What's the difference between disabled="disabled" and readonly="readonly" for HTML form input fields?
HtmlCross BrowserHtml Problem Overview
I have read a bit on this, but I can't seem to find anything solid about how different browsers treat things.
Html Solutions
Solution 1 - Html
A readonly
element is just not editable, but gets sent when the according form
submits. A disabled
element isn't editable and isn't sent on submit. Another difference is that readonly
elements can be focused (and getting focused when "tabbing" through a form) while disabled
elements can't.
Read more about this in this great article or the definition by w3c. To quote the important part:
> Key Differences
>
> The Disabled attribute
>
> - Values for disabled form elements are not passed to the processor method. The W3C calls this a successful element.(This works similar to
> form check boxes that are not checked.)
> - Some browsers may override or provide default styling for disabled form elements. (Gray out or emboss text) Internet Explorer
> 5.5 is particularly nasty about this.
> - Disabled form elements do not receive focus.
> - Disabled form elements are skipped in tabbing navigation.
>
> The Read Only Attribute
>
> - Not all form elements have a readonly attribute. Most notable, the <SELECT>
, <OPTION>
, and <BUTTON>
elements do not have readonly
> attributes (although they both have disabled attributes)
> - Browsers provide no default overridden visual feedback that the form element is read only. (This can be a problem… see below.)
> - Form elements with the readonly attribute set will get passed to the form processor.
> - Read only form elements can receive the focus
> - Read only form elements are included in tabbed navigation.
Solution 2 - Html
No events get triggered when the element is having disabled attribute.
None of the below will get triggered.
$("[disabled]").click( function(){ console.log("clicked") });//No Impact
$("[disabled]").hover( function(){ console.log("hovered") });//No Impact
$("[disabled]").dblclick( function(){ console.log("double clicked") });//No Impact
While readonly will be triggered.
$("[readonly]").click( function(){ console.log("clicked") });//log - clicked
$("[readonly]").hover( function(){ console.log("hovered") });//log - hovered
$("[readonly]").dblclick( function(){ console.log("double clicked") });//log - double clicked
Solution 3 - Html
Disabled means that no data from that form element will be submitted when the form is submitted. Read-only means any data from within the element will be submitted, but it cannot be changed by the user.
For example:
<input type="text" name="yourname" value="Bob" readonly="readonly" />
This will submit the value "Bob" for the element "yourname".
<input type="text" name="yourname" value="Bob" disabled="disabled" />
This will submit nothing for the element "yourname".
Solution 4 - Html
Same as the other answers (disabled isn't sent to the server, readonly is) but some browsers prevent highlighting of a disabled form, while read-only can still be highlighted (and copied).
http://www.w3schools.com/tags/att_input_disabled.asp
http://www.w3schools.com/tags/att_input_readonly.asp
> A read-only field cannot be modified. However, a user can tab to it, highlight it, and copy the text from it.
Solution 5 - Html
If the value of a disabled textbox needs to be retained when a form is cleared (reset), disabled = "disabled"
has to be used, as read-only textbox will not retain the value
For Example:
HTML
Textbox
<input type="text" id="disabledText" name="randombox" value="demo" disabled="disabled" />
Reset button
<button type="reset" id="clearButton">Clear</button>
In the above example, when Clear button is pressed, disabled text value will be retained in the form. Value will not be retained in the case of input type = "text" readonly="readonly"
Solution 6 - Html
The readonly attribute can be set to keep a user from changing the value until some other conditions have been met while the disabled attribute can be set to keep a user from using the element
Solution 7 - Html
The difference between disabled and readonly is that read-only controls can still function and are still focusable, anddisabled controls can not receive focus and are not submitted with the form