<INPUT>

Description

	<Related pages>
	Information about an add-on to add support for <INPUT type="file"> to IE 3.02 RFC 1867.

DTD

<!ELEMENT INPUT - O EMPTY              -- form control -->
<!ATTLIST INPUT
  %attrs;                              -- %coreattrs, %i18n, %events --
  type        %InputType;    TEXT      -- what kind of widget is needed --
  name        CDATA          #IMPLIED  -- submit as part of form --
  value       CDATA          #IMPLIED  -- required for radio and checkboxes --
  checked     (checked)      #IMPLIED  -- for radio buttons and check boxes --
  disabled    (disabled)     #IMPLIED  -- unavailable in this context --
  readonly    (readonly)     #IMPLIED  -- for text and passwd --
  size        CDATA          #IMPLIED  -- specific to each type of field --
  maxlength   NUMBER         #IMPLIED  -- max chars for text fields --
  src         %URI;          #IMPLIED  -- for fields with images --
  alt         CDATA          #IMPLIED  -- short description --
  usemap      %URI;          #IMPLIED  -- use client-side image map --
  tabindex    NUMBER         #IMPLIED  -- position in tabbing order --
  accesskey   %Character;    #IMPLIED  -- accessibility key character --
  onfocus     %Script;       #IMPLIED  -- the element got the focus --
  onblur      %Script;       #IMPLIED  -- the element lost the focus --
  onselect    %Script;       #IMPLIED  -- some text was selected --
  onchange    %Script;       #IMPLIED  -- the element value was changed --
  accept      %ContentTypes; #IMPLIED  -- list of MIME types for file upload --
  >

Attributes

Value	Description
BUTTON	Creates a button. The action that is triggered by using this button is defined by the ONCLICK attribute. This value is not supported by the HTML 3.2 Reference Specification.
CHECKBOX	Creates a checkbox. This can be used for simple Boolean attributes, or for attributes that can take multiple values at the same time. The latter is represented by several checkbox fields with the same name and a different value attribute. Each checked checkbox generates a separate name/value pair in the submitted data, even if this results in duplicate names.
FILE	This provides a means for users to attach a file to the form's contents. For this TYPE the value the user enters is not send to the server but this value is used as the filename of the file that is send instead. For this input type to function correct you must specify enctype="multipart/form-data" because the data send to the server consists or more than one part. Complete information can be found in RFC 1867. Note: Internet Explorer 3.0 only supports this from version 3.02, and there must be an add-on installed.
HIDDEN	These fields provide a means for servers to store state information with a form. This will be passed back to the server when the form is submitted, using the name/value pair defined by the corresponding attributes. This is a work around for the statelessness of HTTP. Another approach is to use HTTP "Cookies". The need to store information between pages exists because the HTTP protocol is a "stateless" protocol. This means there is no permanent connection between the browser and the server. Each time the browser requests a page, or an element on it, a new connection is made, the data is sent and the connection is closed.
IMAGE	Create a graphical submit button rendered by an image rather than a text string. The x and y values of the location clicked are passed to the server: In the submitted data, image fields are included as two name/value pairs. The names are derived by taking the name of the field and appending ".x" for the x value, and ".y" for the y value.
PASSWORD	Create a single line text field which will not show the contents of the field but instead the * character.
RADIO	Creates a radio button. This can be used for attributes which can take a single value from a set of alternatives. Each radio button field in the group should be given the same name. Radio buttons require an explicit value attribute. Only the checked radio button in the group generates a name/value pair in the submitted data.
RESET	Creates a button that users can click to reset form fields to their initial state when the document was first loaded. Reset buttons are never sent as part of the form's contents.
SUBMIT	Creates a button that users can click to submit the form's contents to the server. If the name attribute is given then the submit button's name/value pair will be included in the submitted data. You can include several submit buttons in the form.
TEXT	Creates a single line text field.

The default type is TEXT.

Supported attributes for every input type

		TYPE=
		button	checkbox	file	hidden	image	password	radio	reset	submit	text
A T T R I B U T E	action	x	x	x		x	x	x	x	x	x
	accept			x
	align					x
	checked		x					x
	maxlength						x				x
	name	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
	noargs	x	x	x		x	x	x	x	x	x
	nohighlight						x				x
	onblur			x			x				x
	onchange			x			x				x
	onclick	x	x					x	x	x
	onfocus			x			x				x
	submitform	x	x	x		x	x	x	x	x	x
	size						x				x
	src					x
	value	x	x		x		x	x	x	x	x
	width	x	x	x		x	x	x	x	x	x

The default value for a control is 0. Use the value attribute for the control to set a different value.

When both the action and submitform attributes are set for the control, the WebTV interface submits the entire form by means of this action. Note that the action attribute can also be used to invoke client functions. However, client functions are not recommended for content developers. These functions are intended for use by WebTV Networks for developing basic WebTV functionality.

Value	Description
ABSBOTTOM 1	Aligns the bottom of the image with the bottom of the current line. This values is not present in the HTML 3.2 and 4.0 standards.
ABSMIDDLE 2	Aligns the middle of the image with the middle of the current line. This values is not present in the HTML 3.2 and 4.0 standards.
BASELINE 3	Aligns the bottom of the image with the baseline of the text in the line. This value does the same as align="bottom". This values is not present in the HTML 3.2 and 4.0 standards.
BOTTOM 4	Aligns the bottom of the image with the baseline of the text in the line. This value does the same as align="baseline".
LEFT	Places the image at the current left margin, temporarily changing this margin, so that subsequent text is flowed along the image's righthand side.
MIDDLE 5	Aligns the middle of the image with the baseline of the text.
RIGHT	Places the image at the current right margin, temporarily changing this margin, so that subsequent text is flowed along the image's lefthand side.
TEXTTOP 6	Aligns the top of the image with the top of the text in the line. This values is not present in the HTML 3.2 and 4.0 standards.
TOP 7	Aligns the top of the image with the top of the largest item in the line.

The numbers correspond to the example below, where you can see how the different values look:

  Example 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: 7:

The value LEFT and RIGHT are not included here because they effect the horizontal position on the page and not the vertical position.

The WevTV specification (v2.1) only mentions BOTTOM, LEFT, MIDDLE, RIGHT, and TOP.

Note: When this attribute is not specified for a text entry field, the user must press the center button on the remote control (or press Return on the keyboard) to activate the text entry field and be able to type. Also, when AUTOACTIVATE is not specified, the arrow buttons on the remote control move the yellow Highlight box to the next selectable item on the Web page.

ButtonBorder2.bif is used for the Done button in Setup and displays as a flat button with rounded corners.

ButtonBorder3.bif is used in the Reconnect panel and displays as a convex button with square corners.

The differences between disabled fields and readonly fields

function	Readonly fields	Disabled fields
Getting focus	can receive focus	cannot receive focus
Tabbing order	included in the tabbing order	skipped from the tabbing order
Successful controls	can be successful	cannot be successful

For controls with type="radio" this attribute is used to group radio-buttons together. This is done be giving them the same name. The result is that the user can only select one of the radio-buttons in the group.

Disables the image map cursor when the user selects the input image. The WebTV interface simply submits the form, using the center point of the input image.

The WebTV interface normally displays the image map cursor when the user selects an input image. The user must select the input image twice in order to invoke its action: once to display the image map cursor and a second time to select a particular area of the input image.

For large input images with multiple "hot" areas, this behavior is ideal.

For a small input image, such as a custom button image used in place of the standard button image provided by a browser, you can avoid the second selection by using the NOCURSOR attribute.

The WebTV interface normally displays the image map cursor when the user selects an input image. The user must select the input image twice in order to invoke its action: once to display the image map cursor and a second time to select a particular area of the input image.

For large input images with multiple "hot" areas, this behavior is ideal.

For a small input image, such as a custom button image used in place of the standard button image provided by a browser, you can avoid the second selection by using the nocursor attribute.

You can use the nohighlight attribute on text entry fields. Since the text entry field, defined by <input type="text">, draws a cursor to indicate that the viewer can type there, it’s not necessary to also indicate the selected field with a yellow Highlight rectangle. The nohighlight attribute can be used to disable the yellow Highlight rectangle in this case.

You can also use the nohighlight attribute if there is only one area on a page that can be selected. In this case, make the selectable area obvious to the viewer with graphics, text, formatting, or sound, since the nohighlight attribute disables the Highlight rectangle.

Note: This reduces the time the user needs to spend to move the Highlight box to the numeric keypad of the on-screen keyboard.

The differences between disabled fields and readonly fields

function	Readonly fields	Disabled fields
Getting focus	can receive focus	cannot receive focus
Tabbing order	included in the tabbing order	skipped from the tabbing order
Successful controls	can be successful	cannot be successful

For other visual controls you set the number of pixels that it is wide.

Note: When the ACTION attribute is set for a control, the value for the control is sent to the server immediately. If the SUBMITFORM attribute is not set, only the value for the selected control is submitted.

Note: When both the ACTION and SUBMITFORM attributes are set for the control, the WebTV interface submits the values for the entire form using the action for the control.

Note: You can use the USEFORM attribute to submit the name of a form elsewhere on the page. For example, a button in the sidebar can submit the name of a form in the content area of the page. (For more information, see the NAME and ID attributes of the FORM element.)

Value	Description
Boolean controls (CHECKBOX, RADIO)	Specifies the value to be returned when the control is turned on. This attribute must be supplied for radio fields.
Button controls (BUTTON, RESET, SUBMIT)	Specifies the text of the button.
Textual/numerical controls (HIDDEN, PASSWORD, TEXT)	Specifies the default value of the control.

Examples

<FORM> Enter your name <INPUT type="text" size="20" maxlength="30"> </FORM>

Enter your name

<FORM> Select your favorite color <SELECT> <OPTION>Red <OPTION>Orange <OPTION>Yellow <OPTION>Green <OPTION>Purple <OPTION>Blue </SELECT> <INPUT type="button" name="ColorButton" value=" Push here " onclick="ColorButton.value='You pushed me'"> </FORM>

Select your favorite color Red Orange Yellow Green Purple Blue

<FORM><TABLE border="2"><TR><TD> <TABLE> <TR> <TD>Show toolbar as</TD> <TD><INPUT type="radio" name="toolbar"> Pictures</TD> <TD><INPUT type="radio" name="toolbar" CHECKED> Text</TD> <TD><INPUT type="radio" name="toolbar"> Pictures and Text</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD colspan="4"><HR></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD>On startup launch</TD> <TD><INPUT type="checkbox" name="launch" checked> Browser</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD></TD><TD><INPUT type="checkbox" name="launch" checked> Mail</TD> </TR> <TR> <TD></TD><TD><INPUT type="checkbox" name="launch"> Newsreader</TD> </TR> </TABLE> </TD></TR></TABLE></FORM>

Show toolbar as Pictures Text Pictures and Text On startup launch Browser Mail Newsreader