attribute's value must be a valid
non-negative integer. If the attribute is specified and applying the rules for
parsing non-negative integers to its value results in a number, then that number is the
element's maximum allowed value length. If the attribute is omitted or parsing its
value results in an error, then there is no maximum allowed value length.
minlength
attributeA form
control minlength
attribute, controlled by the dirty value flag, declares a lower bound on the number of
characters a user can input. The "number of characters" is measured using length and,
in the case of textarea
elements, with all newlines normalized to a single character
(as opposed to CRLF pairs).
The minlength
attribute does not imply the
required
attribute. If the form control has no required
attribute, then the value can still be omitted; the minlength
attribute only kicks in once the user has entered a
value at all. If the empty string is not allowed, then the required
attribute also needs to be set.
If an element has its form control minlength
attribute specified, the attribute's value must be a valid
non-negative integer. If the attribute is specified and applying the rules for
parsing non-negative integers to its value results in a number, then that number is the
element's minimum allowed value length. If the attribute is omitted or parsing its
value results in an error, then there is no minimum allowed value length.
If an element has both a maximum allowed value length and a minimum allowed value length, the minimum allowed value length must be smaller than or equal to the maximum allowed value length.
In this example, there are four text controls. The first is required, and has to be at least 5 characters long. The other three are optional, but if the user fills one in, the user has to enter at least 10 characters.
< form action = "/events/menu.cgi" method = "post" >
< p >< label > Name of Event: < input required minlength = 5 maxlength = 50 name = event ></ label ></ p >
< p >< label > Describe what you would like for breakfast, if anything:
< textarea name = "breakfast" minlength = "10" ></ textarea ></ label ></ p >
< p >< label > Describe what you would like for lunch, if anything:
< textarea name = "lunch" minlength = "10" ></ textarea ></ label ></ p >
< p >< label > Describe what you would like for dinner, if anything:
< textarea name = "dinner" minlength = "10" ></ textarea ></ label ></ p >
< p >< input type = submit value = "Submit Request" ></ p >
</ form >
disabled
attributeSupport in all current engines.
Support in all current engines.
Support in all current engines.
Support in all current engines.
Support in all current engines.
The disabled
content attribute is a boolean
attribute.
The disabled
attribute for
option
elements and the disabled
attribute for optgroup
elements are defined separately.
A form control is disabled if any of the following are true:
the element is a button
, input
, select
,
textarea
, or form-associated custom element, and the disabled
attribute is specified on this element (regardless of
its value); or
the element is a descendant of a fieldset
element whose disabled
attribute is specified, and is not a
descendant of that fieldset
element's first legend
element child, if
any.
Element/form#Attributes_for_form_submission
Support in all current engines.
Attributes for form submission can be specified both on form
elements
and on submit buttons (elements that represent buttons
that submit forms, e.g. an input
element whose type
attribute is in the Submit Button state).
The attributes for form submission that may be specified on form
elements are action
, enctype
, method
, novalidate
, and target
.
The corresponding attributes for form submission that may be specified on submit buttons are formaction
, formenctype
, formmethod
, formnovalidate
, and formtarget
. When omitted, they default to the values given on
the corresponding attributes on the form
element.
Support in all current engines.
The action
and
formaction
content attributes, if specified, must have a value that is a valid non-empty URL
potentially surrounded by spaces.
The action of an element is the value of the element's
formaction
attribute, if the element is a submit button and has such an attribute, or the value of its
form owner's action
attribute, if it has
one, or else the empty string.
Support in all current engines.
The method
and
formmethod
content attributes are enumerated attributes with the
following keywords and states:
Keyword | State | Brief description |
---|---|---|
get
| GET | Indicates the form will use the HTTP GET method.
|
post
| POST | Indicates the form will use the HTTP POST method.
|
dialog
| Dialog | Indicates the form is intended to close the dialog box in which
the form finds itself, if any, and otherwise not submit.
|
The method
attribute's missing value default and invalid value default
are both the GET state.
The formmethod
attribute has no missing value default, and its invalid value
default is the GET state.
The method of an element is one of those states. If the
element is a submit button and has a formmethod
attribute, then the element's method is that attribute's state; otherwise, it is the form
owner's method
attribute's state.
Here the method
attribute is used to explicitly specify
the default value, "get
", so that the search
query is submitted in the URL:
< form method = "get" action = "/search.cgi" >
< p >< label > Search terms: < input type = search name = q ></ label ></ p >
< p >< input type = submit ></ p >
</ form >
On the other hand, here the method
attribute is used to
specify the value "post
", so that the user's
message is submitted in the HTTP request's body:
< form method = "post" action = "/post-message.cgi" >
< p >< label > Message: < input type = text name = m ></ label ></ p >
< p >< input type = submit value = "Submit message" ></ p >
</ form >
In this example, a form
is used with a dialog
. The method
attribute's "dialog
" keyword is used to have the dialog
automatically close when the form is submitted.
< dialog id = "ship" >
< form method = dialog >
< p > A ship has arrived in the harbour.</ p >
< button type = submit value = "board" > Board the ship</ button >
< button type = submit value = "call" > Call to the captain</ button >
</ form >
</ dialog >
< script >
var ship = document. getElementById( 'ship' );
ship. showModal();
ship. onclose = function ( event) {
if ( ship. returnValue == 'board' ) {
// ...
} else {
// ...
}
};
</ script >
Support in all current engines.
The enctype
and
formenctype
content attributes are enumerated attributes with the
following keywords and states:
application/x-www-form-urlencoded
" keyword and
corresponding state.multipart/form-data
" keyword and corresponding
state.text/plain
" keyword and corresponding state.The attribute's missing value default and invalid value default are both the application/x-www-form-urlencoded
state.
The formenctype
attribute has no missing value default, and its invalid value
default is the application/x-www-form-urlencoded
state.
The enctype of an element is one of those three states.
If the element is a submit button and has a formenctype
attribute, then the element's enctype is that attribute's state; otherwise, it is the
form owner's enctype
attribute's state.
Support in all current engines.
The target
and
formtarget
content attributes, if specified, must have values that are valid navigable target names or keywords.
Support in all current engines.
The novalidate
and formnovalidate
content attributes are boolean attributes. If present, they indicate that the form is
not to be validated during submission.
The no-validate state of an element is true if the
element is a submit button and the element's formnovalidate
attribute is present, or if the element's
form owner's novalidate
attribute is present,
and false otherwise.
This attribute is useful to include "save" buttons on forms that have validation constraints, to allow users to save their progress even though they haven't fully entered the data in the form. The following example shows a simple form that has two required fields. There are three buttons: one to submit the form, which requires both fields to be filled in; one to save the form so that the user can come back and fill it in later; and one to cancel the form altogether.
< form action = "editor.cgi" method = "post" >
< p >< label > Name: < input required name = fn ></ label ></ p >
< p >< label > Essay: < textarea required name = essay ></ textarea ></ label ></ p >
< p >< input type = submit name = submit value = "Submit essay" ></ p >
< p >< input type = submit formnovalidate name = save value = "Save essay" ></ p >
< p >< input type = submit formnovalidate name = cancel value = "Cancel" ></ p >
</ form >
autocomplete
attributeSupport in all current engines.
User agents sometimes have features for helping users fill forms in, for example prefilling the
user's address based on earlier user input. The autocomplete
content attribute can be used to hint to
the user agent how to, or indeed whether to, provide such a feature.
There are two ways this attribute is used. When wearing the autofill expectation
mantle, the autocomplete
attribute describes what
input is expected from users. When wearing the autofill anchor mantle, the autocomplete
attribute describes the meaning of the given
value.
On an input
element whose type
attribute is
in the state, the autocomplete
attribute wears the autofill anchor
mantle. In all other cases, it wears the autofill expectation mantle.
When wearing the autofill expectation mantle, the autocomplete
attribute, if specified, must have a value that
is an ordered set of space-separated tokens consisting of either a single token that
is an ASCII case-insensitive match for the string "off
", or a single token that is an ASCII
case-insensitive match for the string "on
",
or autofill detail tokens.
When wearing the autofill anchor
mantle, the autocomplete
attribute, if specified, must have a value that is an ordered set of
space-separated tokens consisting of just autofill detail tokens (i.e. the
"on
" and "off
" keywords are not allowed).
Autofill detail tokens are the following, in the order given below:
Optionally, a token whose first eight characters are an ASCII case-insensitive
match for the string "section-
", meaning that the field belongs to
the named group.
For example, if there are two shipping addresses in the form, then they could be marked up as:
< fieldset >
< legend > Ship the blue gift to...</ legend >
< p > < label > Address: < textarea name = ba autocomplete = "section-blue shipping street-address" ></ textarea > </ label >
< p > < label > City: < input name = bc autocomplete = "section-blue shipping address-level2" > </ label >
< p > < label > Postal Code: < input name = bp autocomplete = "section-blue shipping postal-code" > </ label >
</ fieldset >
< fieldset >
< legend > Ship the red gift to...</ legend >
< p > < label > Address: < textarea name = ra autocomplete = "section-red shipping street-address" ></ textarea > </ label >
< p > < label > City: < input name = rc autocomplete = "section-red shipping address-level2" > </ label >
< p > < label > Postal Code: < input name = rp autocomplete = "section-red shipping postal-code" > </ label >
</ fieldset >
Optionally, a token that is an ASCII case-insensitive match for one of the following strings:
shipping
", meaning the field is part of the
shipping address or contact information
billing
", meaning the field is part of the
billing address or contact information
Either of the following two options:
A token that is an ASCII case-insensitive match for one of the following autofill field names, excluding those that are inappropriate for the control:
name
"
honorific-prefix
"
given-name
"
additional-name
"
family-name
"
honorific-suffix
"
nickname
"
username
"
new-password
"
current-password
"
one-time-code
"
organization-title
"
organization
"
street-address
"
address-line1
"
address-line2
"
address-line3
"
address-level4
"
address-level3
"
address-level2
"
address-level1
"
country
"
country-name
"
postal-code
"
cc-name
"
cc-given-name
"
cc-additional-name
"
cc-family-name
"
cc-number
"
cc-exp
"
cc-exp-month
"
cc-exp-year
"
cc-csc
"
cc-type
"
transaction-currency
"
transaction-amount
"
language
"
bday
"
bday-day
"
bday-month
"
bday-year
"
sex
"
url
"
photo
"
(See the table below for descriptions of these values.)
The following, in the given order:
Optionally, a token that is an ASCII case-insensitive match for one of the following strings:
home
", meaning the field is for contacting
someone at their residence
work
", meaning the field is for contacting
someone at their workplace
mobile
", meaning the
field is for contacting someone regardless of location
fax
", meaning the field describes a fax
machine's contact details
pager
", meaning the field describes a
pager's or beeper's contact details
A token that is an ASCII case-insensitive match for one of the following autofill field names, excluding those that are inappropriate for the control:
tel
"
tel-country-code
"
tel-national
"
tel-area-code
"
tel-local
"
tel-local-prefix
"
tel-local-suffix
"
tel-extension
"
email
"
impp
"
(See the table below for descriptions of these values.)
Optionally, a token that is an ASCII case-insensitive match for the string
"webauthn
", meaning the user agent
should show public key credentials available via
conditional
mediation when the user interacts with the
form control. webauthn
is only valid for
input
and textarea
elements.
As noted earlier, the meaning of the attribute and its keywords depends on the mantle that the attribute is wearing.
The "off
" keyword indicates either that the control's
input data is particularly sensitive (for example the activation code for a nuclear weapon); or
that it is a value that will never be reused (for example a one-time-key for a bank login) and
the user will therefore have to explicitly enter the data each time, instead of being able to
rely on the UA to prefill the value for them; or that the document provides its own autocomplete
mechanism and does not want the user agent to provide autocompletion values.
The "on
" keyword indicates that the user agent is
allowed to provide the user with autocompletion values, but does not provide any further
information about what kind of data the user might be expected to enter. User agents would have
to use heuristics to decide what autocompletion values to suggest.
The autofill field listed above indicate that the user agent is allowed to provide the user with autocompletion values, and specifies what kind of value is expected. The meaning of each such keyword is described in the table below.
If the autocomplete
attribute is omitted, the default
value corresponding to the state of the element's form owner's autocomplete
attribute is used instead (either "on
" or "off
"). If there is no form owner, then the
value "on
" is used.
The autofill field listed above indicate that the value of the particular kind of value specified is that value provided for this element. The meaning of each such keyword is described in the table below.
In this example the page has explicitly specified the currency and amount of the transaction. The form requests a credit card and other billing details. The user agent could use this information to suggest a credit card that it knows has sufficient balance and that supports the relevant currency.
< form method = post action = "step2.cgi" >
< input type = hidden autocomplete = transaction-currency value = "CHF" >
< input type = hidden autocomplete = transaction-amount value = "15.00" >
< p >< label > Credit card number: < input type = text inputmode = numeric autocomplete = cc-number ></ label >
< p >< label > Expiry Date: < input type = month autocomplete = cc-exp ></ label >
< p >< input type = submit value = "Continue..." >
</ form >
The autofill field keywords relate to each other as described in the table below. Each field name
listed on a row of this table corresponds to the meaning given in the cell for that row in the
column labeled "Meaning". Some fields correspond to subparts of other fields; for example, a
credit card expiry date can be expressed as one field giving both the month and year of expiry
("cc-exp
"), or as two fields, one giving the
month ("cc-exp-month
") and one the year
("cc-exp-year
"). In such cases, the names of
the broader fields cover multiple rows, in which the narrower fields are defined.
Generally, authors are encouraged to use the broader fields rather than the narrower fields, as the narrower fields tend to expose Western biases. For example, while it is common in some Western cultures to have a given name and a family name, in that order (and thus often referred to as a first name and a surname), many cultures put the family name first and the given name second, and many others simply have one name (a mononym). Having a single field is therefore more flexible.
Some fields are only appropriate for certain form controls. An autofill field name is inappropriate for a control if the control does not belong to the group listed for that autofill field in the fifth column of the first row describing that autofill field in the table below. What controls fall into each group is described below the table.
Field name | Meaning | Canonical Format | Canonical Format Example | Control group | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
"name "
| Full name | Free-form text, no newlines | Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee, OM, KBE, FRS, FREng, FRSA | Text | |||
"honorific-prefix "
| Prefix or title (e.g. "Mr.", "Ms.", "Dr.", "Mlle") | Free-form text, no newlines | Sir | Text | |||
"given-name "
| Given name (in some Western cultures, also known as the first name) | Free-form text, no newlines | Timothy | Text | |||
"additional-name "
| Additional names (in some Western cultures, also known as middle names, forenames other than the first name) | Free-form text, no newlines | John | Text | |||
"family-name "
| Family name (in some Western cultures, also known as the last name or surname) | Free-form text, no newlines | Berners-Lee | Text | |||
"honorific-suffix "
| Suffix (e.g. "Jr.", "B.Sc.", "MBASW", "II") | Free-form text, no newlines | OM, KBE, FRS, FREng, FRSA | Text | |||
"nickname "
| Nickname, screen name, handle: a typically short name used instead of the full name | Free-form text, no newlines | Tim | Text | |||
"organization-title "
| Job title (e.g. "Software Engineer", "Senior Vice President", "Deputy Managing Director") | Free-form text, no newlines | Professor | Text | |||
"username "
| A username | Free-form text, no newlines | timbl | Username | |||
"new-password "
| A new password (e.g. when creating an account or changing a password) | Free-form text, no newlines | GUMFXbadyrS3 | Password | |||
"current-password "
| The current password for the account identified by the username field (e.g. when logging in)
| Free-form text, no newlines | qwerty | Password | |||
"one-time-code "
| One-time code used for verifying user identity | Free-form text, no newlines | 123456 | Password | |||
"organization "
| Company name corresponding to the person, address, or contact information in the other fields associated with this field | Free-form text, no newlines | World Wide Web Consortium | Text | |||
"street-address "
| Street address (multiple lines, newlines preserved) | Free-form text | 32 Vassar Street MIT Room 32-G524 | Multiline | |||
"address-line1 "
| Street address (one line per field) | Free-form text, no newlines | 32 Vassar Street | Text | |||
"address-line2 "
| Free-form text, no newlines | MIT Room 32-G524 | Text | ||||
"address-line3 "
| Free-form text, no newlines | Text | |||||
"address-level4 "
| The most fine-grained administrative level, in addresses with four administrative levels | Free-form text, no newlines | Text | ||||
"address-level3 "
| The third administrative level, in addresses with three or more administrative levels | Free-form text, no newlines | Text | ||||
"address-level2 "
| The second administrative level, in addresses with two or more administrative levels; in the countries with two administrative levels, this would typically be the city, town, village, or other locality within which the relevant street address is found | Free-form text, no newlines | Cambridge | Text | |||
"address-level1 "
| The broadest administrative level in the address, i.e. the province within which the locality is found; for example, in the US, this would be the state; in Switzerland it would be the canton; in the UK, the post town | Free-form text, no newlines | MA | Text | |||
"country "
| Country code | Valid ISO 3166-1-alpha-2 country code [ISO3166] | US | Text | |||
"country-name "
| Country name | Free-form text, no newlines; derived from country in some cases
| US | Text | |||
"postal-code "
| Postal code, post code, ZIP code, CEDEX code (if CEDEX, append "CEDEX", and the arrondissement, if relevant, to the address-level2 field)
| Free-form text, no newlines | 02139 | Text | |||
"cc-name "
| Full name as given on the payment instrument | Free-form text, no newlines | Tim Berners-Lee | Text | |||
"cc-given-name "
| Given name as given on the payment instrument (in some Western cultures, also known as the first name) | Free-form text, no newlines | Tim | Text | |||
"cc-additional-name "
| Additional names given on the payment instrument (in some Western cultures, also known as middle names, forenames other than the first name) | Free-form text, no newlines | Text | ||||
"cc-family-name "
| Family name given on the payment instrument (in some Western cultures, also known as the last name or surname) | Free-form text, no newlines | Berners-Lee | Text | |||
"cc-number "
| Code identifying the payment instrument (e.g. the credit card number) | ASCII digits | 4114360123456785 | Text | |||
"cc-exp "
| Expiration date of the payment instrument | Valid month string | 2014-12 | Month | |||
"cc-exp-month "
| Month component of the expiration date of the payment instrument | Valid integer in the range 1..12 | 12 | Numeric | |||
"cc-exp-year "
| Year component of the expiration date of the payment instrument | Valid integer greater than zero | 2014 | Numeric | |||
"cc-csc "
| Security code for the payment instrument (also known as the card security code (CSC), card validation code (CVC), card verification value (CVV), signature panel code (SPC), credit card ID (CCID), etc.) | ASCII digits | 419 | Text | |||
"cc-type "
| Type of payment instrument | Free-form text, no newlines | Visa | Text | |||
"transaction-currency "
| The currency that the user would prefer the transaction to use | ISO 4217 currency code [ISO4217] | GBP | Text | |||
"transaction-amount "
| The amount that the user would like for the transaction (e.g. when entering a bid or sale price) | Valid floating-point number | 401.00 | Numeric | |||
"language "
| Preferred language | Valid BCP 47 language tag [BCP47] | en | Text | |||
"bday "
| Birthday | Valid date string | 1955-06-08 | Date | |||
"bday-day "
| Day component of birthday | Valid integer in the range 1..31 | 8 | Numeric | |||
"bday-month "
| Month component of birthday | Valid integer in the range 1..12 | 6 | Numeric | |||
"bday-year "
| Year component of birthday | Valid integer greater than zero | 1955 | Numeric | |||
"sex "
| Gender identity (e.g. Female, Fa'afafine) | Free-form text, no newlines | Male | Text | |||
"url "
| Home page or other web page corresponding to the company, person, address, or contact information in the other fields associated with this field | Valid URL string | https://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/ | URL | |||
"photo "
| Photograph, icon, or other image corresponding to the company, person, address, or contact information in the other fields associated with this field | Valid URL string | https://www.w3.org/Press/Stock/Berners-Lee/2001-europaeum-eighth.jpg | URL | |||
"tel "
| Full telephone number, including country code | ASCII digits and U+0020 SPACE characters, prefixed by a U+002B PLUS SIGN character (+) | +1 617 253 5702 | Tel | |||
"tel-country-code "
| Country code component of the telephone number | ASCII digits prefixed by a U+002B PLUS SIGN character (+) | +1 | Text | |||
"tel-national "
| Telephone number without the county code component, with a country-internal prefix applied if applicable | ASCII digits and U+0020 SPACE characters | 617 253 5702 | Text | |||
"tel-area-code "
| Area code component of the telephone number, with a country-internal prefix applied if applicable | ASCII digits | 617 | Text | |||
"tel-local "
| Telephone number without the country code and area code components | ASCII digits | 2535702 | Text | |||
"tel-local-prefix "
| First part of the component of the telephone number that follows the area code, when that component is split into two components | ASCII digits | 253 | Text | |||
"tel-local-suffix "
| Second part of the component of the telephone number that follows the area code, when that component is split into two components | ASCII digits | 5702 | Text | |||
"tel-extension "
| Telephone number internal extension code | ASCII digits | 1000 | Text | |||
"email "
| Email address | Valid email address | timbl@w3.org | Username | |||
"impp "
| URL representing an instant messaging protocol endpoint (for example, "aim:goim?screenname=example " or "xmpp:fred@example.net ")
| Valid URL string | irc://example.org/timbl,isuser | URL |
The groups correspond to controls as follows:
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Hidden state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Text state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Search state
textarea
elements
select
elements
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Hidden state
textarea
elements
select
elements
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Hidden state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Text state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Search state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Password state
textarea
elements
select
elements
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Hidden state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Text state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Search state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the URL state
textarea
elements
select
elements
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Hidden state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Text state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Search state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Email state
textarea
elements
select
elements
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Hidden state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Text state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Search state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Telephone state
textarea
elements
select
elements
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Hidden state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Text state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Search state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Number state
textarea
elements
select
elements
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Hidden state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Text state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Search state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Month state
textarea
elements
select
elements
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Hidden state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Text state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Search state
input
elements with a type
attribute in the Date state
textarea
elements
select
elements
Address levels: The "address-level1
" – "address-level4
" fields are used to describe
the locality of the street address. Different locales have different numbers of levels. For
example, the US uses two levels (state and town), the UK uses one or two depending on the address
(the post town, and in some cases the locality), and China can use three (province, city,
district). The "address-level1
" field
represents the widest administrative division. Different locales order the fields in different
ways; for example, in the US the town (level 2) precedes the state (level 1); while in Japan the
prefecture (level 1) precedes the city (level 2) which precedes the district (level 3). Authors
are encouraged to provide forms that are presented in a way that matches the country's conventions
(hiding, showing, and rearranging fields accordingly as the user changes the country).
The input
and textarea
elements define several attributes and methods
for handling their selection. Their shared algorithms are defined here.
element.select()
Support in all current engines.
Selects everything in the text control.
element.selectionStart [ = value ]
Returns the offset to the start of the selection.
Can be set, to change the start of the selection.
element.selectionEnd [ = value ]
Returns the offset to the end of the selection.
Can be set, to change the end of the selection.
element.selectionDirection [ = value ]
Returns the current direction of the selection.
Can be set, to change the direction of the selection.
The possible values are "forward
", "backward
",
and "none
".
element.setSelectionRange(start, end [, direction])
Changes the selection to cover the given substring in the given direction. If the direction is omitted, it will be reset to be the platform default (none or forward).
element.setRangeText(replacement [, start, end [, selectionMode ] ])
Replaces a range of text with the new text. If the start and end arguments are not provided, the range is assumed to be the selection.
The final argument determines how the selection will be set after the text has been replaced. The possible values are:
select
"start
"end
"preserve
"To obtain the currently selected text, the following JavaScript suffices:
var selectionText = control. value. substring( control. selectionStart, control. selectionEnd);
To add some text at the start of a text control, while maintaining the text selection, the three attributes must be preserved:
var oldStart = control. selectionStart;
var oldEnd = control. selectionEnd;
var oldDirection = control. selectionDirection;
var prefix = "http://" ;
control. value = prefix + control. value;
control. setSelectionRange( oldStart + prefix. length, oldEnd + prefix. length, oldDirection);
element.willValidate
Returns true if the element will be validated when the form is submitted; false otherwise.
element.setCustomValidity(message)
HTMLInputElement/setCustomValidity
Support in all current engines.
Sets a custom error, so that the element would fail to validate. The given message is the message to be shown to the user when reporting the problem to the user.
If the argument is the empty string, clears the custom error.
element.validity.valueMissing
Returns true if the element has no value but is a required field; false otherwise.
element.validity.typeMismatch
Support in all current engines.
Returns true if the element's value is not in the correct syntax; false otherwise.
element.validity.patternMismatch
Support in all current engines.
Returns true if the element's value doesn't match the provided pattern; false otherwise.
element.validity.tooLong
Returns true if the element's value is longer than the provided maximum length; false otherwise.
element.validity.tooShort
Returns true if the element's value, if it is not the empty string, is shorter than the provided minimum length; false otherwise.
element.validity.rangeUnderflow
Support in all current engines.
Returns true if the element's value is lower than the provided minimum; false otherwise.
element.validity.rangeOverflow
Support in all current engines.
Returns true if the element's value is higher than the provided maximum; false otherwise.
element.validity.stepMismatch
Support in all current engines.
Returns true if the element's value doesn't fit the rules given by the step
attribute; false otherwise.
element.validity.badInput
Returns true if the user has provided input in the user interface that the user agent is unable to convert to a value; false otherwise.
element.validity.customError
Returns true if the element has a custom error; false otherwise.
element.validity.valid
Returns true if the element's value has no validity problems; false otherwise.
valid = element.checkValidity()
Returns true if the element's value has no validity problems; false otherwise. Fires an
invalid
event at the element in the latter case.
valid = element.reportValidity()
Returns true if the element's value has no validity problems; otherwise, returns false, fires
an invalid
event at the element, and (if the event isn't
canceled) reports the problem to the user.
element.validationMessage
Returns the error message that would be shown to the user if the element was to be checked for validity.
In the following example, a script checks the value of a form control each time it is edited,
and whenever it is not a valid value, uses the setCustomValidity()
method to set an appropriate
message.
< label > Feeling: < input name = f type = "text" oninput = "check(this)" ></ label >
< script >
function check( input) {
if ( input. value == "good" ||
input. value == "fine" ||
input. value == "tired" ) {
input. setCustomValidity( '"' + input. value + '" is not a feeling.' );
} else {
// input is fine -- reset the error message
input. setCustomValidity( '' );
}
}
</ script >
Servers should not rely on client-side validation. Client-side validation can be intentionally bypassed by hostile users, and unintentionally bypassed by users of older user agents or automated tools that do not implement these features. The constraint validation features are only intended to improve the user experience, not to provide any kind of security mechanism.
When a form is submitted, the data in the form is converted into the structure specified by the enctype, and then sent to the destination specified by the action using the given method.
For example, take the following form:
< form action = "/find.cgi" method = get >
< input type = text name = t >
< input type = search name = q >
< input type = submit >
</ form >
If the user types in "cats" in the first field and "fur" in the second, and then hits the
submit button, then the user agent will load /find.cgi?t=cats&q=fur
.
On the other hand, consider this form:
< form action = "/find.cgi" method = post enctype = "multipart/form-data" >
< input type = text name = t >
< input type = search name = q >
< input type = submit >
</ form >
Given the same user input, the result on submission is quite different: the user agent instead does an HTTP POST to the given URL, with as the entity body something like the following text:
------kYFrd4jNJEgCervE Content-Disposition: form-data; name="t" cats ------kYFrd4jNJEgCervE Content-Disposition: form-data; name="q" fur ------kYFrd4jNJEgCervE--
See URL for details
on application/x-www-form-urlencoded
. [URL]
For details on how to interpret multipart/form-data
payloads, see RFC 7578.
[RFC7578]
Payloads using the text/plain
format are intended to be human readable. They are
not reliably interpretable by computer, as the format is ambiguous (for example, there is no way
to distinguish a literal newline in a value from the newline at the end of the value).
SubmitEvent
interfaceSupport in all current engines.
event.submitter
Returns the element representing the submit button that triggered the form submission, or null if the submission was not triggered by a button.
FormDataEvent
interfaceSupport in all current engines.
Support in all current engines.