How to get a value from TextArea using javascript?

Question

Well this question might look simillar to questions easily findable with google but for some reason all solutions out there have not worked for me. All I want to do is to check if there is text inside of textarea.

JS snippet:

var PrzedDzier = document.getElementById('ctl00_m_g_87871370_ce46_4f47_b1eb_614d0106535d_ff105_1_ctl00_ctl00_TextField');   
var a = PrzedDzier.val();
if(a == "")
{
  alert('FU');
  result = false;
}

HTML baby:

<textarea dir="none" class="ms-long" title="PDzier" id="ctl00_m_g_87871370_ce46_4f47_b1eb_614d0106535d_ff105_1_ctl00_ctl00_TextField" cols="20" rows="2" name="ctl00$m$g_87871370_ce46_4f47_b1eb_614d0106535d$ff105_1$ctl00$ctl00$TextField"></textarea>

Debugger (Firebug) stops working at var a = PrzedDzier.val(); so I assume it's something wrong with val() method...

James Hill · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-09 13:11:29Z

8

You have retrieved the object as a JS object, not a jQuery object. You need to use the jQuery ID selector to retrieve the jQuery object:

var PrzedDzier = $("#ctl00_m_g_87871370_ce46_4f47_b1eb_614d0106535d_ff105_1_ctl00_ctl00_TextField");
var a = PrzedDzier.val();
if(a == "")
{
  alert('FU');
  result = false;
}

If you would like to access the text using pure JS, simply use the value property:

PrzedDzier = document.getElementById('ctl00_m_g_87871370_ce46_4f47_b1eb_614d0106535d_ff105_1_ctl00_ctl00_TextField');   
var a = PrzedDzier.value;
if(a == "")
{
  alert('FU');
  result = false;
}

answered Nov 9, 2011 at 13:11

James Hill

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5 Comments

Ashwini Dhekane Over a year ago

or use innerHTML on JS object for textarea

James Hill Over a year ago

@AshwiniDhekane, true, but the OP indicated that they wanted to use the .val() method. I'll update the post to show both.

Some Guy Over a year ago

@JamesHill You should use .value because .innerHTML is a complete mess. Both will work, of course.

mike Over a year ago

Not really a JS programmer, thanks alot for the enlightening ;) Works good now. Cheers!

Tim Down Over a year ago

@JamesHill, @AshwiniDhekane, @Amaan: Never use innerHTML for a textarea. It does not stay in sync with the actual content of textarea. value is the only property that works. See jsfiddle.net/5kA52

clklachu · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-09 13:16:29Z

1

Since you are using jQuery you can directly access the textarea and get the value as below.

$("#ctl00_m_g_87871370_ce46_4f47_b1eb_614d0106535d_ff105_1_ctl00_ctl00_TextField").val();

But usually, it is more error prone to get an element using its runtime ID (if there are easy chances that the element would be moved which would change the runtime ID), otherwise you can very well use the above code.

answered Nov 9, 2011 at 13:16

clklachu

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Comments

niko · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-09 13:26:48Z

1

I believe using strlen is better than comparing with "" because strlen is much faster and "" takes 6 bytes of ram.just letting you know the other way

var j = document.getElementById('idoftextbox').value;
 if (strlen(j) == 0) 
  {
    alert('FU');
    return false;
  }

answered Nov 9, 2011 at 13:26

niko

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