RE: [PHP] id & name when identifying html elements

> -----Original Message----- > From: Roland Tarver [mailto:roland.tarver@applegate.co.uk] > Sent: 28 May 2003 10:07 > > I've got a question about about naming html components (text fields, > select boxes etc) when submitting a form to a php page. > First I tried identifying an element using the "id" attribute > and found > that it was not being posted to the php page. When I use the "name" > attribute it did get posted to the page? > > I had a look on the w3c html spec and "name" takes precedence > over "id" > if used together but you should be able to use them > individually with no > problems. > > When you submit a form with this select box, "country" will is not > submitted to the php page. > <select *id*="country" onChange="alterForm();"> > <option value="one">one</option> > <option value="two">two</option> > </select> > > > When you use this code, it works fine. "country" gets > submitted to the > php page? > <select *name*="country" onChange="alterForm();"> > <option value="one">one</option> > <option value="two">two</option> > </select> > > Any thoughts? This is according to the HTML 4.01 specification, which says: "When a form is submitted for processing, [...] controls have their name paired with their current value and these pairs are submitted with the form." This also applies to XHTML 1.0 -- indeed, the XHTML 1.0 Strict DTD says that the name= attribute is *required* for all <input > types except submit and reset. None of this is likely to change in the foreseeable future -- name= will always be the one to use for submitted form elements. The id= attribute is for identifying a particular element uniquely within the [X]HTML document -- no two elements can have the same id= attribute. Its most likely uses are for specifically targeted stylesheet formatting, or manipulating a specific element using a client-side technology such as JavaScript. It is absolutely *not* a substitute for name= in form elements. Hope this clears things up a bit for you. Cheers! Mike --------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Ford, Electronic Information Services Adviser, Learning Support Services, Learning & Information Services, JG125, James Graham Building, Leeds Metropolitan University, Beckett Park, LEEDS, LS6 3QS, United Kingdom Email: m.ford@lmu.ac.uk Tel: +44 113 283 2600 extn 4730 Fax: +44 113 283 3211