Tech Stuff - DOM-2 HTMLSelectElement

Extends the HTMLElement interface. W3C HTMLSelectElement Reference. Part of the HTML Interface

Returns SELECT to the nodeName attribute.

The major use of the <select> element is to contain <option> elements which may be accessed directly if they have an id (using getelementById to get the HTMLOptionElement) or as an array using the options attribute of HTMLSelectElement.

Usage and Examples

To find the currently selected <option> in a <select> element:

// javascript fragment
// get the HMLSelectElement
select = document.getElementById{"list");
// loop through the options
for(i = 0; i < combo.options.length; i++){
 // the selected attribute eturns TRUE if currently selected
 if(select.options[i].selected){
  val = select.options[i].value; // use value to identify
	txt = select.options[i].text; // parse text to identify
	// OR get HTMLOptionElemement
	opt = select.options[i]
	val = opt.value;
	txt = opt.text
 }
}

// HTML fragment
<select id="list" size="1">
<option value="1">List Item 1</option>
<option value="2">List Item 2</option>
<option value="1" selected>List Item 2</option>
1</select>

Related Information

createElement method. W3C HTMLElement Reference. HTMLOptionElement

Method and Attributes

Attributes: disabled, form, length, multiple, name, options, selectedIndex, size, tabIndex, type, value

Methods: add, blur, focus, remove

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