HTML < form > Tag

Example

A simple HTML form with two input fields and one submit button:

<form action="form_action.asp" method="get">   First name: <input type="text" name="fname" /><br />   Last name: <input type="text" name="lname" /><br />   <input type="submit" value="Submit" /> </form>

Definition and Usage

The <form> tag is used to create an HTML form for user input.

A form can contain input elements like text fields, checkboxes, radio-buttons, submit buttons and more. A form can also contain select menus, textarea, fieldset, legend, and label elements.

Forms are used to pass data to a server.

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Browser Support

The <form> tag is supported in all major browsers.

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Differences Between HTML and XHTML

NONE

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Tips and Notes

Note: The form element is a block-level element, and creates a line break before and after itself.

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Required Attributes

DTD indicates in which HTML 4.01/XHTML 1.0 DTD the attribute is allowed. S=Strict, T=Transitional, and F=Frameset.

Attribute	Value	Description	DTD
action	URL	Specifies where to send the form-data when a form is submitted	STF

Optional Attributes

Attribute	Value	Description	DTD
accept	MIME_type	Specifies the types of files that can be submitted through a file upload	STF
accept-charset	charset	Specifies the character-sets the server can handle for form-data	STF
enctype	application/x-www-form-urlencoded multipart/form-data text/plain	Specifies how form-data should be encoded before sending it to a server	STF
method	get post	Specifies how to send form-data	STF
name	name	Specifies the name for a form	TF
target	_blank _self _parent _top framename	Deprecated. Specifies where to open the action URL	TF

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Standard Attributes

The <form> tag supports the following standard attributes:

Attribute	Value	Description	DTD
class	classname	Specifies a classname for an element	STF
dir	rtl ltr	Specifies the text direction for the content in an element	STF
id	id	Specifies a unique id for an element	STF
lang	language_code	Specifies a language code for the content in an element	STF
style	style_definition	Specifies an inline style for an element	STF
title	text	Specifies extra information about an element	STF
xml:lang	language_code	Specifies a language code for the content in an element, in XHTML documents	STF

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Event Attributes

The <form> tag supports the following event attributes:

Attribute	Value	Description	DTD
onclick	script	Script to be run on a mouse click	STF
ondblclick	script	Script to be run on a mouse double-click	STF
onmousedown	script	Script to be run when mouse button is pressed	STF
onmousemove	script	Script to be run when mouse pointer moves	STF
onmouseout	script	Script to be run when mouse pointer moves out of an element	STF
onmouseover	script	Script to be run when mouse pointer moves over an element	STF
onmouseup	script	Script to be run when mouse button is released	STF
onkeydown	script	Script to be run when a key is pressed	STF
onkeypress	script	Script to be run when a key is pressed and released	STF
onkeyup	script	Script to be run when a key is released	STF
onreset	script	Script to be run when a form is reset
onsubmit	script	Script to be run when a form is submitted