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C # tutorial
This chapter describes the different attributes for the HTML <form> element
The action
attribute defines the action to be performed when the form is submitted.
Usually, the form data is sent to a file on the server when the user clicks on the submit button.
In the example below, the form data is sent to a file called "action_page". This file contains a server-side script that handles the form data:
On submit, send form data to "action_page":
<form action="/action_page">
<label for="fname">First
name:</label><br>
<input type="text" id="fname" name="fname"
value="John"><br>
<label for="lname">Last name:</label><br>
<input type="text" id="lname" name="lname" value="Doe"><br><br>
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>
action
attribute is omitted, the action is set to the current page.
The target
attribute specifies where to
display the response that is received after submitting the form.
The target
attribute can have one of the
following 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.
Here, the submitted result will open in a new browser tab:
<form action="/action_page" target="_blank">
The method
attribute specifies the HTTP
method to be used when submitting the form data.
The form-data can be sent as URL variables (with method="get"
)
or as HTTP post transaction (with method="post"
).
The default HTTP method when submitting form data is GET.
This example uses the GET method when submitting the form data:
<form action="/action_page" method="get">
This example uses the POST method when submitting the form data:
<form action="/action_page" method="post">
Tip: Always use POST if the form data contains sensitive or personal information!
The autocomplete
attribute specifies whether
a form should have autocomplete on or off.
When autocomplete is on, the browser automatically complete values based on values that the user has entered before.
A form with autocomplete on:
<form action="/action_page" autocomplete="on">
The novalidate
attribute is a boolean attribute.
When present, it specifies that the form-data (input) should not be validated when submitted.
A form with a novalidate attribute:
<form action="/action_page" novalidate>
Add a submit button, and specify that the form should go to "/action_page".
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 |