HTML DOM Select Object

Select Object

For each instance of an HTML <select> tag on a form, a Select object is created.

All Select objects are stored in the elements array of the corresponding form. You can access a Select object by indexing this array - either by number (0 represents the first element in a form) or by using the value of the name attribute.

The Select object's collections, properties, methods, and events are described below:

N: Netscape (including Mozilla when N6 or higher), IE: Internet Explorer, W3C: World Wide Web Consortium (Internet Standard)

Collections

Collection	Description	N	IE	W3C
options	Returns an array of all the options in a dropdown list (one element for each <option> tag - starting at 0)	2	3.02	Yes

Properties

Syntax: object.property_name

Property	Description	N	IE	W3C
accessKey	Sets or returns the keyboard key to access the dropdown list		4	No
align	Sets or returns the alignment of the dropdown list according to the surrounding text		4	No
disabled	Sets or returns whether or not the dropdown list should be disabled	6	5.5	Yes
form	Returns a reference to the dropdown list's parent form	2	3.02	Yes
id	Sets or returns the id of the dropdown list (In IE 4 this property is read-only)		4	No
length	Sets or returns the number of options in the dropdown list	2	3.02	Yes
multiple	Sets or returns the Boolean value indicating whether multiple items can be selected	6	3.02	Yes
name	Sets or returns the name of the dropdown list	2	3.02	Yes
selectedIndex	Sets or returns the index of the selected option in the dropdown list. Note: If the dropdown list allows for multiple selections it will only return the index of the first option selected	2	3.02	Yes
size	Sets or returns the number of rows in the dropdown list	6	3.02	Yes
tabIndex	Sets or returns the tab order for the dropdown list		5	Yes
type	Returns the type of the form element. For a dropdown list it will be "select-one" or "select-multiple"	3	4	Yes
value	Sets or returns the value to be returned to the server when the form is submitted	6	3.02	Yes

Methods

Syntax: object.method_name()

Method	Description	N	IE	W3C
add()	Adds an option to the dropdown list		4	Yes
blur()	Removes focus from the dropdown list	3	4	Yes
focus()	Sets focus on the dropdown list	3	4	Yes
remove()	Removes an option from the dropdown list	6	4	Yes

Events

Syntax: object.event_name="someJavaScriptCode"

Event	Description	N	IE	W3C
onBlur	Executes some code when the dropdown list loses focus	2	3.02
onChange	Executes some code when the dropdown list loses focus and its value has altered	2	3.02
onClick	Executes some code when the user clicks the left mouse button in the dropdown list		4
onFocus	Executes some code when the dropdown list gets focus	2	4