| Depr. | Version |
|---|---|
| No | HTML 3.02 |
| IE5.5+ | FF1+ | SA1.3+ | OP9.2+ | CH2+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | Full | Full | Full | Full |
Syntax
Description
The
"readonly" attribute stops the user from changing the
value of an input (in the case of a text input or
password), but doesn’t prevent the user from interacting with the
form control content. It’s still possible for the user to click inside the
input, tab to it, highlight the text inside it, and
even copy and paste that content—it’s just that the value can’t be changed
or cleared.
This attribute is most commonly used to stop the user
from interfering with the value of a text input until
some other condition has been met (for example, until a checkbox is ticked
to confirm the user’s acceptance of terms and conditions). At that point,
JavaScript would be required to removed the "readonly"
value, making the form control completely usable.
Example
Thisreadonly
attribute prevents the input
value of "Southampton" from
being changed:<form>
<label for="town">Postal Town:</label>
<input type="text" name="town" id="town" readonly="readonly"
value="Southampton"/>
</form>
Value
"readonly" is the
only possible value for this attribute.
Compatibility
| Internet Explorer | Firefox | Safari | Opera | Chrome | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 3.1 | 4.0 | 9.2 | 9.5 | 10.0 | 2.0 |
| Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full | Full |
This attribute has
good support, but there are slight implementation differences from
browser-to-browser depending on the type of input it’s dealing
with.
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