Web Development and Design Foundations with XHTML, 5th Edition

9.2 XHTML—Using Forms^361

Common scrolling text box attributes are listed in Table 9.6.

Table 9.6Common scrolling text box attributes

Common

Attributes Values Usage

name Alphanumeric, no spaces,

begins with a letter

Names the form element so that it can be easily accessed by client-side

scripting languages (such as JavaScript) or by server-side processing.

The name should be unique.

id Alphanumeric, no spaces,

begins with a letter

Provides a unique identifier for the form element.

cols Numeric Configures the width in character columns of the scrolling text box. If

colsis omitted, the browser displays the scrolling text box with its

own default width.

rows Numeric Configures the height in rows of the scrolling text box. If rowsis

omitted, the browser displays the scrolling text box with its own

default height.

Select List.The <select>container tag (along with <option>tags) configures a

select list. This form control has several names: select list, select box, drop-down list,

drop-down box, and option box. It allows the visitor to select one or more items from a

list of predetermined choices. The <option>container tag configures the choices in a

select list. Sample select lists are shown in Figures 9.10 and 9.11.

The XHTML code for Figure 9.10 follows:

<select size="1" name="favbrowser" id="favbrowser">

<option selected="selected" >Select your favorite browser</option>

<option value="Internet Explorer">Internet Explorer</option>

<option value="Firefox">Firefox</option>

<option value="Opera">Opera</option>

</select>

The XHTML code for Figure 9.11 follows:

<select size="4" name="jumpmenu" id="jumpmenu">

<option value="index.html">Home</option>

<option value="products.html">Products</option>

<option value="services.html">Services</option>

<option value="about.html">About</option>

<option value="contact.html">Contact</option>

</select>

Figure 9.11

This select list has

size set to 4 ; since

there are more than

four choices, the

browser displays a

scroll bar

Figure 9.10
A select list with size
set to 1 functions as
a drop-down box
when the arrow is
clicked