OPTION Element | option Object

Denotes one choice in a SELECT element.

Members Table

The following table lists the members exposed by the option object. Click a tab on the left to choose the type of member you want to view.

Attributes/Properties

Attribute	Property	Description
BEGIN	begin	Sets or retrieves the delay time before the timeline begins playing on the element.
	canHaveChildren	Retrieves a value indicating whether the object can contain children.
	canHaveHTML	Sets or retrieves the value indicating whether the object can contain rich HTML markup.
CLASS	className	Sets or retrieves the class of the object.
	clientHeight	Retrieves the height of the object including padding, but not including margin, border, or scroll bar.
	clientLeft	Retrieves the distance between the offsetLeft property and the true left side of the client area.
	clientTop	Retrieves the distance between the offsetTop property and the true top of the client area.
	clientWidth	Retrieves the width of the object including padding, but not including margin, border, or scroll bar.
	defaultSelected	Sets or retrieves the status of the option.
DIR	dir	Sets or retrieves the reading order of the object.
DISABLED	disabled	Sets or retrieves a value that you can use to implement your own>disabled functionality for the object.
END	end	Sets or retrieves a value indicating the end time for the element, or the end of the simple duration when the element is set to repeat.
	firstChild	Retrieves a reference to the first child in the childNodes collection of the object.
	form	Retrieves a reference to the form that the object is embedded in.
	hasMedia	Retrieves a Boolean value that indicates whether the element is an>Introduction to HTML+TIME media element.
ID	id	Retrieves the string identifying the object.
	index	Sets or retrieves the ordinal position of an option in a list box.
	innerHTML	Sets or retrieves the HTML between the start and end tags of the object.
	innerText	Sets or retrieves the text between the start and end tags of the object.
	isContentEditable	Retrieves the value indicating whether the user can edit the contents of the object.
	isDisabled	Retrieves the value indicating whether the user can interact with the object.
	isMultiLine	Retrieves the value indicating whether the content of the object contains one or more lines.
	isTextEdit	Retrieves whether a TextRange object can be created using the object.
LABEL	label	Sets or retrieves a value that you can use to implement your own label functionality for the object.
LANG	lang	Sets or retrieves the language to use.
LANGUAGE	language	Sets or retrieves the language in which the current script is written.
	lastChild	Retrieves a reference to the last child in the childNodes collection of an object.
	nextSibling	Retrieves a reference to the next child of the parent for the object.
	nodeName	Retrieves the name of a particular type of node.
	nodeType	Retrieves the type of the requested node.
	nodeValue	Sets or retrieves the value of a node.
	offsetHeight	Retrieves the height of the object relative to the layout or coordinate parent, as specified by the offsetParent property.
	offsetLeft	Retrieves the calculated left position of the object relative to the layout or coordinate parent, as specified by the offsetParent property.
	offsetParent	Retrieves a reference to the container object that defines the offsetTop and offsetLeft properties of the object.
	offsetTop	Retrieves the calculated top position of the object relative to the layout or coordinate parent, as specified by the offsetParent property.
	offsetWidth	Retrieves the width of the object relative to the layout or coordinate parent, as specified by the offsetParent property.
	onOffBehavior	Retrieves an object indicating whether the specified Microsoft DirectAnimation® behavior is running.
	ownerDocument	Sets or retrieves the document object associated with the node.
	parentElement	Retrieves the parent object in the object hierarchy.
	parentNode	Retrieves the parent object in the document hierarchy.
	parentTextEdit	Retrieves the container object in the document hierarchy that can be used to create a TextRange containing the original object.
	previousSibling	Retrieves a reference to the previous child of the parent for the object.
	readyState	Retrieves the current state of the object.
	scopeName	Retrieves the namespace defined for the element.
	scrollHeight	Retrieves the scrolling height of the object.
	scrollLeft	Sets or retrieves the distance between the left edge of the object and the leftmost portion of the content currently visible in the window.
	scrollTop	Sets or retrieves the distance between the top of the object and the topmost portion of the content currently visible in the window.
	scrollWidth	Retrieves the scrolling width of the object.
SELECTED	selected	Sets or retrieves whether the option in the list box is the default item.
SYNCMASTER	syncMaster	Sets or retrieves whether the time container must synchronize playback to this element.
systemBitrate		Retrieves the approximate bandwidth available to the system in bits-per-second.
systemCaptions		Indicates whether or not to display a text equivalent of the audio portion of the presentation.
systemLanguage		Indicates whether a given language is selected in a user's system preferences.
systemOverdubOrSubtitle		Specifies whether overdubs or subtitles render during a presentation.
	tagName	Retrieves the tag name of the object.
	tagUrn	Sets or retrieves the Uniform Resource Name (URN) specified in the namespace declaration.
	text	Sets or retrieves the text string specified by the option tag.
TIMECONTAINER	timeContainer	Sets or retrieves the type of timeline associated with an element.
	uniqueID	Retrieves an autogenerated, unique identifier for the object.
VALUE	value	Sets or retrieves the value which is returned to the server when the>form control is submitted.

Behaviors

Behavior	Description
clientCaps	Provides information about features supported by Internet Explorer, as well as a way for installing browser components on demand.
download	Downloads a file and notifies a specified callback function when the download is complete.
homePage	Contains information about a user's homepage.
httpFolder	Contains scripting features that enable browser navigation to a folder view.
saveFavorite	Enables the object to persist data in a favorite Web site.
saveHistory	Enables the object to persist data in the browser history.
time	Provides an active timeline for an HTML element.
time2	Provides an active timeline for an HTML element or group of elements.
userData	Enables the object to persist data in user data.

Collections

Collection	Description
attributes	Retrieves a collection of attributes of the object.
behaviorUrns	Returns a collection of Uniform Resource Name (URN) strings identifying the behaviors attached to the element.
childNodes	Retrieves a collection of HTML Elements and TextNode objects that are direct descendants of the specified object.
children	Retrieves a collection of DHTML Objects that are direct descendants of the object.

Events

Event	Description
onlayoutcomplete	Fires when the print or print preview layout process finishes filling the current LayoutRect object with content from the source document.
onlosecapture	Fires when the object loses the mouse capture.
onpropertychange	Fires when a property changes on the object.
onreadystatechange	Fires when the state of the object has changed.
onselectstart	Fires when the object is being selected.
ontimeerror	Fires whenever a time-specific error occurs, usually as a result of setting a property to an invalid value.

Methods

Method	Description
addBehavior	Attaches a behavior to the element.
appendChild	Appends an element as a child to the object.
applyElement	Makes the element either a child or parent of another element.
attachEvent	Binds the specified function to an event, so that the function gets called whenever the event fires on the object.
clearAttributes	Removes all attributes and values from the object.
click	Simulates a click by causing the onclick event to fire.
cloneNode	Copies a reference to the object from the document hierarchy.
componentFromPoint	Returns the component located at the specified coordinates via certain events.
contains	Checks whether the given element is contained within the object.
detachEvent	Unbinds the specified function from the event, so that the function stops receiving notifications when the event fires.
dragDrop	Initiates a drag event.
fireEvent	Fires a specified event on the object.
getAdjacentText	Returns the adjacent text string.
getAttribute	Retrieves the value of the specified attribute.
getAttributeNode	Retrieves an attribute object referenced by the attribute.name property.
getBoundingClientRect	Retrieves an object that specifies the bounds of a collection of TextRectangle objects.
getClientRects	Retrieves a collection of rectangles that describes the layout of the contents of an object or range within the client. Each rectangle describes a single line.
getExpression	Retrieves the expression for the given property.
hasChildNodes	Returns a value that indicates whether the object has children.
insertAdjacentElement	Inserts an element at the specified location.
insertAdjacentHTML	Inserts the given HTML text into the element at the location.
insertAdjacentText	Inserts the given text into the element at the specified location.
insertBefore	Inserts an element into the document hierarchy as a child node of a parent object.
mergeAttributes	Copies all read/write attributes to the specified element.
normalize	Merges adjacent TextNode objects to produce a normalized document object model.
releaseCapture	Removes mouse capture from the object in the current document.
removeAttribute	Removes the given attribute from the object.
removeAttributeNode	Removes an attribute object from the object.
removeBehavior	Detaches a behavior from the element.
removeChild	Removes a child node from the object.
removeExpression	Removes the expression from the specified property.
removeNode	Removes the object from the document hierarchy.
replaceAdjacentText	Replaces the text adjacent to the element.
replaceChild	Replaces an existing child element with a new child element.
replaceNode	Replaces the object with another element.
setAttribute	Sets the value of the specified attribute.
setAttributeNode	Sets an attribute object node as part of the object.
setCapture	Sets the mouse capture to the object belonging to the current document.
setExpression	Sets an expression for the specified object.
swapNode	Exchanges the location of two objects in the document hierarchy.

Objects

Object	Description
currentStyle	Represents the cascaded format and style of the object as specified by global style sheets, inline styles, and HTML attributes.
runtimeStyle	Represents the cascaded format and style of the object that overrides the format and style specified in global style sheets, inline styles, and HTML attributes.
style	Represents the current settings of all possible inline styles for a given element.

Styles

Style attribute	Style property	Description
background-attachment	backgroundAttachment	Sets or retrieves how the background image is attached to the object within the document.
background-color	backgroundColor	Sets or retrieves the color behind the content of the object.
background-position-x	backgroundPositionX	Sets or retrieves the x-coordinate of the backgroundPosition property.
background-position-y	backgroundPositionY	Sets or retrieves the y-coordinate of the backgroundPosition property.
behavior	behavior	Sets or retrieves the location of the Introduction to DHTML Behaviors.
clear	clear	Sets or retrieves whether the object allows floating objects on its left side, right side, or both, so that the next text displays past the floating objects.
color	color	Sets or retrieves the color of the text of the object.
direction	direction	Sets or retrieves the reading order of the object.
	hasLayout	Retrieves a value that indicates whether the object has layout.
height	height	Sets or retrieves the height of the object.
layout-flow	layoutFlow	Sets or retrieves the direction and flow of the content in the object.
layout-grid	layoutGrid	Sets or retrieves the composite document grid properties that specify the layout of text characters.
layout-grid-mode	layoutGridMode	Sets or retrieves whether the text layout grid uses two dimensions.
	pixelBottom	Sets or retrieves the bottom position of the object.
	pixelHeight	Sets or retrieves the height of the object.
	pixelLeft	Sets or retrieves the left position of the object.
	pixelRight	Sets or retrieves the right position of the object.
	pixelTop	Sets or retrieves the top position of the object.
	pixelWidth	Sets or retrieves the width of the object.
	posBottom	Sets or retrieves the bottom position of the object in the units specified by the bottom attribute.
	posHeight	Sets or retrieves the height of the object in the units specified by the height attribute.
	posLeft	Sets or retrieves the left position of the object in the units specified by the left attribute.
	posRight	Sets or retrieves the right position of the object in the units specified by the right attribute.
	posTop	Sets or retrieves the top position of the object in the units specified by the top attribute.
	posWidth	Sets or retrieves the width of the object in the units specified by the width attribute.
text-autospace	textAutospace	Sets or retrieves the autospacing and narrow space width adjustment of text.
text-underline-position	textUnderlinePosition	Sets or retrieves the position of the underline decoration that is set through the textDecoration property of the object.
unicode-bidi	unicodeBidi	Sets or retrieves the level of embedding with respect to the bidirectional algorithm.
width	width	Sets or retrieves the width of the object.
word-wrap	wordWrap	Sets or retrieves whether to break words when the content exceeds the boundaries of its container.
writing-mode	writingMode	Sets or retrieves the direction and flow of the content in the object.
zoom	zoom	Sets or retrieves the magnification scale of the object.

Remarks

As of Internet Explorer 5 and later, the OPTION elements are part of the all collection. For earlier versions, you can gain access to these elements by applying the options collection to the SELECT element.

You can add OPTION elements only to a SELECT element that is located in the same window where the OPTION elements are created.

Except for background-color and color, style settings applied through the style object for the option element are ignored. In addition, style settings applied directly to individual options override those applied to the containing SELECT element as a whole.

This element is available in HTML and script as of Internet Explorer 3.0.

This element is a block element.

This element does not require a closing tag.

Examples

This example uses the OPTION element to create individual items in a drop-down list box.

<SELECT ID="oCars" SIZE="1" onchange="fnChange()">
<OPTION VALUE="1">BMW
<OPTION VALUE="2">PORSCHE
<OPTION VALUE="3" SELECTED>MERCEDES
</SELECT>
<TEXTAREA ID="oData"></TEXTAREA>

This example uses the options collection to append the selected item of the list box in a text area.

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JScript">
function fnChange(){
   oData.value+=oCars.options[oCars.selectedIndex].text + "\n";
}
</SCRIPT>

Standards Information

object is defined in HTML 3.2 .

See Also

multiple