How do you prevent an ENTER key press from submitting a form in a web-based application?
[revision 2012, no inline handler, preserve textarea enter handling]
function checkEnter(e){
e = e || event;
var txtArea = /textarea/i.test((e.target || e.srcElement).tagName);
return txtArea || (e.keyCode || e.which || e.charCode || 0) !== 13;
}
Now you can define a keypress handler on the form:
<form [...] onkeypress="return checkEnter(event)">
document.querySelector('form').onkeypress = checkEnter;
Here is a jQuery handler that can be used to stop enter submits, and also stop backspace key -> back. The (keyCode: selectorString) pairs in the "keyStop" object are used to match nodes that shouldn't fire their default action.
Remember that the web should be an accessible place, and this is breaking keyboard users' expectations. That said, in my case the web application I am working on doesn't like the back button anyway, so disabling its key shortcut is OK. The "should enter -> submit" discussion is important, but not related to the actual question asked.
Here is the code, up to you to think about accessibility and why you would actually want to do this!
$(function(){
var keyStop = {
8: ":not(input:text, textarea, input:file, input:password)", // stop backspace = back
13: "input:text, input:password", // stop enter = submit
end: null
};
$(document).bind("keydown", function(event){
var selector = keyStop[event.which];
if(selector !== undefined && $(event.target).is(selector)) {
event.preventDefault(); //stop event
}
return true;
});
});
Simply return false from the onsubmit handler
<form onsubmit="return false;">
or if you want a handler in the middle
<script>
var submitHandler = function() {
// do stuff
return false;
}
</script>
<form onsubmit="return submitHandler()">
//Turn off submit on "Enter" key
$("form").bind("keypress", function (e) {
if (e.keyCode == 13) {
$("#btnSearch").attr('value');
//add more buttons here
return false;
}
});
You will have to call this function whic will just cancel the default submit behaviour of the form. You can attach it to any input field or event.
function doNothing() {
var keyCode = event.keyCode ? event.keyCode : event.which ? event.which : event.charCode;
if( keyCode == 13 ) {
if(!e) var e = window.event;
e.cancelBubble = true;
e.returnValue = false;
if (e.stopPropagation) {
e.stopPropagation();
e.preventDefault();
}
}
The ENTER key merely activates the form's default submit button, which will be the first
<input type="submit" />
the browser finds within the form.
Therefore don't have a submit button, but something like
<input type="button" value="Submit" onclick="submitform()" />
EDIT: In response to discussion in comments:
This doesn't work if you have only one text field - but it may be that is the desired behaviour in that case.
The other issue is that this relies on Javascript to submit the form. This may be a problem from an accessibility point of view. This can be solved by writing the <input type='button'/> with javascript, and then put an <input type='submit' /> within a <noscript> tag. The drawback of this approach is that for javascript-disabled browsers you will then have form submissions on ENTER. It is up to the OP to decide what is the desired behaviour in this case.
I know of no way of doing this without invoking javascript at all.
In short answer in pure Javascript is:
<script type="text/javascript">
window.addEventListener('keydown', function(e) {
if (e.keyIdentifier == 'U+000A' || e.keyIdentifier == 'Enter' || e.keyCode == 13) {
if (e.target.nodeName == 'INPUT' && e.target.type == 'text') {
e.preventDefault();
return false;
}
}
}, true);
</script>
This only disables the "Enter" keypress action for input type='text'. Visitors can still use "Enter" key all over the website.
If you want to disable "Enter" for other actions as well, you can add console.log(e); for your your test purposes, and hit F12 in chrome, go to "console" tab and hit "backspace" on the page and look inside it to see what values are returned, then you can target all of those parameters to further enhance the code above to suit your needs for "e.target.nodeName", "e.target.type" and many more...
See my detailed answer for a similar question here
I've always done it with a keypress handler like the above in the past, but today hit on a simpler solution. The enter key just triggers the first non-disabled submit button on the form, so actually all that's required is to intercept that button trying to submit:
<form>
<div style="display: none;">
<input type="submit" name="prevent-enter-submit" onclick="return false;">
</div>
<!-- rest of your form markup -->
</form>
That's it. Keypresses will be handled as usual by the browser / fields / etc. If the enter-submit logic is triggered, then the browser will find that hidden submit button and trigger it. And the javascript handler will then prevent the submision.
All the answers I found on this subject, here or in other posts has one drawback and that is it prevents the actual change trigger on the form element as well. So if you run these solutions onchange event is not triggered as well. To overcome this problem I modified these codes and developed the following code for myself. I hope this becomes useful for others.
I gave a class to my form "prevent_auto_submit" and added the following JavaScript:
$(document).ready(function()
{
$('form.prevent_auto_submit input,form.prevent_auto_submit select').keypress(function(event)
{
if (event.keyCode == 13)
{
event.preventDefault();
$(this).trigger("change");
}
});
});
I've spent some time making this cross browser for IE8,9,10, Opera 9+, Firefox 23, Safari (PC) and Safari(MAC)
JSFiddle Example: http://jsfiddle.net/greatbigmassive/ZyeHe/
Base code - Call this function via "onkeypress" attached to your form and pass "window.event" into it.
function stopEnterSubmitting(e) {
if (e.keyCode == 13) {
var src = e.srcElement || e.target;
if (src.tagName.toLowerCase() != "textarea") {
if (e.preventDefault) {
e.preventDefault();
} else {
e.returnValue = false;
}
}
}
}
stopSubmitOnEnter (e) {
var eve = e || window.event;
var keycode = eve.keyCode || eve.which || eve.charCode;
if (keycode == 13) {
eve.cancelBubble = true;
eve.returnValue = false;
if (eve.stopPropagation) {
eve.stopPropagation();
eve.preventDefault();
}
return false;
}
}
Then on your form:
<form id="foo" onkeypress="stopSubmitOnEnter(e);">
Though, it would be better if you didn't use obtrusive JavaScript.
Preventing "ENTER" to submit form may inconvenience some of your users. So it would be better if you follow the procedure below:
Write the 'onSubmit' event in your form tag:
<form name="formname" id="formId" onSubmit="return testSubmit()" ...>
....
....
....
</form>
write Javascript function as follows:
function testSubmit(){
if(jQuery("#formId").valid())
{
return true;
}
return false;
}
(OR)
What ever the reason, if you want to prevent the form submission on pressing Enter key, you can write the following function in javascript:
$(document).ready(function() {
$(window).keydown(function(event){
if(event.keyCode == 13) {
event.preventDefault();
return false;
}
});
});
thanks.
To prevent form submit when pressing enter in a textarea or input field, check the submit event to find what type of element sent the event.
Example 1
HTML
<button type="submit" form="my-form">Submit</button>
<form id="my-form">
...
</form>
jQuery
$(document).on('submit', 'form', function(e) {
if (e.delegateTarget.activeElement.type!=="submit") {
e.preventDefault();
}
});
A better solution is if you don't have a submit button and you fire the event with a normal button. It is better because in the first examlple 2 submit events are fired, but in the second example only 1 submit event is fired.
Example 2
HTML
<button type="button" onclick="$('#my-form').submit();">Submit</button>
<form id="my-form">
...
</form>
jQuery
$(document).on('submit', 'form', function(e) {
if (e.delegateTarget.activeElement.localName!=="button") {
e.preventDefault();
}
});
In my case, this jQuery JavaScript solved the problem
jQuery(function() {
jQuery("form.myform").submit(function(event) {
event.preventDefault();
return false;
});
}
You will find this more simple and useful :D
$(document).on('submit', 'form', function(e){
/* on form submit find the trigger */
if( $(e.delegateTarget.activeElement).not('input, textarea').length == 0 ){
/* if the trigger is not between selectors list, return super false */
e.preventDefault();
return false;
}
});
How about:
<asp:Button ID="button" UseSubmitBehavior="false"/>
Add this tag to your form - onsubmit="return false;"
Then you can only submit your form with some JavaScript function.
Please check this article How to prevent ENTER keypress to submit a web form?
$(“.pc_prevent_submit”).ready(function() {
$(window).keydown(function(event) {
if (event.keyCode == 13) {
event.preventDefault();
return false;
}
});
});
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<form class=”pc_prevent_submit” action=”” method=”post”>
<input type=”text” name=”username”>
<input type=”password” name=”userpassword”>
<input type=”submit” value=”submit”>
</form>
You can trap the keydown on a form in javascript and prevent the even bubbling, I think. ENTER on a webpage basically just submits the form that the currently selected control is placed in.
This link provides a solution that has worked for me in Chrome, FF, and IE9 plus the emulator for IE7 and 8 that comes with IE9's developer tool (F12).
http://webcheatsheet.com/javascript/disable_enter_key.php
Another approach is to append the submit input button to the form only when it is supposed to be submited and replace it by a simple div during the form filling
Simply add this attribute to your FORM tag:
onsubmit="return gbCanSubmit;"
Then, in your SCRIPT tag, add this:
var gbCanSubmit = false;
Then, when you make a button or for any other reason (like in a function) you finally permit a submit, simply flip the global boolean and do a .submit() call, similar to this example:
function submitClick(){
// error handler code goes here and return false if bad data
// okay, proceed...
gbCanSubmit = true;
$('#myform').submit(); // jQuery example
}
I Have come across this myself because I have multiple submit buttons with different 'name' values, so that when submitted they do different things on the same php file. The enter / return button breaks this as those values aren't submitted.
So I was thinking, does the enter / return button activate the first submit button in the form?
That way you could have a 'vanilla' submit button that is either hidden or has a 'name' value that returns the executing php file back to the page with the form in it.
Or else a default (hidden) 'name' value that the keypress activates, and the submit buttons overwrite with their own 'name' values.
Just a thought.
How about:
<script>
function isok(e) {
var name = e.explicitOriginalTarget.name;
if (name == "button") {
return true
}
return false;
}
</script>
<form onsubmit="return isok(event);">
<input type="text" name="serial"/>
<input type="submit" name="button" value="Create Thing"/>
</form>
And just name your button right and it will still submit, but text fields i.e. the explicitOriginalTarget when you hit return in one, will not have the right name.
If none of those answers are working for you, try this. Add a submit button before the one that actually submits the form and just do nothing with the event.
HTML
<!-- The following button is meant to do nothing. This button will catch the "enter" key press and stop it's propagation. -->
<button type="submit" id="EnterKeyIntercepter" style="cursor: auto; outline: transparent;"></button>
JavaScript
$('#EnterKeyIntercepter').click((event) => {
event.preventDefault(); //The buck stops here.
/*If you don't know what this if statement does, just delete it.*/
if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') {
console.log("The enter key was pressed and captured by the mighty Enter Key Inceptor (⌐■_■)");
}
});
This worked for me.
onkeydown="return !(event.keyCode==13)"
<form id="form1" runat="server" onkeydown="return !(event.keyCode==13)">
</form>
Here's how I'd do it:
window.addEventListener('keydown', function(event)
{
if (event.key === "Enter" && event.target.tagName !== 'TEXTAREA')
{
if(event.target.type !== 'submit')
{
event.preventDefault();
return false;
}
}
});
put into javascript external file
(function ($) {
$(window).keydown(function (event) {
if (event.keyCode == 13) {
return false;
}
});
})(jQuery);
or somewhere inside body tag
<script>
$(document).ready(function() {
$(window).keydown(function(event) {
alert(1);
if(event.keyCode == 13) {
return false;
}
});
});
</script>
I had the same problem (forms with tons of text fields and unskilled users).
I solved it in this way:
function chkSubmit() {
if (window.confirm('Do you want to store the data?')) {
return true;
} else {
// some code to focus on a specific field
return false;
}
}
using this in the HTML code:
<form
action="go.php"
method="post"
accept-charset="utf-8"
enctype="multipart/form-data"
onsubmit="return chkSubmit()"
>
In this way the ENTER key works as planned, but a confirmation (a second ENTER tap, usually) is required.
I leave to the readers the quest for a script sending the user in the field where he pressed ENTER if he decide to stay on the form.
This is a complete revision of my initial question, all unnecessary resources and references were deleted
I am tying the same event listener to 2 different elements: a button and Enter key, and it looks like the following:
var funcelement = function(){
//function code
};
$('#buttonID').click(funcelement);
$('#inputID').keyup(function () {
if (event.which == 13) {
$('#buttonID').trigger('click');
}
})
What I am trying to do is to prevent propagation of the enter key press if focus is on the submit button(#buttonID) by using preventDefault().
So I tried various combinations to make it work. The following is the latest result on my attempts
$('#inputID').keyup(function () {
var hasfocus = $('#buttonID').is(':focus') || false;
if (event.which == 13) {
if (!hasfocus) {
event.preventDefault();
$('#buttonID').trigger('click');
//hasfocus = true;
}
else {
//event.preventDefault();
//$('#buttonID').trigger('click');
}
}
})
After I enter a text into an input box and press Enter key, a confirmation window with yes/cancel buttons pops up with focus on yes button. Once I press Enter again, another window confirming that changes were made pops up with Ok button focused on it. Once I press Enter again, everything I need is being made.
However, there is one problem: after the last step is done, I am going back to the if (!hasfocus) line.
How do I prevent that from happening? Once the stuff I need is done - I don't want to go into that line again.
You can pass a parameter to into the function and stop the propagation there like so:
var funcelement = function(event, wasTriggeredByEnterKey){
if (wasTriggeredByEnterKey && $('#buttonID').is(':focus')) {
event.stopPropagation;
}
//function code
};
$('#buttonID').click(funcelement);
$('#inputID').keyup(function () {
if (event.which == 13) {
$('#buttonID').trigger('click', [true]);
}
}
)
UPDATE
In order to answer your revised issue, you should use the "keydown" event rather than "keyup" when working with alerts. This is because alerts close with the "keydown" event but then you are still triggering the "keyup" event when you release the enter key. Simply change the one word like this:
$('#inputID').keydown(function () {
var hasfocus = $('#buttonID').is(':focus') || false;
if (event.which == 13) {
if (!hasfocus) {
event.preventDefault();
$('#buttonID').trigger('click');
//hasfocus = true;
}
else {
//event.preventDefault();
//$('#buttonID').trigger('click');
}
}
})
I have this section of code:
function createDownload() {
var category, format, specification, download;
$('#submitform').click(function() {
category = $('#cate').val();
format = $('#form').val();
specification = $('#spec').val();
if (category == "NULL" || format == "NULL" || specification == "NULL") {
alert("Please select all options.");
return false;
} else {
download = "pdfs/"+specification+format+category+".pdf";
window.open(download);
}
});
}
Now... In Internet Explorer it says there is an "Error on the page" - Message: 'return' statement outside of function and I have to click the button again.
In Firefox, Chrome and Safari - I have to click the button twice to get the PDF to appear... (and no errors)...
Now why could that be?!
As per request - My Form declaration:
<form method="post" action="javascript: return false;" onSubmit="createDownload();">
<form method="post" action="javascript: return false;" onSubmit="createDownload();">
Since you are using return false not in a function it is throwing the error. You will have to put that in an anynymous function.
Something like
<form method="post" action="javascript: function() {return false;}" onSubmit="createDownload();">
will work
Better to bind the event .submit() for the form
<form method="post" id="frm1"></form>
$("#frm1").submit(function(){
// your code
return false;
});
You need to change your action='javascript: return false;' and remove the onsubmit. It should become action='javascript: createDownload();'
Try removing the return. It seems you don't even need it, and if that's really the cause of the problem then what's the point keeping it there?
First, you need to remove the action from the form - it serves no purpose here. Also, assuming #submitForm refers to the form submit button, your first click will attach the click handler and the second click will actually call it. Instead, remove the onsubmit attribute and just attach the handler in the usual way to either the button click or form submit event, being sure to cancel the event in either case:
jQuery(function($) {
$('#submitform').click(function() {
// or: $('#formID').submit(function() {
var category, format, specification, download;
category = $('#cate').val();
format = $('#form').val();
specification = $('#spec').val();
if (category == "NULL" || format == "NULL" || specification == "NULL") {
alert("Please select all options.");
} else {
download = "pdfs/"+specification+format+category+".pdf";
window.open(download);
}
return false;
});
});
I just wrote this nifty little function which works on the form itself...
$("#form").keypress(function(e) {
if (e.which == 13) {
var tagName = e.target.tagName.toLowerCase();
if (tagName !== "textarea") {
return false;
}
}
});
In my logic I want to accept carriage returns during the input of a textarea. Also, it would be an added bonus to replace the enter key behavior of input fields with behavior to tab to the next input field (as if the tab key was pressed). Does anyone know of a way to use the event propagation model to correctly fire the enter key on the appropriate element, but prevent form submitting on its press?
You can mimic the tab key press instead of enter on the inputs like this:
//Press Enter in INPUT moves cursor to next INPUT
$('#form').find('.input').keypress(function(e){
if ( e.which == 13 ) // Enter key = keycode 13
{
$(this).next().focus(); //Use whatever selector necessary to focus the 'next' input
return false;
}
});
You will obviously need to figure out what selector(s) are necessary to focus on the next input when Enter is pressed.
Note that single input forms always get submitted when the enter key is pressed. The only way to prevent this from happening is this:
<form action="/search.php" method="get">
<input type="text" name="keyword" />
<input type="text" style="display: none;" />
</form>
Here is a modified version of my function. It does the following:
Prevents the enter key from working
on any element of the form other
than the textarea, button, submit.
The enter key now acts like a tab.
preventDefault(), stopPropagation() being invoked on the element is fine, but invoked on the form seems to stop the event from ever getting to the element.
So my workaround is to check the element type, if the type is not a textarea (enters permitted), or button/submit (enter = click) then we just tab to the next thing.
Invoking .next() on the element is not useful because the other elements might not be simple siblings, however since DOM pretty much garantees order when selecting so all is well.
function preventEnterSubmit(e) {
if (e.which == 13) {
var $targ = $(e.target);
if (!$targ.is("textarea") && !$targ.is(":button,:submit")) {
var focusNext = false;
$(this).find(":input:visible:not([disabled],[readonly]), a").each(function(){
if (this === e.target) {
focusNext = true;
}
else if (focusNext){
$(this).focus();
return false;
}
});
return false;
}
}
}
From a usability point of view, changing the enter behaviour to mimic a tab is a very bad idea. Users are used to using the enter key to submit a form. That's how the internet works. You should not break this.
The post Enter Key as the Default Button describes how to set the default behaviour for enter key press. However, sometimes, you need to disable form submission on Enter Key press. If you want to prevent it completely, you need to use OnKeyPress handler on tag of your page.
<body OnKeyPress="return disableKeyPress(event)">
The javascript code should be:
<script language="JavaScript">
function disableEnterKey(e)
{
var key;
if(window.event)
key = window.event.keyCode; //IE
else
key = e.which; //firefox
return (key != 13);
}
</script>
If you want to disable form submission when enter key is pressed in an input field, you must use the function above on the OnKeyPress handler of the input field as follows:
<input type="text" name="txtInput" onKeyPress="return disableEnterKey(event)">
Source: http://www.bloggingdeveloper.com/post/Disable-Form-Submit-on-Enter-Key-Press.aspx
Set trigger for both the form and the inputs, but when the input events are triggered, stop the propagation to the form by calling the stopPropagation method.
By the way, IMHO, it's not a great thing to change default behaviors to anything any average user is used to - that's what make them angry when using your system. But if you insist, then the stopPropagation method is the way to go.
In my case i wanted to prevent it only in a dinamically created field, and activate some other button, so it was a little bit diferent.
$(document).on( 'keypress', '.input_class', function (e) {
if (e.charCode==13) {
$(this).parent('.container').children('.button_class').trigger('click');
return false;
}
});
In this case it will catch the enter key on all input's with that class, and will trigger the button next to them, and also prevent the primary form to be submited.
Note that the input and the button have to be in the same container.
The previous solutions weren't working for me, but I did find a solution.
This waits for any keypress, test which match 13, and returns false if so.
in the <HEAD>
function stopRKey(evt) {
var evt = (evt) ? evt : ((event) ? event : null);
var node = (evt.target) ? evt.target : ((evt.srcElement) ? evt.srcElement : null);
if ((evt.which == 13) && (node.type == "text")) {
return false;
}
}
document.onkeypress = stopRKey;
I prefer the solution of #Dmitriy Likhten, yet:
it only worked when I changed the code a bit:
[...] else
{
if (focusNext){
$(this).focus();
return false; } //
}
Otherwise the script didn't work.
Using Firefox 48.0.2
I modified Dmitriy Likhten's answer a bit, works good. Included how to reference the function to the event. note that you don't include () or it will execute. We're just passing a reference.
$(document).ready(function () {
$("#item-form").keypress(preventEnterSubmit);
});
function preventEnterSubmit(e) {
if (e.which == 13) {
var $targ = $(e.target);
if (!$targ.is("textarea") && !$targ.is(":button,:submit")) {
var focusNext = false;
$(this).find(":input:visible:not([disabled],[readonly]), a").each(function () {
if (this === e.target) {
focusNext = true;
} else {
if (focusNext) {
$(this).focus();
return false;
}
}
});
return false;
}
}
}