TEXTAREA XHTML Element

Article
11/18/2015

A version of this page is also available for

4/8/2010

The TEXTAREA element specifies a multiline text input control. This is an inline element and requires a closing tag.

Using this Element

There are some common properties and collections that apply to all the elements of the document object model, see Common Properties, Methods and Collections for the HTML Elements in Internet Explorer Mobile.

This element can be used within a web page with attributes.

This element can be used within scripts where it will have properties, events and methods.

Attributes

The following table shows items that Internet Explorer Mobile supports.

Attribute	Value	Description
ACCESSKEY	0…9, #, *	Gives access or focus to an active HTML element by using a keypad number. > [!NOTE] > Supported only on Pocket PC for Windows Mobile 2003 and later.
CLASS		Associates the element with a CSS style. > [!NOTE] > Supported only for devices running Windows Mobile 2003 software or later.
COLS	0…#	Specifies the number of columns for the text input control that is used to determine its width. The default value of this attribute is 20.
ID		Uniquely identifies the element within a document. > [!NOTE] > Supported only for devices running Windows Mobile 2003 software or later.
NAME	String	Specifies the text input control name that is submitted with its contents.
ONBLUR		Event that occurs when the text input control loses focus by the pointing device or by tabbing navigation. > [!NOTE] > Supported only for devices running Pocket PC 2002 and Smartphone 2002 software or later.
ONCHANGE		Event that occurs when the text input control loses the input focus and its value has been modified since gaining focus. > [!NOTE] > Supported only for devices running Pocket PC 2002 and Smartphone 2002 software or later.
ONFOCUS		Event that occurs when the text input control receives focus by a pointing device or by tabbing navigation. > [!NOTE] > Supported only for devices running Pocket PC 2002 and Smartphone 2002 software or later.
READONLY
ROWS	0…#	Specifies the number of rows in the text input control that is used to determine its height. The default value of this attribute is 2. > [!NOTE] > On Windows Mobile Standard the value of ROWS is always 1, regardless of the HTML definition.
STYLE		Provides the definition of the CSS styles used for this element. > [!NOTE] > Supported only for devices running Windows Mobile 2003 software or later.
TABINDEX		Sets the order in which elements are tabbed to. > [!NOTE] > Supported only for devices running Windows Mobile 2003 software or later.

Scripting Properties

The following table shows items that Internet Explorer Mobile supports.

Property	Type	Access	Comments
accessKey	string	Read/Write	Sets or retrieves the number associated with the accesskey attribute. > [!NOTE] > Supported only for devices running Smartphone 2002 and Pocket PC 2002 software or later.
cols	long	Read Only	Sets or retrieves the width of the TEXTAREA object. > [!NOTE] > Supported only for devices running Smartphone 2002 and Pocket PC 2002 software or later.
defaultValue	string	Read/Write	Retrieves the default value (initial contents) of the TEXTAREA control.
disabled	boolean	Read/Write	Sets or retrieves the value that indicates whether the user can interact with the object. > [!NOTE] > Supported only for devices running Smartphone 2002 and Pocket PC 2002 software or later.
form	object	Read Only	Retrieves a reference to the form that the object is embedded in. > [!NOTE] > Supported only for devices running Smartphone 2002 and Pocket PC 2002 software or later.
maxLength	long	Read/Write	Sets or retrieves the maximum number of characters that the user can enter in a text control. > [!NOTE] > Supported only for devices running Smartphone 2002 and Pocket PC 2002 software or later.
name	string	Read Only	Sets or retrieves the name of the TEXTAREA control. > [!NOTE] > Supported only for devices running Smartphone 2002 and Pocket PC 2002 software or later.
offsetHeight	Number	Read-only	Contains the height of the object in pixels, relative to the parent element.
offsetLeft	Number	Read-only	Contains the number of pixels from the left of the parent element.
offsetParent	String	Read-only	Contains a reference to the container object that defines the offsetTop and offsetLeft properties of the object.
offsetTop	Number	Read-only	Contains the number of pixels from the top of the parent element
offsetWidth	Number	Read-only	Contains the width of the object in pixels, relative to the parent element.
readOnly	boolean	Read/Write	Sets or retrieves the value indicated whether the content of the object is read-only. > [!NOTE] > Supported only for devices running Smartphone 2002 and Pocket PC 2002 software or later.
rows	long	Read Only	Sets or retrieves the number of horizontal rows contained in the object. > [!NOTE] > Supported only for devices running Smartphone 2002 and Pocket PC 2002 software or later.
size	long	Read Only	Sets or retrieves the size of the control. > [!NOTE] > Supported only for devices running Smartphone 2002 and Pocket PC 2002 software or later.
type	string	Read Only	Always returns — textarea.
value	string	Read/Write	Sets or retrieves the value of the TEXTAREA control.

Scripting Events

The following table shows items that Internet Explorer Mobile supports.

Event	Comment
onblur	Occurs when an element loses focus either by the pointing device or by keypad navigation. > [!NOTE] > Supported only for devices running Smartphone 2002 and Pocket PC 2002 software or later.
onchange	Occurs when the contents of the input type=text object have changed and the user has committed the change (by leaving the TEXTAREA control that has focus).
onfocus	Occurs when an element receives focus either by the pointing device or by tabbing navigation. > [!NOTE] > Supported only for devices running Smartphone 2002 and Pocket PC 2002 software or later.

Scripting Methods

The following table shows items that Internet Explorer Mobile supports.

Method Arguments Comments

Method	Arguments	Comments
focus		Syntax: `textarea.focus()` Sets focus to the textarea control.
getAttribute	option	Syntax: `vAttrValue=textarea.getAttribute(sAttrName[,iFlags])` Returns the value of the specified attribute. If the attribute is not present then a NULL is returned. sAttrName is a String containing the name of the attribute. iFlags is an integer that specifies one or more of the following: 0 (Default) Performs a property search that is not case-sensitive, and returns an interpolated value if the property is found. 1 Performs a case-sensitive property search. To find a match, the uppercase and lowercase letters in sAttrName must exactly match those in the attribute name. 2 Returns the value exactly as it was set in script or in the source document.
select		Syntax: `textarea.select()` This method is not supported in Internet Explorer Mobile.

focus

Syntax:

textarea.focus()

Sets focus to the textarea control.

getAttribute

option

Syntax:

vAttrValue=textarea.getAttribute(sAttrName[,iFlags])

Returns the value of the specified attribute. If the attribute is not present then a NULL is returned.
sAttrName is a String containing the name of the attribute.
iFlags is an integer that specifies one or more of the following:
0 (Default) Performs a property search that is not case-sensitive, and returns an interpolated value if the property is found.
1 Performs a case-sensitive property search. To find a match, the uppercase and lowercase letters in sAttrName must exactly match those in the attribute name.
2 Returns the value exactly as it was set in script or in the source document.

select

Syntax:

textarea.select()

This method is not supported in Internet Explorer Mobile.

Requirements

Windows Mobile

Pocket PC for Windows Mobile Version 5.0 and later, Smartphone for Windows Mobile Version 5.0 and later

TEXTAREA XHTML Element

Using this Element

Attributes

Scripting Properties

Scripting Events

Scripting Methods

Requirements

See Also

Concepts

Additional resources