HTML5 new form elements

HTML5 has several elements and attributes related to forms.

This chapter introduces the following new form elements:

• Datalist
• Keygen
• Output

Browser support

Datalist	No	No	9.5	No	No
Keygen	No	No	10.5	3.0	No
Output	No	No	9.5	No	No

Datalist Element

The datalist element specifies a list of options for the input field.

The list is created by using the option element in datalist.

To bind datalist to the input field, use the list attribute of the input field to reference the id of datalist:

Instance

Webpage: <input type="url" list="url_list" name="link" /><datalist id="url_list"><option label="W3School" value="http://www.W3School.com.cn" /><option label="Google" value="http://www.google.com" /><option label="Microsoft" value="http://www.microsoft.com" /></datalist>

Try it yourself

Tip: The option element always needs to set the value attribute.

Keygen Element

The keygen element provides a reliable method for user verification.

The keygen element is the key-pair generator ). When a form is submitted, two keys are generated. One is the private key and the other is the public key.

The private key is stored on the client, and the public key is sent to the server. The public key can be used to verify the user's client certificate (client certificate ).

Currently, poor browser support for this element is insufficient to make it a useful security standard.

Instance

<form action="demo_form.asp" method="get">Username: <input type="text" name="usr_name" />Encryption: <keygen name="security" /><input type="submit" /></form>

Try it yourself

Output Element

The output element is used for different types of output, such as computing or Script output:

Instance

<output id="result" onforminput="resCalc()"></output>