Chapter 14: Forms Continued

Pull Down and Scrolling Lists

The next type of input is a Pull Down List. With this type you use <SELECT> instead of <INPUT> and it has a closing tag.

<SELECT>
</SELECT>

Don't forget to give it a name.

<SELECT NAME="POSITION">
</SELECT>

Next add a few options.

<SELECT NAME="POSITION">
<OPTION>Powerbuilder Developer
<OPTION>Database Administrator
<OPTION>None of the above
 </SELECT>

And give each <OPTION> a VALUE.

<SELECT NAME="POSITION">
<OPTION VALUE="PB">Powerbuilder Developer
<OPTION VALUE="DBA">Database Administrator
<OPTION VALUE="NOTA">None of the above
</SELECT>

The default option is the one that is listed first.

We can specify a default other than the first option in the list.

<SELECT NAME="POSITION">
<OPTION VALUE="PB">Powerbuilder Developer
<OPTION VALUE="DBA" SELECTED>Database Administrator
<OPTION VALUE="NOTA">None of the above
</SELECT>

A Scrolling List is very similar in construction to a Pull Down List. We'll add a few more options first. Then, all we do to turn it into a Scrolling List is add a SIZE attribute to the <SELECT> tag.

<SELECT NAME="POSITION" SIZE=4>
<OPTION VALUE="PB">Powerbuilder Developer
<OPTION VALUE="DBA">Database Administrator
<OPTION VALUE="VB">Visual Basic Developer
<OPTION VALUE="ADMIN">Administration staff
<OPTION VALUE="JANITOR">Janitor
<OPTION VALUE="NOTA">None of the above
</SELECT>

The SIZE is simply how many options show in the window.

Again, the default value is the first <OPTION>, and again we can change that by selecting one.

<SELECT NAME="POSITION" SIZE=4>
<OPTION VALUE="PB">Powerbuilder Developer
<OPTION VALUE="DBA" SELECTED>Database Administrator
<OPTION VALUE="VB">Visual Basic Developer
<OPTION VALUE="ADMIN">Administration staff
<OPTION VALUE="JANITOR">Janitor
<OPTION VALUE="NOTA">None of the above
</SELECT>

Textarea

A very useful type of input is <TEXTAREA>.

<TEXTAREA NAME="COMMENTS">
</TEXTAREA>

You control the size of the box like so...

<TEXTAREA NAME="COMMENTS" ROWS=6 COLS=50>
</TEXTAREA>

ROWS is the height, COLS is the width.


A good attribute to include in <TEXTAREA> is WRAP. Some browsers do not understand it, but if that's the case, they will just ignore it.

Go ahead and type in the boxes...

<TEXTAREA NAME="COMMENTS" ROWS=3 COLS=30 WRAP=VIRTUAL>
</TEXTAREA>

WRAP=VIRTUAL means that the text in the box wraps, but it is sent as one long continuous string.

<TEXTAREA NAME="COMMENTS" ROWS=3 COLS=30 WRAP=PHYSICAL>
</TEXTAREA>

WRAP=PHYSICAL means that the text in the box wraps, and it is sent that way too.

<TEXTAREA NAME="COMMENTS" ROWS=3 COLS=30 WRAP=OFF>
</TEXTAREA>

This is the default.
WRAP=OFF means that the text in the box does not wrap, but it is sent exactly the way it was typed in (like the little man a few textareas back).


Your own HTML page...

Open the page "feedback.htm" in Notepad, and add the following (the blue text is what to add).

<html>
<body background="bgnd.gif">

<center><h1>Feedback Form</h1></center>
<br>
<form>
<b>My name is: </b><input type=text name="name">
<p>
<b>I work as a:</b><br>
.
.
</p>
<p>
<b>When it comes to web browsers:</b><br>
.
.
</p>

<b>I rate your site as:</b><br>
<select name="Rating">
<option value="Wow">Wow! How did you do it?
<option value="good">Really good
<option value="interesting">Interesting
<option value="hmmm">Hmmm - seen better
<option value="tryagain">Try again bud!
</select>
</p>
<p>
<b>Comments:</b><br>
<textarea name="comments" rows="6" cols="50" wrap="physical">
</textarea>
</p>
 </body>
</html>
Save the file.
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