Contents
Get code examples and learn how to get the value of text input and textarea elements in JavaScript.
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Introduction
In JavaScript, you can use the `value` property to get the value of an `input` element. The `value` property contains the default value OR the value a user types in (or a value set by a script).
For example, if you have an input field like this:
“`html
“`
You can access it with JavaScript like this:
“`javascript
var input = document.getElementById(“myInput”);
var value = input.value;
“`
Using the DOM
Let’s say you have a form on your website and you want to get the value of the input field. You can do this by using the DOM. The DOM (Document Object Model) is a way for JavaScript to access and manipulate the HTML on a website.
Getting an input element by its id
To get an input element by its id, you can use the getElementById() method of the document object. This method returns an HTML DOM Object, which you can use to access and manipulate the element.
For example, if you have an input element with an id of “first-name”, you can get it like this:
var firstNameInput = document.getElementById(“first-name”);
Once you have the input element, you can access its value property to get its value:
var firstName = firstNameInput.value;
Getting an input element by its name
This code shows how to get an input element by its name.
“`
var x = document.getElementsByName(“username”)[0].value;
“`
Using jQuery
In order to get the value of an input field in JavaScript, you can use the jQuery val() function. This function will return the value of the input field that you specify. You can also use the $(this) selector to get the value of the input field that is currently being focused on.
Getting an input element by its id
The first step is to create a variable to store the element. The getElementById() method is used to return the element with the specified id:
var x = document.getElementById(“myText”).value;
The value property sets or returns the value of the value attribute of an input element (the value specified in the HTML).
In this example, we create a variable named x, and set it equal to the value of the myText input field. The result will be displayed in an alert box:
Getting an input element by its name
You can get an input element by using its name with the document.getElementsByName() method.
This method returns an array of elements, so you need to use the [0] property to target the first element in the array, like this:
“`javascript
var x = document.getElementsByName(“input_name”)[0].value;
“`
Conclusion
There are many ways to get an input value in JavaScript. You can use the prompt() method, you can use the HTML5 input tag, or you can use the JQuery val() function. All of these methods are valid and will allow you to get input from a user.
