Availability

JavaScript 1.0

Synopsis

<form ... onsubmit="handler" ... >
form.onsubmit

Description

The onsubmit property of a Form object specifies an event handler function that is invoked when the user submits a form by clicking on a Submit button in the form. Note that this event handler is not invoked when the Form.submit( ) method is called.

The initial value of this property is a function that contains the semicolon-separated JavaScript statements specified by the onsubmit attribute of the HTML <form> tag. When an event handler function is defined by an HTML attribute, it is executed in the scope of element rather than the scope of the containing window.

In the Netscape 4 event model, the onsubmit handler function is passed an Event object as an argument. In the IE event model, no argument is passed, but the applicable Event object is available as the event property of the Window object that contains the element.

If the onsubmit handler returns false, the elements of the form are not submitted. If the handler returns any other value or returns nothing, the form is submitted normally. Because the onsubmit handler can cancel form submission, it is ideal for performing form data validation.

See Also

Form.onreset, Form.submit( ); Chapter 19; Event, EventListener, and EventTarget in the DOM reference section