Automatically Jumping To The Next FieldIf your form contains data that is of a fixed length it may be convenient to have the cursor automatically jump to the next field when the proper amount of data is filled in. For example, a social security number consists of three fields of 3, 2, and 4 characters long. We can set those three fields so that the cursor jumps automatically from one to the next as the data is filled in.
First, copy this script exactly as-is into the
<SCRIPT TYPE="text/javascript"> <!-- var downStrokeField; function autojump(fieldName,nextFieldName,fakeMaxLength) { var myForm=document.forms[document.forms.length - 1]; var myField=myForm.elements[fieldName]; myField.nextField=myForm.elements[nextFieldName]; if (myField.maxLength == null) myField.maxLength=fakeMaxLength; myField.onkeydown=autojump_keyDown; myField.onkeyup=autojump_keyUp; } function autojump_keyDown() { this.beforeLength=this.value.length; downStrokeField=this; } function autojump_keyUp() { if ( (this == downStrokeField) && (this.value.length > this.beforeLength) && (this.value.length >= this.maxLength) ) this.nextField.focus(); downStrokeField=null; } //--> </SCRIPT> Now, suppose we have this form in which the first three fields represent the social security number. We create the fields as usual without any special markup.
<FORM ACTION="../cgi-bin/mycgi.pl" METHOD=POST> SSN: <INPUT TYPE=TEXT NAME="ssn_1" MAXLENGTH=3 SIZE=3> - <INPUT TYPE=TEXT NAME="ssn_2" MAXLENGTH=2 SIZE=2> - <INPUT TYPE=TEXT NAME="ssn_3" MAXLENGTH=4 SIZE=4><BR> email: <INPUT TYPE=TEXT NAME="email"><BR> </FORM>
To set the three fields as automatics jumpers, we add a short script immediately after closing the form. The script must come immediately after the form before any other forms. We use the
<SCRIPT TYPE="text/javascript"> <!-- autojump('ssn_1', 'ssn_2', 3); autojump('ssn_2', 'ssn_3', 2); autojump('ssn_3', 'email', 4); //--> </SCRIPT> This gives us this form: |