DOM Objects
DOM Anchor
DOM Applet
DOM Area
DOM Base
DOM Basefont
DOM Body
DOM Button
DOM Checkbox
DOM Document
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DOM FileUpload
DOM Form
DOM Frame
DOM Frameset
DOM Hidden
DOM History
DOM Iframe
DOM Image
DOM Link
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DOM Meta
DOM Navigator
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DOM Password
DOM Radio
DOM Reset
DOM Screen
DOM Select
DOM Style
DOM Submit
DOM Table
DOM TableData
DOM TableHeader
DOM TableRow
DOM Text
DOM Textarea
DOM Window

Text Object

For each instance of an HTML <input type="text"> tag on a form, a Text object is created.

All Text objects are stored in the elements array of the corresponding form. You can access a Text object by indexing this array - either by number (0 represents the first element in a form) or by using the value of the name attribute.

The Text object's properties, methods, and events are described below:

N: Netscape (including Mozilla when N6 or higher), IE: Internet Explorer, W3C: World Wide Web Consortium (Internet Standard)

Properties

Syntax: object.property_name

Property Description N IE  W3C
accept Sets or returns a list of content types that the server that processes this form will handle correct   - Yes
accessKey Sets or returns the keyboard key to access the text field   4 Yes
align Sets or returns the alignment of the text field according to the surrounding text   - Yes
alt Sets or returns an alternate text to display if the browser does not support text fields   - Yes
defaultValue Sets or returns the initial value of the text field 2 3.02 Yes
disabled Sets or returns whether or not the text field should be disabled 6 5.5 Yes
form Returns a reference to the text field's parent form 2 3.02 Yes
id Sets or returns the id of the text field (In IE 4 this property is read-only)   4 No
maxLength Sets or returns the maximum number of characters in the text field 6 4 Yes
name Sets or returns the name of the text field 2 3.02 Yes
readOnly Sets or returns whether or not the text field should be read-only 6 4 Yes
size Sets or returns the size of the text field 6 3.02 Yes
tabIndex Sets or returns the tab order for the text field   4 Yes
type Returns the type of the form element. For a text object it will always be "text" 3 3.02 Yes
value Sets or returns the value of the value attribute of the text field 2 3.02 Yes

Methods

Syntax: object.method_name()

Method Description N IE W3C
blur() Removes focus from the text field 2 4 Yes
click() Simulates a mouse-click in the text field   4 No
focus() Sets focus on the text field 2 3.02 Yes
select() Selects and highlights the entire text that is in the text field 2 4 Yes

Events

Syntax: object.event_name="someJavaScriptCode"

Event Description N IE W3C
onBlur Executes some code when the text field loses focus 2 4  
onChange Executes some code when the text field loses focus and its value has altered 2 3.02  
onClick Executes some code when the user clicks the left mouse button in the text field   4  
onFocus Executes some code when the text field gets focus 2 3.02  
onKeyDown Executes some code when a key is pressed in the text field 4 4  
onKeyPress Executes some code when an alphanumeric key is pressed in the text field 4 4  
onKeyUp Executes some code when a key is released in the text field 4 4  
onSelect Executes some code when the current selection is changed in the text field 2 3.02  
onSelectStart Executes some code when some text in the text field is selected   4