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HTML Form Attributes: This chapter describes the various attributes for the HTML <form> element.
In this tutorial, you will learn-
In this article, you will learn-
What is HTML Form
HTML Forms are needed to collect various types of user inputs, for example, contact details like name, email address, telephone numbers, or details like charge card data, and so on
Form contain special elements called controls like inputbox, checkboxes, radio-catches, submit catches, and so forth Users for the most part total a form by adjusting its controls for example entering text, choosing items, and so forth and submitting this form to a web server for additional processing.
The Action Attribute
The action attribute defines the action to be performed when the form is submitted.
Normally, the form data is sent to a file on the server when the user taps on the submit button.
In the example underneath, the form data is sent to a file called “action_page.php”. This file contains a server-side scripts that handles the form data
Example
On submit, send form data to “action_page.php”:
<form action="/action_page.php"> <label for="fname">First name:</label><br> <input type="text" id="fname" name="fname" value="Salman"><br> <label for="lname">Last name:</label><br> <input type="text" id="lname" name="lname" value="Khan"><br><br> <input type="submit" value="Submit"> </form>
HTML Forms
If you click the “Submit” button, the form-data will be sent to a page called “/action_page.php”.
Tip: If the action attribute is precluded, the action is set to the current page.
The Target Attribute
The target attribute determines where to show the reaction that is received in the wake of presenting the form.
The target attribute can have one of the accompanying values:
| Value | Description |
|---|---|
| _blank | The response is displayed in a new window or tab |
| _self | The response is displayed in the current window |
| _parent | The response is displayed in the parent frame |
| _top | The response is displayed in the full body of the window |
| framename | The response is displayed in a named iframe |
The default value is _self which means that the response will open in the current window.
Example
Here, the submitted result will open in a new browser tab:
<form action="/action_page.php" target="_blank">
The form target attribute
When submitting this form, the result will be opened in a new browser tab:
The Method Attribute
The method attribute determines the HTTP method to be used while submitting the form data.
The form-data can be sent as URL factors (with method=”get”) or as HTTP post exchange (with method=”post”).
The default HTTP method when submitting form data is GET.
Example
This example uses the GET method when submitting the form data:
<form action="/action_page.php" method="get">
Example
This example uses the POST method when submitting the form data:
<form action="/action_page.php" method="post">
The method Attribute
This form will be submitted using the POST method:
After you submit, notice that, unlike the GET method, the form values is NOT visible in the address bar of the new browser tab.
Notes on GET:
• Appends the form data to the URL, in name/value pairs
• NEVER use GET to send delicate data! (the submitted form data is noticeable in the URL!)
• The length of a URL is limited (2048 characters)
• Useful for form entries where a user needs to bookmark the outcome
• GET is useful for non-secure data, similar to query strings in Google
Notes on POST:
• Appends the form data inside the body of the HTTP request (the submitted form data isn’t displayed in the URL)
• POST has no size limitations, and can be used to send a lot of data.
• Form entries with POST can’t be bookmarked
Tip: Always use POST if the form data contains sensitive or personal information!
The Autocomplete Attribute
The autocomplete attribute indicates whether a form ought to have autocomplete on or off.
When autocomplete is on, the browser automatically complete values dependent on values that the user has entered before.
Example
A form with autocomplete on:
<form action="/action_page.php" autocomplete="on">
The form autocomplete attribute
Fill in and submit the form, then reload the page, start to fill in the form again – and see how autocomplete works.
Then, try to set autocomplete to “off”.
The Novalidate Attribute
The novalidate quality is a boolean attribute.
At the point when present, it determines that the form-data (input) ought not be approved when submitted.
Example
A form with a novalidate attribute:
<form action="/action_page.php" novalidate>
The form novalidate attribute
The novalidate attribute indicates that the form input is not to be validated on submit:
Note: The novalidate attribute of the form tag is not supported in Safari 10 (or earlier).
List of All <form> Attributes
| Attribute | Description |
| accept-charset | Specifies the character encodings used for form submission |
| action | Specifies where to send the form-data when a form is submitted |
| autocomplete | Specifies whether a form should have autocomplete on or off |
| enctype | Specifies how the form-data should be encoded when submitting it to the server (only for method=”post”) |
| method | Specifies the HTTP method to use when sending form-data |
| name | Specifies the name of the form |
| novalidate | Specifies that the form should not be validated when submitted |
| rel | Specifies the relationship between a linked resource and the current document |
| target | Specifies where to display the response that is received after submitting the form |
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