Class X
HTML FORMS
HTML Forms are required, when you want to
collect some data from the site visitor. For example, during user registration
you would like to collect information such as name, email address, credit card,
etc.
A form will take input from the site visitor and
then will post it to a back-end application such as CGI, ASP Script or PHP
script etc. The back-end application will perform required processing on the
passed data based on defined business logic inside the application.
There are various form elements available like
text fields, textarea fields, drop-down menus, radio buttons, checkboxes, etc.
The HTML <form> tag is
used to create an HTML form and it has following syntax −
<form
action = "Script URL" method = "GET|POST">
form elements like input, textarea etc.
</form>
Form
Attributes
Apart from common attributes, following is a
list of the most frequently used form attributes −
|
Sr.No
|
Attribute & Description
|
|
1
|
action
Backend script ready to process your passed
data.
|
|
2
|
method
Method to be used to upload data. The most
frequently used are GET and POST methods.
|
|
3
|
target
Specify the target window or frame where the
result of the script will be displayed. It takes values like _blank, _self,
_parent etc.
|
HTML Form Controls
There are different types of form controls that you can use to
collect data using HTML form −
- Text Input
Controls
- Checkboxes
Controls
- Radio Box
Controls
- Select Box
Controls
- Hidden Controls
- Clickable
Buttons
- Submit and Reset
Button
Text Input Controls
There are three types of text input used on forms −
·
Single-line text input controls −
This control is used for items that require only one line of user input, such
as search boxes or names. They are created using HTML <input> tag.
·
Password input controls −
This is also a single-line text input but it masks the character as soon as a
user enters it. They are also created using HTMl <input> tag.
·
Multi-line text input controls −
This is used when the user is required to give details that may be longer than
a single sentence. Multi-line input controls are created using HTML <textarea> tag.
Single-line text input controls
This control is used for items that require only one line of user
input, such as search boxes or names. They are created using HTML <input>
tag.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Text Input Control</title>
</head>
<body>
<form >
First name: <input type = "text" name = "first_name"
/>
<br>
Last name: <input type = "text" name = "last_name"
/>
</form>
</body>
</html>
This will produce the following result –
Firstname:
Last name:
Last name:
Attributes
Following is the list of attributes for <input> tag for
creating text field.
|
Sr.No
|
Attribute
& Description
|
|
1
|
type
Indicates the type of input control and for text input control
it will be set to text.
|
|
2
|
name
Used to give a name to the control which is sent to the server
to be recognized and get the value.
|
|
3
|
value
This can be used to provide an initial value inside the control.
|
|
4
|
size
Allows to specify the width of the text-input control in terms
of characters.
|
|
5
|
maxlength
Allows to specify the maximum number of characters a user can
enter into the text box.
|
Password input controls
This is also a single-line text input but it masks the character
as soon as a user enters it. They are also created using HTML <input>tag
but type attribute is set to password.
Example
Here is a basic example of a single-line password input used to
take user password −
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Password Input Control</title>
</head>
<body>
<form >
User ID : <input type = "text" name = "user_id" />
<br>
Password: <input type = "password" name = "password" />
</form>
</body>
</html>
This will produce the following result –
UserID:
Password:
Password:
Attributes
Following is the list of attributes for <input> tag for
creating password field.
|
Sr.No
|
Attribute
& Description
|
|
1
|
type
Indicates the type of input control and for password input
control it will be set to password.
|
|
2
|
name
Used to give a name to the control which is sent to the server
to be recognized and get the value.
|
|
3
|
value
This can be used to provide an initial value inside the control.
|
|
4
|
size
Allows to specify the width of the text-input control in terms
of characters.
|
|
5
|
maxlength
Allows to specify the maximum number of characters a user can
enter into the text box.
|
Multiple-Line Text Input Controls
This is used when the user is required to give details that may be
longer than a single sentence. Multi-line input controls are created using HTML
<textarea> tag.
Example
Here is a basic example of a multi-line text input used to take
item description −
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Multiple-Line Input Control</title>
</head>
<body>
<form>
Description : <br />
<textarea rows = "5" cols = "50" name = "description">
Enter description here...
</textarea>
</form>
</body>
</html>
This will produce the following result –
Description:
Attributes
Following is the list of attributes for <textarea> tag.
|
Sr.No
|
Attribute
& Description
|
|
1
|
name
Used to give a name to the control which is sent to the server
to be recognized and get the value.
|
|
2
|
rows
Indicates the number of rows of text area box.
|
|
3
|
cols
Indicates the number of columns of text area box
|
Checkbox Control
Checkboxes are used when more than one option is required to be
selected. They are also created using HTML <input> tag but type attribute
is set to checkbox..
Example
Here is an example HTML code for a form with two checkboxes −
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Checkbox Control</title>
</head>
<body>
<form>
<input type = "checkbox" name = "maths" value = "on"> Maths
<input type = "checkbox" name = "physics" value = "on"> Physics
</form>
</body>
</html>
This will produce the following result −
Attributes
Following is the list of attributes for <checkbox> tag.
|
Sr.No
|
Attribute
& Description
|
|
1
|
type
Indicates the type of input control and for checkbox input
control it will be set to checkbox..
|
|
2
|
name
Used to give a name to the control which is sent to the server
to be recognized and get the value.
|
|
3
|
value
The value that will be used if the checkbox is selected.
|
|
4
|
checked
Set to checked if you want to select it by
default.
|
Radio Button Control
Radio buttons are used when out of many options, just one option
is required to be selected. They are also created using HTML <input> tag
but type attribute is set to radio.
Example
Here is example HTML code for a form with two radio buttons −
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Radio Box Control</title>
</head>
<body>
<form>
<input type = "radio" name = "subject" value = "maths"> Maths
<input type = "radio" name = "subject" value = "physics"> Physics
</form>
</body>
</html>
This will produce the following result −
Attributes
Following is the list of attributes for radio button.
|
Sr.No
|
Attribute
& Description
|
|
1
|
type
Indicates the type of input control and for checkbox input
control it will be set to radio.
|
|
2
|
name
Used to give a name to the control which is sent to the server
to be recognized and get the value.
|
|
3
|
value
The value that will be used if the radio box is selected.
|
|
4
|
checked
Set to checked if you want to select it by
default.
|
Select Box Control
A select box, also called drop down box which provides option to
list down various options in the form of drop down list, from where a user can
select one or more options.
Example
Here is example HTML code for a form with one drop down box
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Select Box Control</title>
</head>
<body>
<form>
<select name = "dropdown">
<option value = "Maths" selected>Maths</option>
<option value = "Physics">Physics</option>
</select>
</form>
</body>
</html>
This will produce the following result −
Attributes
Following is the list of important attributes of <select>
tag −
|
Sr.No
|
Attribute
& Description
|
|
1
|
name
Used to give a name to the control which is sent to the server
to be recognized and get the value.
|
|
2
|
size
This can be used to present a scrolling list box.
|
|
3
|
multiple
If set to "multiple" then allows a user to select
multiple items from the menu.
|
Following is the list of important attributes of <option>
tag −
|
Sr.No
|
Attribute
& Description
|
|
1
|
value
The value that will be used if an option in the select box box
is selected.
|
|
2
|
selected
Specifies that this option should be the initially selected
value when the page loads.
|
|
3
|
label
An alternative way of labeling options
|
File Upload Box
If you want to allow a user to upload a file to your web site, you
will need to use a file upload box, also known as a file select box. This is
also created using the <input> element but type attribute is set to file.
Example
Here is example HTML code for a form with one file upload box −
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>File Upload Box</title>
</head>
<body>
<form>
<input type = "file" name = "fileupload" accept = "image/*" />
</form>
</body>
</html>
This will produce the following result −
Attributes
Following is the list of important attributes of file upload box −
|
Sr.No
|
Attribute
& Description
|
|
1
|
name
Used to give a name to the control which is sent to the server
to be recognized and get the value.
|
|
2
|
accept
Specifies the types of files that the server accepts.
|
Button Controls
There are various ways in HTML to create clickable buttons. You
can also create a clickable button using <input>tag by setting its type
attribute to button. The type attribute can take the following
values −
|
Sr.No
|
Type
& Description
|
|
1
|
submit
This creates a button that automatically submits a form.
|
|
2
|
reset
This creates a button that automatically resets form controls to
their initial values.
|
|
3
|
button
This creates a button that is used to trigger a client-side
script when the user clicks that button.
|
|
4
|
image
This creates a clickable button but we can use an image as
background of the button.
|
Example
Here is example HTML code for a form with three types of buttons −
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>File Upload Box</title>
</head>
<body>
<form>
<input type = "submit" name = "submit" value = "Submit" />
<input type = "reset" name = "reset" value = "Reset" />
</form>
</body>
</html>
This will produce the following result –
