HTML form elements and attributes

Common Gateway Interface (CGI)

A program that processes data submitted by the user. Allows a Web Server to pass control to a software application, based on user request

Client-side script

Code embedded into an HTML page and downloaded by a user; resides on the client and helps process Web form input

Server-Side Script

Code that resides on a server to help process Web form input.

form

Required element to create a Web form, and contains all other form elements

select

Element used to create drop-down option list form which the user can choose single or multiple options

textarea

Element used to create scrolling box into which text can be entered

input

Element used to create text boxes, radio buttons, and the Submit and Reset buttons

value

Attribute that allows default text to appear inside a textbox

name

Attribute that identifies user input and associates it with a value to help organize user-submitted data.

method

Attribute that specifies how a browser will send form data to a Web server

action

Attribute that specifies the name and location of the script used to process the form

cols

Attribute that specifies the width of a scrolling text box