| Depr. | Version |
|---|---|
| No | HTML 2 |
| IE5.5+ | FF1+ | SA1.3+ | OP9.2+ | CH2+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | Full | Full | Full | Full |
Syntax
Description
The name attribute is
used to reference form data after it’s submitted, and
to reference the data using JavaScript on the client side. Unlike the
id attribute, which must be given a unique value
each time it’s applied to a new form control, a
name attribute with a given value may be applied to
numerous form controls (although in practice this approach is
only ever seen in use with radio input
buttons). Note that only form elements which have a
name attribute will have their values passed
through to the page or script specified in the form’s
action attribute.
Example
Thename
attribute provides a means for referencing form data—in this case,
"perfectday":<form>
<label for="perfectday">Describe your perfect day:</label>
<textarea id="perfectday" name="perfectday" accesskey="d"
cols="40" rows="10"></textarea>
<input type="submit" value="Tell us"/>
</form>
Value
This attribute can take as its value any name of the developer’s choosing, so long as that name doesn’t contain spaces or special characters.
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 |
It causes no compatibility issues, and has excellent support across all tested browsers.
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