The TEXTAREA element indicates a multi-line text entry field. The
contents between the beginning and end TEXTAREA tags represent the initial
contents of the field in the browser.
Description:
This is a method of giving access/focus to an active HTML element using
a keyboard character. This is a common GUI paradigm also known
as a "keyboard shortcut" or "keyboard accelerator"
A single character is used as the value of this attribute. In addition,
a platform-dependent key is usually used in combination with the
ACCESSKEY character to access the functionality of the active field.
Values:
A single, case-insensitive alphanumeric character from a browser's
character set.
Cols
2 | 3
| 3.2 | 4
| IE1 | M2A2
| N1 | O2.1
Required? Yes
Description:
This attribute indicates the visible number of columns in the Textarea
field.
Values: Positive integers
Disabled
2 | 3
| 3.2 | 4
| IE4B1 | M
| N | O
Required? No
Description:
This is a stand-alone attribute which indicates the element is
initially non-functional.
Values: NA
Name
2 | 3
| 3.2 | 4
| IE1 | M2A2
| N1 | O2.1
Required? Yes
Description:
This is a required attribute that associates a symbolic name to the
field for submittal to the form processing script.
Values: Alphanumeric characters
Readonly
2 | 3
| 3.2 | 4
| IE4B1 | M
| N | O
Required? No
Description:
This is a stand-alone attribute which tells the browser that
content in the field may not be modified by the reader.
Values: NA
Rows
2
| 3 | 3.2
| 4 | IE1
| M2A2 | N1
| O2.1
Required? Yes
Description:
This attribute indicates the visible number of rows in the Textarea
field.
Values: Positive integers
Tabindex
2 | 3
| 3.2 | 4
| IE4B1 | M
| N | O
Required? No
Description:
"Tabbing" is a method of giving access/focus to an active HTML
element using a standard keyboard sequence. All the active elements in a
document can be cycled through using this sequence (ex: Windows TAB key.)
The order of the active elements in this cycle is usually the order they
occur in the document, but the TABINDEX attribute allows a different order
to be established. The use of this attribute should create the following
tabbing order cycle if the browser supports the attribute:
Active elements using the TABINDEX attribute with positive integers are
navigated first. Low values are navigated first.
Active elements not specifying any TABINDEX attribute
Those elements carrying a DISABLED attribute or using negative TABINDEX
values do not participate in the tabbing cycle.
Values: Positive or negative integers.
Wrap
2
| 3 | 3.2
| 4 | IE4
| M | N2
| O
Required? No
Description:
This attribute indicates word-wrapping behavior for display and submitted
data from the Textarea field.
Values: Off - No word wrapping to the
textarea window occurs - if lines extend beyond the width of the textarea
they will not wrap. Lines are sent exactly as typed.
DEFAULT Soft - Text is displayed with
wordwrapping to the textarea enabled, but these wrap points are not
transmitted upon submittal as returns/linefeeds. Hard - Text is displayed with
wordwrapping to the textarea enabled, and these wrap points are preserved
upon submittal.
Example
<form>
<textareaNAME="foo"
ROWS="3" COLS="40">
Default TEXTAREA value goes here
</textarea>
</form>
The TEXTAREA element appears to have been supported in Mosaic 2.0
Alpha 1, but in testing it directly, the feature seemed to be mostly
broken. The Alpha 2 release brought behavior closer to what is considered
'normal' for current browsers, so I chose that release as the first
"supported" version.
Internet Explorer 3.0 references list support for an additional method
of specifying a TEXTAREA using the <INPUT TYPE=TEXTAREA> element. It
used all the same attributes as the TEXTAREA element, but was not a container
element. A VALUE attribute was used to take the place of the container
behavior of TEXTAREA. Even though the references state that IE supported this,
no version I have ever found actually DOES support it.