Fires when a FORM is about to be submitted.

Syntax

Inline HTML	<ELEMENT onsubmit = "handler" ... >	All platforms
Event property	object.onsubmit = handler	JScript only
	object.onsubmit = GetRef("handler")	Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript) 5.0 or later only
Named script	<SCRIPT FOR = object EVENT = onsubmit>	Internet Explorer only

Event Information

Bubbles	No
Cancels	Yes
To invoke	Submit a form using the INPUT TYPE=submit, INPUT TYPE=image, or BUTTON TYPE=submit object.
Default action	Causes a form to be sent to whatever location is stipulated in the ACTION attribute of the form object.

Event Object Properties

Although event handlers in the DHTML Object Model do not receive parameters directly, a handler can query the event object for the following event properties.

Available Properties

altKey	Retrieves a value that indicates the state of the ALT key.
altLeft	Retrieves a value that indicates the state of the left ALT key.
ctrlKey	Sets or retrieves the state of the CTRL key.
ctrlLeft	Sets or retrieves the state of the left CTRL key.
returnValue	Sets or retrieves the return value from the event.
shiftKey	Retrieves the state of the SHIFT key.
shiftLeft	Retrieves the state of the left SHIFT key.
srcElement	Sets or retrieves the object that fired the event.
type	Sets or retrieves the event name from the event object.

Remarks

You can override this event by returning false in the event handler. Use this capability to validate data on the client side to prevent invalid data from being submitted to the server. If the event handler is called by the onsubmit attribute of the form object, the code must explicitly request the return value using the return function, and the event handler must provide an explicit return value for each possible code path in the event handler function.

The submit method does not invoke the onsubmit event handler.

Example

This example shows how to use onsubmit on a form. You can return false to prevent the form from being submitted. Note the use of the return keyword in the onsubmit event handler.

<script type="text/javascript">
    
    function displayAnswer ()
    {
        var question = document.getElementById('question');
        var selected = -1;
        for (var i=0; i<question.answer.length; i++)
        {
            if (question.answer[i].checked) {
                selected = i;
                break;
            }
        }
        if (selected > -1) {
              alert("You answered:  " + question.answer[selected].value );
              return true;
        }

        alert("Please select an answer.");
        return false;
      }
    
</script>

<form id="question" action="#" name="question" onsubmit="return(displayAnswer())">
    <p style="font-size: xx-large">Are you a turtle?</p>
    <p><label><input name="answer" type="radio" value="YES" />YES</label></p>
    <p><label><input name="answer" type="radio" value="NO" />NO</label></p>
    <p><label><input name="answer" type="radio" value="MAYBE" />MAYBE</label></p>
    <p><input type="submit" value="SUBMIT" />&nbsp;&nbsp;
    <input type="reset" value="RESET" /></p>
</form>

This feature requires Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or later. Click the following icon to install the latest version. Then reload this page to view the sample.

Standards Information

This event is defined in HTML 4.0 .

Applies To

FORM, HTMLFormElement Constructor

See Also

ACTION, METHOD