Sets or retrieves whether the text in the object is left-aligned, right-aligned, centered, or justified.
Syntax
HTML { text-align : sAlign } Scripting[ sAlign = ] object.style.textAlign
Possible Values
sAlignString that specifies or receives one of the following values:leftDefault. Text is aligned to the left.rightText is aligned to the right.centerText is centered.justifyText is justified.The property is read/write for all objects except the following, for which it is read-only: currentStyle. The property has a default value of left. The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) attribute is inherited. DHTML expressions can be used in place of the preceding value(s). As of Internet Explorer 8, expressions are not supported in IE8 mode. For more information, see About Dynamic Properties.
right
center
justify
The property is read/write for all objects except the following, for which it is read-only: currentStyle. The property has a default value of left. The Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) attribute is inherited.
DHTML expressions can be used in place of the preceding value(s). As of Internet Explorer 8, expressions are not supported in IE8 mode. For more information, see About Dynamic Properties.
Remarks
The property applies to block elements. The property is inherited by all block-level objects inside a div object. This parameter receives null if the attribute is not set. The justify possible value is available as of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0.
The property applies to block elements. The property is inherited by all block-level objects inside a div object. This parameter receives null if the attribute is not set.
The justify possible value is available as of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0.
Examples
The following examples use the text-align attribute and the textAlign property to align text within the object. This example uses p as a selector and two classes to call an embedded style sheet that aligns the text according to the respective rule. <STYLE> P { text-align:center } .align1 { text-align:right } .align2 { text-align:justify } </STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <P onclick= "this.className='align1'" ondblclick="this.className='align2'"> . . . </P> This feature requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or later. Click the following icon to install the latest version. Then reload this page to view the sample. This example uses inline scripting to change the alignment of the text when an onmouseover event occurs. <P STYLE="font-size:14" onmouseover="this.style.textAlign='center'"> . . . </P> This feature requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or later. Click the following icon to install the latest version. Then reload this page to view the sample.
This example uses p as a selector and two classes to call an embedded style sheet that aligns the text according to the respective rule.
<STYLE> P { text-align:center } .align1 { text-align:right } .align2 { text-align:justify } </STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <P onclick= "this.className='align1'" ondblclick="this.className='align2'"> . . . </P>
This example uses inline scripting to change the alignment of the text when an onmouseover event occurs.
<P STYLE="font-size:14" onmouseover="this.style.textAlign='center'"> . . . </P>
Standards Information
This property is defined in Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), Level 1 (CSS1) .
Applies To
BLOCKQUOTE, BODY, CENTER, currentStyle, DD, DIR, DIV, DL, DT, FIELDSET, FORM, hn, HR, INPUT type=password, INPUT type=text, LI, LISTING, MARQUEE, MENU, OL, P, PLAINTEXT, PRE, runtimeStyle, style, TABLE, TD, TEXTAREA, TH, TR, UL, XMP, CSSCurrentStyleDeclaration Constructor, CSSRuleStyleDeclaration Constructor, CSSStyleDeclaration Constructor