textarea
elementautofocus
cols
dirname
disabled
form
maxlength
name
placeholder
readonly
required
rows
wrap
interface HTMLTextAreaElement : HTMLElement { attribute boolean autofocus; attribute unsigned long cols; attribute DOMString dirName; attribute boolean disabled; readonly attribute HTMLFormElement? form; attribute long maxLength; attribute DOMString name; attribute DOMString placeholder; attribute boolean readOnly; attribute boolean required; attribute unsigned long rows; attribute DOMString wrap; readonly attribute DOMString type; attribute DOMString defaultValue; attribute DOMString value; readonly attribute unsigned long textLength; readonly attribute boolean willValidate; readonly attribute ValidityState validity; readonly attribute DOMString validationMessage; boolean checkValidity(); void setCustomValidity(DOMString error); readonly attribute NodeList labels; void select(); attribute unsigned long selectionStart; attribute unsigned long selectionEnd; attribute DOMString selectionDirection; void setSelectionRange(unsigned long start, unsigned long end, optional DOMString direction); };
The textarea
element represents
a multiline plain text edit control . The contents of the control
represent the control's default value.
The readonly
attribute is a
boolean attribute used to control
whether the text can be edited by the user or not.
In this example, a text field is marked read-only because it represents a read-only file:
Filename: <code>/etc/bash.bashrc</code> <textarea name="buffer" readonly> # System-wide .bashrc file for interactive bash(1) shells. # To enable the settings / commands in this file for login shells as well, # this file has to be sourced in /etc/profile. # If not running interactively, don't do anything [ -z "$PS1" ] && return ...</textarea>
The cols
attribute specifies
the expected maximum number of characters per line. If the
cols
attribute is specified, its value must
be a valid non-negative integer
greater than zero.
The rows
attribute specifies
the number of lines to show. If the rows
attribute is specified, its value must
be a valid non-negative integer
greater than zero.
The wrap
attribute is an
enumerated attribute with two
keywords and states: the soft
keyword which
maps to the Soft state, and the hard
keyword which
maps to the Hard state. The missing
value default is the Soft state.
The Soft state indicates that the
text in the textarea
is not to be wrapped when it
is submitted (though it can still be wrapped in the rendering).
The Hard state indicates that the
text in the textarea
is to have newlines added by
the user agent so that the text is wrapped when it is
submitted.
If the element's wrap
attribute is in the Hard state, the cols
attribute must be specified.
The maxlength
attribute is
a form control
maxlength
attribute controlled by the
textarea
element's dirty value flag.
If the textarea
element has a maximum allowed value
length, then the element's children must be such that the
code-unit length of the value of the
element's textContent
IDL attribute is equal to or less than the element's maximum allowed value
length.
The required
attribute is a
boolean attribute. When specified,
the user will be required to enter a value before submitting the
form.
The placeholder
attribute represents a short hint (a word or short phrase)
intended to aid the user with data entry when the control has no
value. A hint could be a sample value or a brief description of the
expected format. The attribute, if specified, must have a value
that contains no "LF" (U+000A) or "CR" (U+000D) characters.
The placeholder
attribute should not be
used as an alternative to a label
. For a longer hint or other advisory
text, the title
attribute is more appropriate.
These mechanisms are very similar but subtly
different: the hint given by the control's label
is shown at all times; the short
hint given in the placeholder
attribute is shown
before the user enters a value; and the hint in the title
attribute is shown when the user
requests further help.
The dirname
attribute is a
form control dirname
attribute.
The form
attribute is used to explicitly associate
the textarea
element with its form owner. The name
attribute represents the element's name.
The disabled
attribute is used to make the
control non-interactive and to prevent its value from being
submitted. The autofocus
attribute controls focus.
type
Returns the string "textarea
".
value
Returns the current value of the element.
Can be set, to change the value.
Here is an example of a textarea
being used for unrestricted
free-form text input in a form:
<p>If you have any comments, please let us know: <textarea cols=80 name=comments></textarea></p>
To specify a maximum length for the comments, one can use the
maxlength
attribute:
<p>If you have any short comments, please let us know: <textarea cols=80 name=comments maxlength=200></textarea></p>
To give a default value, text can be included inside the element:
<p>If you have any comments, please let us know: <textarea cols=80 name=comments>You rock!</textarea></p>
To have the browser submit the directionality of the element
along with the value, the dirname
attribute can be specified:
<p>If you have any comments, please let us know (you may use either English or Hebrew for your comments): <textarea cols=80 name=comments dirname=comments.dir></textarea></p>