How to disable tabbing to an html element? 3

[jsteph]

Hi all,
Is there--without the use of javascript--a way to have an html <input> element ignore tabstops?

For example, I have a table with 5 columns, in these column td cells is in input textbox, and the tab key will step through columns 1 through 5, but I want it to go from 2 to 4, skipping over 3.

Without using onblur, focus, etc, how can I just make that input element ignore the tab and have it skip over?
Thanks,
--Jim

 

[vacunita]

You can set the input to disabled, but of course that precludes any possibility of editing it.

Other than that, there is no way to do it without Javascript.


----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[vacunita]

One more thing: You could also use the tabindex property of the element and set it very high, so it becomes the last thing a user can tab into.


----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[vicvirk]

set the tabindex to "-1" and it won't ever get highlighted with the tab key.

<input type="text" tabindex="-1" name="tbx" id="tbx" />

Works with all form elements, and the <a> and <area> tags as well.





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[jsteph]

vicvirk
Thanks, that did the trick!
--Jim

 

[feherke]

Hi

Nice one, vicvirk. Strange that it works in Gecko, Presto, KHTML and WebKit, even in strict documents, although it is invalid HTML.

tabindex = number [CN]
This attribute specifies the position of the current element in the tabbing order for the current document. [highlight]This value must be a number between 0 and 32767.[/highlight] User agents should ignore leading zeros.

Forms | Giving focus to an element | Tabbing navigation

Line 14, Column 30: character "-" is not allowed in the value of attribute "TABINDEX"
<input type="text" tabindex="[red]-[/red]1" name="tbx">

Feherke.

http://rootshell.be/~feherke/

 

[TrojanWarBlade]

It works *because* it's invalid.
As the engine tries to process the "-" character it decides the attribute has an invalid value and therefore sets it to nothing.
You can get the same effect with "-0" for example.
If you want it to validate, simply put nothing for the value as in this:

<input type="text" tabindex="" name="tbx" id="tbx" />

Trojan.

 

[ChrisHunt]

Just a note of caution - if you're supposed to be able to enter a value into this <input> by clicking in it, you make the form inaccessible to some disabled users by disallowing tabbing.

If you're not supposed to be able to enter a value, why use an <input> in the first place?

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd