Prevent form submission with enter key
JavascriptJqueryHtmlJavascript Problem Overview
I just wrote this nifty little function which works on the form itself...
$("#form").keypress(function(e) {
if (e.which == 13) {
var tagName = e.target.tagName.toLowerCase();
if (tagName !== "textarea") {
return false;
}
}
});
In my logic I want to accept carriage returns during the input of a textarea. Also, it would be an added bonus to replace the enter key behavior of input fields with behavior to tab to the next input field (as if the tab key was pressed). Does anyone know of a way to use the event propagation model to correctly fire the enter key on the appropriate element, but prevent form submitting on its press?
Javascript Solutions
Solution 1 - Javascript
You can mimic the tab key press instead of enter on the inputs like this:
//Press Enter in INPUT moves cursor to next INPUT
$('#form').find('.input').keypress(function(e){
if ( e.which == 13 ) // Enter key = keycode 13
{
$(this).next().focus(); //Use whatever selector necessary to focus the 'next' input
return false;
}
});
You will obviously need to figure out what selector(s) are necessary to focus on the next input when Enter is pressed.
Solution 2 - Javascript
Note that single input forms always get submitted when the enter key is pressed. The only way to prevent this from happening is this:
<form action="/search.php" method="get">
<input type="text" name="keyword" />
<input type="text" style="display: none;" />
</form>
Solution 3 - Javascript
Here is a modified version of my function. It does the following:
- Prevents the enter key from working on any element of the form other than the textarea, button, submit.
- The enter key now acts like a tab.
- preventDefault(), stopPropagation() being invoked on the element is fine, but invoked on the form seems to stop the event from ever getting to the element.
So my workaround is to check the element type, if the type is not a textarea (enters permitted), or button/submit (enter = click) then we just tab to the next thing.
Invoking .next() on the element is not useful because the other elements might not be simple siblings, however since DOM pretty much garantees order when selecting so all is well.
function preventEnterSubmit(e) {
if (e.which == 13) {
var $targ = $(e.target);
if (!$targ.is("textarea") && !$targ.is(":button,:submit")) {
var focusNext = false;
$(this).find(":input:visible:not([disabled],[readonly]), a").each(function(){
if (this === e.target) {
focusNext = true;
}
else if (focusNext){
$(this).focus();
return false;
}
});
return false;
}
}
}
Solution 4 - Javascript
From a usability point of view, changing the enter behaviour to mimic a tab is a very bad idea. Users are used to using the enter key to submit a form. That's how the internet works. You should not break this.
Solution 5 - Javascript
The post Enter Key as the Default Button describes how to set the default behaviour for enter key press. However, sometimes, you need to disable form submission on Enter Key press. If you want to prevent it completely, you need to use OnKeyPress handler on tag of your page.
<body OnKeyPress="return disableKeyPress(event)">
The javascript code should be:
<script language="JavaScript">
function disableEnterKey(e)
{
var key;
if(window.event)
key = window.event.keyCode; //IE
else
key = e.which; //firefox
return (key != 13);
}
</script>
If you want to disable form submission when enter key is pressed in an input field, you must use the function above on the OnKeyPress handler of the input field as follows:
<input type="text" name="txtInput" onKeyPress="return disableEnterKey(event)">
Source: http://www.bloggingdeveloper.com/post/Disable-Form-Submit-on-Enter-Key-Press.aspx
Solution 6 - Javascript
Set trigger for both the form and the inputs, but when the input events are triggered, stop the propagation to the form by calling the stopPropagation method.
By the way, IMHO, it's not a great thing to change default behaviors to anything any average user is used to - that's what make them angry when using your system. But if you insist, then the stopPropagation method is the way to go.
Solution 7 - Javascript
In my case i wanted to prevent it only in a dinamically created field, and activate some other button, so it was a little bit diferent.
$(document).on( 'keypress', '.input_class', function (e) {
if (e.charCode==13) {
$(this).parent('.container').children('.button_class').trigger('click');
return false;
}
});
In this case it will catch the enter key on all input's with that class, and will trigger the button next to them, and also prevent the primary form to be submited.
Note that the input and the button have to be in the same container.
Solution 8 - Javascript
The previous solutions weren't working for me, but I did find a solution.
This waits for any keypress, test which match 13, and returns false if so.
in the <HEAD>
function stopRKey(evt) {
var evt = (evt) ? evt : ((event) ? event : null);
var node = (evt.target) ? evt.target : ((evt.srcElement) ? evt.srcElement : null);
if ((evt.which == 13) && (node.type == "text")) {
return false;
}
}
document.onkeypress = stopRKey;
Solution 9 - Javascript
I prefer the solution of @Dmitriy Likhten, yet: it only worked when I changed the code a bit:
[...] else
{
if (focusNext){
$(this).focus();
return false; } //
}
Otherwise the script didn't work. Using Firefox 48.0.2
Solution 10 - Javascript
I modified Dmitriy Likhten's answer a bit, works good. Included how to reference the function to the event. note that you don't include () or it will execute. We're just passing a reference.
$(document).ready(function () {
$("#item-form").keypress(preventEnterSubmit);
});
function preventEnterSubmit(e) {
if (e.which == 13) {
var $targ = $(e.target);
if (!$targ.is("textarea") && !$targ.is(":button,:submit")) {
var focusNext = false;
$(this).find(":input:visible:not([disabled],[readonly]), a").each(function () {
if (this === e.target) {
focusNext = true;
} else {
if (focusNext) {
$(this).focus();
return false;
}
}
});
return false;
}
}
}