Availability

JavaScript 1.0; enhanced in JavaScript 1.1

Inherits from/Overrides

Inherits from Input, HTMLElement

Synopsis

form.name
form.elements[i]

Properties

Reset inherits properties from Input and HTMLElement and defines or overrides the following:

value

A string that specifies the text that appears within the Reset button. It is specified by the value attribute of the <input> tag that created the button. If no value attribute is specified, the default value is "Reset" (or the equivalent in the browser's default language). In browsers that cannot reflow document content, this property may be read-only.

Methods

Reset inherits the methods of Input and HTMLElement.

Event Handlers

Reset inherits the event handlers of Input and HTMLElement and defines or overrides the following:

onclick

Invoked when the Reset button is clicked.

HTML Syntax

A Reset element is created with a standard HTML <input> tag:

<form>
    ...
  <input
    type="reset"           // Specifies that this is a Reset button
    [ value="label" ]      // The text that is to appear within the button
                           // Specifies the value property
    [ name="name" ]        // A name you can use later to refer to the button
                           // Specifies the name property
    [ onclick="handler" ]  // JavaScript statements to be executed when the button
                           // is clicked
  >
    ...
</form> 

Reset objects can also be created with the HTML 4 <button> tag:

<button id="name"
        type="reset"
        onclick="handler">
label
</button>

Description

The Reset element has the same properties and methods as the Button element but has a more specialized purpose. When a Reset element is clicked, the values of all input elements in the form that contains it are reset to their initial default values. (For most elements, this means to the value specified by the HTML value attribute.) If no initial value was specified, a click on the Reset button clears any user input from those elements.

Usage

If no value attribute is specified for a Reset element, it is labeled "Reset". In some forms, it may be better to label the button "Clear Form" or "Defaults".

In JavaScript 1.1, you can simulate the action of a Reset button with the reset( ) method of the Form object. Also in JavaScript 1.1, the onreset event handler of the Form object is invoked before the form is reset. This event handler can cancel the reset by returning false.

See Also

Button, Form, HTMLElement, Input; HTMLInputElement in the DOM reference section