<Form> tag creates a client side user data input form in a html document. A form is used to pass client side user data input to a specified server. There can be several forms in a html document.

 

 

 

 

First Name

Last Name

  figure above shows a sample form without any form attributes.

Each form require an action attribute to specify the location to send the submitted data input and a method attribute to define a method of accessing the location defined in the action attribute either GET or POST.

< FORM ACTION="_URL_" METHOD="GET|POST"> 

<HTML>
  <BODY>
    <FORM>
      <H4>First Name<input type="text" size="20" name="FN"></H4>
      <H4>Last Name<input type="text" size="20" name="LN"></H4>
    </FORM>
  </BODY>
</HTML>

<FORM> Optional Attributes :
enctype <FORM ENCTYPE = MIME TYPE ..... > specifies the media type used to encode the content of the form.
method <FORM METHOD = get| post..... > specifies the method of accessing the URL defined in ACTION form attribute with the following values:
get - the form data is appended to the action URL when submitted.
post - the form data is send through the HTTP post transaction when submitted.
name <FORM NAME = form_name.......> assign a name to the form.
target <FORM TARGET =_blank| _self| parent| top..... >

specifies what window is used to load the the form feedback at the target URL defined in the form action attribute.

_blank - load the form feedback page in a new window.
_self - load the form feedback page in the same window that currently contains the form.
parent - load the form feedback page in the parent window of the window currently contains the form.
top - load the form feedback page in the topmost of the window that currently contains the form.

Other Attributes :
Core Attributes class, id, style, title.
Internationalization Attributes lang, dir.
Event Attributes onsubmit, onreset, onclick, ondblclick, onmousedown, onmouseup, onmouseover, onmousemove, onmouseout, onkeypress, onkeydown, onkeyup

  Below describe the attributes for <FORM> tag in detail.

Core Attributes

Attribute Syntax Description
CLASS

eg. an element's class :
<ELEMENT CLASS = stClass...>

eg. multiple classes in an element :
<ELEMENT CLASS = stClass [ stClass2 [ stClass3 ... ] ] ... >

 

An element can belong to multiple classes.
Multiple elements can share the same class.

Common Usage : to associate a particular style rule in a style sheet with the element.

stClass = a string of class attribute value

Attribute value for CLASS is space-separated list of class names. Begin with a letter range from A-Z or a-z and may be followed by letters (A-Za-z), digits (0-9), hyphens ("-"), underscores ("_"), colons (":"), and periods ("."). The value is case-sensitive.
ID <ELEMENT ID = stID... >

A unique id for an element.

Common Usage : as a target for links or for naming particular elements in a style sheet.

stID = a string which specifies attribute value for ID

Attribute value for ID begin with a letter range from A-Z or a-z and may be followed by letters (A-Za-z), digits (0-9), hyphens ("-"), underscores ("_"), colons (":"), and periods ("."). The value is case-sensitive.
STYLE <ELEMENT STYLE = stStyle ... >

Specify an inline style for the element.

Common Usage : to associate a particular style sheet rule for the element.

stStyle = a string to specifies the inline style type.

Attribute value for STYLE is the type of the style sheet language or style rules.
Eg. <ELEMENT STYLE="font-family: Verdana">text...</ELEMENT>.
TITLE <ELEMENT TITLE = stTitle... >

Specify the title for the element.

Common Usage : as a tooltip to retrieve advisory information when user hover the mouse over the object.

stTitle = a string that specifies the title attribute value.

Attribute value for TITLE is space/non space-separated list of text.

Internationalization Attributes

Attribute Syntax Description
DIR <ELEMENT DIR = stDir... >

Sets the text direction

stDir = attribute value for DIR

Attribute value for DIR is the directionality of text from left-to-right (DIR=ltr, the default) or right-to-left (DIR=rtl).

LANG <ELEMENT LANG = stLang... >

Sets the language code

stLang = attribute value for LANG

Attribute value for LANG is non space-separated, case-insensitive with the following values : (LANG=en) for English, (LANG=ja) for Japanese and etc.

Event Attributes

Attribute Description
onSubmit when the form is submitted..
onReset when the form is reset.
onClick the mouse button is clicked on an element.
onDblClick the mouse button is double-clicked on an element.
onMousedown the mouse button is pressed over an element.
onMouseup the mouse button is released over an element.
onMouseover the mouse is moved onto an element.
onMousemove the mouse is moved while over an element.
onMouseout the mouse is moved away from an element.
onKeypress a key is pressed and released over an element.
onKeydown a key is pressed down over an element.
onKeyup a key is released over an element.