HTML The Definitive Guide (101 page)

We describe the majority of these attributes in detail in Chapter 13, Executable Content. [JavaScript

Event Handlers, 13.3.3]

Forms have two special event-related attributes: onSubmit and onReset. The value of these event attributes is - enclosed in quotation marks - one or a sequence of semicolon-separated JavaScript expressions, methods, and function references. With onSubmit, the browser executes these commands before it actually submits the form's data to the server or sends it to an email address.

You may use the onSubmit event for a variety of effects. The most popular is for a client-side form-verification program that scans the form data and prompts the user to complete one or more missing elements. Another popular and much simpler use is to inform users when a mailto URL

form is being processed via email.

The onReset attribute is used just like the onSubmit attribute, except that the associated program code is executed only if the user presses a "Reset" button in the form.

10.1 Form Fundamentals

10.3 A Simple Form Example

Chapter 10

Forms

10.3 A Simple Form Example

In a moment we'll examine each of the many form controls in detail. Let's first take a quick look at a
simple example to see how forms are put together. This one (shown in Figure 10.1) gathers basic

demographic information about a user:

Name:

Sex:

Male Female

Income:

Under $25,000

$25,001 to $50,000

$50,001 and higher

10.4 Using Email to Collect

Form Data