Newby question: using a variable for an instance

[thibault]

i have used variables for instances in the past, but for some reason i can't get it to work in this short app with my checkValue() function.&nbsp;&nbsp;i have tried<br> document.frmOrder.vName.focus();<br> document.frmOrder.&quot;vName&quot;.focus();<br> document.frmOrder.[vName].focus();<br> document.frmOrder.[&quot;vName&quot;].focus();<br>nothing works.&nbsp;&nbsp;i know that the input object is passing the correct value for vName, because i used an alert() to display its value.&nbsp;&nbsp;can anyone tell me what i'm doing wrong?<br>tia,<br>t<br><br><br>&lt;HTML&gt;<br>&lt;HEAD&gt;<br>&lt;TITLE&gt;Special Order Form&lt;/TITLE&gt;<br><br>&lt;SCRIPT LANGUAGE=&quot;Javascript&quot;&gt;<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;function setFocus() {<br> document.frmOrder.Store.focus(); // set initial focus<br>}<br><br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;function checkLoc_cd(vLoc_cd) { // set vLoc_cd to the proper length<br> if (vLength.length==0) { // check for null field value<br> alert(&quot;A value must be entered in this field.&quot;<br> document.frmOrder.Assoc.focus();<br> }<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;if (vLoc_cd.length==2){ // loc-cd must be 3 characters long<br> vLoc_cd = &quot;0&quot; + vLoc_cd;<br> document.frmOrder.Store.value = vLoc_cd;<br>}<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;else if (vLoc_cd.length==1)<br> vLoc_cd = &quot;00&quot; + vLoc_cd;<br>}<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;function checkValue(vLength,vName) { // check for null field value<br> if (vLength.length==0) {<br> alert(&quot;A value must be entered in this field.&quot;<br> document.frmOrder.Assoc.focus();<br> }<br>}<br><br><br>&lt;/SCRIPT&gt;<br>&lt;/HEAD&gt;<br>&lt;BODY onLoad=&quot;setFocus();&quot;&gt;<br>&lt;CENTER&gt;&lt;H2&gt;SPO DEPARTMENT INQUIRY & ORDER FORM&lt;/H2&gt;&lt;/CENTER&gt;<br><br>&lt;FORM NAME=&quot;frmOrder&quot; ACTION=mailto:<A HREF="mailto:rthibaul@ultrastores.com">rthibaul@ultrastores.com</A>&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;TABLE WIDTH=&quot;95%&quot; BORDER=1&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;TR&gt;&lt;TD&gt;Store&lt;BR&gt;&lt;INPUT TYPE=&quot;TEXT&quot; SIZE=3 NAME=&quot;Store&quot; onBlur=&quot;checkLoc_cd(value);&quot;&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;TD&gt;Associate Name&lt;BR&gt;&lt;INPUT TYPE=&quot;TEXT&quot; SIZE=&quot;15&quot; NAME=&quot;Assoc&quot; onBlur=&quot;checkValue(value,name);&quot;&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;TD&gt;Today's Date&lt;BR&gt;&lt;INPUT TYPE=&quot;TEXT&quot; SIZE=&quot;15&quot; NAME=&quot;Date&quot; VALUE=&quot;6/23/00&quot;&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;TD COLSPAN=2&gt;Date Order Needed In Store&lt;BR&gt;&lt;INPUT TYPE=&quot;TEXT&quot; SIZE=&quot;15&quot; NAME=&quot;Needed&quot;&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;/TR&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;TR&gt;&lt;TD COLSPAN=3&gt;Customer Name&lt;BR&gt;&lt;INPUT TYPE=&quot;TEXT&quot; SIZE=&quot;30&quot; NAME=&quot;Guest&quot;&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;TD ROWSPAN=3 COLSPAN=2&gt;&lt;B&gt;One option must be selected&lt;B/&gt;&lt;BR&gt;<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;INPUT TYPE=RADIO NAME=&quot;50%&quot; SELECTED&gt;50% DEPOSIT AMOUNT&lt;BR&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;INPUT TYPE=RADIO NAME=&quot;PAID&quot;&gt;PAID IN FULL AMOUNT&lt;BR&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;INPUT TYPE=RADIO NAME=&quot;TRANS&quot;&gt;TRANSFER/EXCHANGE&lt;BR&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;INPUT TYPE=RADIO NAME=&quot;INQUIRY&quot;&gt;INQUIRY ONLY&lt;BR&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;/TR&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;TR&gt;&lt;TD COLSPAN=3&gt;Address&lt;BR&gt;&lt;INPUT TYPE=&quot;TEXT&quot; SIZE=&quot;40&quot; NAME=&quot;Domicile&quot;&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;/TR&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;TR&gt;&lt;TD COLSPAN=2&gt;Home Phone&lt;BR&gt;&lt;INPUT TYPE=&quot;TEXT&quot; SIZE=&quot;20&quot; NAME=&quot;Home&quot;&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;TD&gt;Work Phone&lt;BR&gt;&lt;INPUT TYPE=&quot;TEXT&quot; SIZE=&quot;20&quot; NAME=&quot;Work&quot;&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;/TR&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;TR&gt;&lt;TD&gt;SKU to reference&lt;BR&gt;&lt;INPUT TYPE=&quot;TEXT&quot; SIZE=&quot;15&quot; NAME=&quot;SKU&quot;&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;TD&gt;Metal&lt;BR&gt;&lt;INPUT TYPE=&quot;TEXT&quot; SIZE=&quot;15&quot; NAME=&quot;metal&quot;&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;TD&gt;Color&lt;BR&gt;&lt;INPUT TYPE=&quot;TEXT&quot; SIZE=&quot;15&quot; NAME=&quot;color&quot;&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;TD&gt;Size/Length&lt;BR&gt;&lt;INPUT TYPE=&quot;TEXT&quot; SIZE=&quot;15&quot; NAME=&quot;size&quot;&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;TD&gt;Retail&lt;BR&gt;&lt;INPUT TYPE=&quot;TEXT&quot; SIZE=&quot;15&quot; NAME=&quot;retail&quot;&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;/TR&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;TR&gt;&lt;TD COLSPAN=5&gt;Special Instructions&lt;BR&gt;&lt;INPUT TYPE=&quot;TEXT&quot; SIZE=&quot;55&quot; NAME=&quot;instructions&quot;&gt;&lt;/TD&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;/TR&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;TR&gt;&lt;TD COLSPAN=5&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;INPUT TYPE=&quot;submit&quot; VALUE=&quot;Submit&quot; ACTION=SUBMIT&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;INPUT TYPE=&quot;reset&quot; VALUE=&quot;Reset&quot; ACTION=RESET onClick=&quot;setFocus();&quot;&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;/TD&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;/TR&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;/TABLE&gt;<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;FONT FACE=&quot;Arial&quot; SIZE=2&gt;Copyright Ultra Stores, Inc. 2000&lt;/FONT&gt;<br>&lt;/FORM&gt;<br>&lt;/BODY&gt;<br>&lt;/HTML&gt; <p>bobbie<br><a href=mailto:thibault@hotbot.com>thibault@hotbot.com</a><br><a href=

http://pages.hotbot.com/edu/thibault>

</a><br>wanted intelligent, stalky 35-42 y/o swm in chicagoland area to k-k-k-keep me warm

 

[jaredn]

it could be because you are using a string, so javascript isn't looking for document.all.whatever it is looking got document.all.&quot;whatever&quot;<br><br>pretend whatever is your variable name<br><br>what I would do is this:<br>if you are trying to get document.all.whatever.value<br>- declare a variable - str_obj = new String(whatever)<br>- then use - <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;val = window.eval(&quot;document.all.&quot;+str_obj+&quot;.value&quot<br><br>the eval statement makes the interpreter think that a string is actually code it should execute - very nice...<br><br><A HREF="mailto:jared@aauser.com">jared@aauser.com</A>