Working with Forms and Input Devices - JavaScript by Example - page 373

The text Object. The text object represents the HTML text field <input type=“text”>
and also has name and value fields. To reference a text field from JavaScript, go down
the document tree, starting at the document , then to the form , and then the text element.
To get a value in the text field, for example, you would use the following syntax:

document.form1.textbox1.value,

where form1 is the name of the form and textbox1 is the name of the text field. Shown in
Figure 11.25 is the JavaScript object hierarchy for the text object. Table 11.9 lists its
properties and Table 11.10 lists its methods.

window

document

form

text

Figure 11.25 The text object within the JavaScript hierarchy.

Table 11.9 Properties of the text Object

Property What It Describes

accessKey By default, pressing an access key sets focus to the text object. The

object receives focus when the user simultaneously presses the Alt key
and the access key assigned to an object.

alt Sets or returns alternate text to display if a browser does not support

text fields.

defaultValue The value assigned to the value attribute, and the default value the user

sees in the textbox when it first appears.

disabled Sets or returns whether or not a text field should be disabled.

form The name of the form where the textbox is defined.

id Sets or returns the id of a text field.

name The name used to reference the textbox.

Continues