HTML

Last Updated: 10/5/2022

Forms

  • An HTML form is used to collect user input.
  • The user input is sent to a server for processing and storage.

Form <form>

  • Used to create an HTML form for user input
  • Container for different types of input elements
<form>
	<div>
		<label for="name">Enter your name:</label>
		<input type="text" name="name" id="name">
	</div>
</form>

Attributes

action

  • Defines the action to be performed when the form is submitted.
  • Contains the URL that processes the form data.
<form action="checkout.asp">
</form>

method

  • Specifies the HTTP method to be used when submitting the form data.
  • Possible values are get and post

get

  • Appends the form data to the URL, in name/value pairs
  • NEVER use get to send sensitive data.
  • The length of a URL is limited (2048 characters)
  • Useful for form submissions where a user wants to bookmark the result
  • Use this method when the form has no side-effects.

post

  • Appends the form data inside the body of the HTTP request.
  • POST has no size limitations, and can be used to send large amounts of data.
  • Form submissions with POST cannot be bookmarked
  • Always use POST if the form data contains sensitive or personal information.
<form action="checkout.asp" method="post">
</form>

enctype

  • Specifies how the form-data should be encoded when submitting it to the server.
  • Used only if method="post".
  • Possible values
    • application/x-www-form-urlencoded: Default. All characters are encoded before sent
    • multipart/form-data: Used when the user uploads a file
    • text/plain: Useful for debugging purposes.
<form action="checkout.asp" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
	<input type="file">
</form>

target

  • Specifies where to display the response that is received after submitting the form.
  • Possible values are _blank, _self, _parent, _top, framename

autocomplete

Specifies whether a form should have autocomplete on or off.

<form action="/checkout.asp" autocomplete="on">

novalidate

  • Specifies that the form-data (input) should not be validated when submitted.
  • A boolean attribute.
<form action="checkout.asp">
  <label for="email">Enter your email:</label>
  <input type="email" id="email" name="email"><br><br>
  <input type="submit">
</form>
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