<TEXTAREA ...>

NAME: name of this form field COLS: how many characters wide ROWS: how many rows WRAP: how to wrap the text READONLY: don't let the user change the contents of the field

DISABLED: don't let the user do anything with this field TABINDEX: tab order LANGUAGE: scripting language onChange: Script to run when the user has changed the textarea onKeyPress: script to run when a key is pressed

<TEXTAREA ...> indicates a form field where the user can enter large amounts of text. In most respects, <TEXTAREA ...> works like an <INPUT ...> field. It can have a name, a default value, script events such as onChange, and is sent to a CGI as a name/value pair. One main difference is that <TEXTAREA ...> is a container tag: it has a start tag ().

In its simplest form, <TEXTAREA ...> requires the NAME, COLS and ROWS attributes, and nothing between <TEXTAREA ...> and </TEXTAREA>.

<FORM ACTION="../cgi-bin/mycgi.pl" METHOD=POST>
your comments:<BR>
<TEXTAREA NAME="comments" COLS=40 ROWS=6></TEXTAREA>
<P><INPUT TYPE=SUBMIT VALUE="submit">
</FORM>

gives us this form:

The contents between <TEXTAREA ...> and </TEXTAREA> are used as the default value.

<FORM ACTION="../cgi-bin/mycgi.pl">
your response:<BR>
<TEXTAREA NAME="comments" COLS=40 ROWS=6>
John said
: I think it's a great idea
: but it needs more thought
</TEXTAREA>
<P><INPUT TYPE=SUBMIT VALUE="submit">
</FORM>

gives us

The contents are interpreted as text only; HTML markup is ignored. Theoretically the user can type unlimited amounts of text into the textarea field. In reality the browser sets the limit, usually no more than 32 K. If you want users to send in their latest novel, consider using file upload.