IHTMLFormElement::method Property

  • Article

Sets or retrieves how to send the form data to the server.

Syntax

HRESULT IHTMLFormElement::get_method(BSTR *p);
HRESULT IHTMLFormElement::put_method(BSTR v);

Parameters

  • p
    Pointer to a variable of type BSTR that receives one of the values listed in Possible Values.
  • v
    BSTR that specifies one of the values listed in Possible Values.

Possible Values

GET Append the arguments to the action URL and open it as if it were an anchor.
POST Send the data through an HTTP post transaction.

Return Value

Returns S_OK if successful, or an error value otherwise.

Remarks

When the user enters information in a form and clicks the submit button, there are two ways the information can be sent from the browser to the server: as part of the URL, or within the body of the HTTP request.

The GET method appends name/value pairs to the URL. The amount of data that can be sent is limited by the maximum length of a URL, which is 2048 bytes. The URL could be truncated if the form uses a large number of parameters, or if the parameters contain large amounts of data. Parameters passed on the URL are visible in the address field of the browser.

This POST method packages the name/value pairs inside the body of the HTTP request. When using the POST method, there is no theoretical limit to the amount of data that can be sent to the server. Because the parameters are not appended to the URL, this method is slightly more secure.

See Also

IHTMLFormElement::action