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How can i make a text box readonly when a button is clicked using JavaScript? I have tried different scripts like:

document.getElementById("text").readonly="on";

but since readonly is a Boolean i don't think it works.

Would i use document.getElementById or something else? Can i make all of the text-boxes in a form readonly using one script or would i need a separate script for each text-box? Could this be done using CSS?
Thank you!

Jacob G
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3 Answers3

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document.getElementById("text").disabled=true;
T J
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document.getElementById("text").readonly='readonly';

Javascript doesn't use on/off, it generally uses true/false. Some properties such as "checked" and "disabled" are literal switches, as above.

If you want to work on groups of inputs you generally use class names, apply the same class to those you want to affect.

You can do this in plain JavaScript, but you will have to loop through the values:

var fields = document.getElementsByClassName('something');
for(var x=0;x<fields.length;x++) {
     fields[x].setAttribute('readonly','readonly');
}

Moving to use jQuery has many benefits since it can all be done in one compact line:

$('.something').attr('readonly','readonly');
Diodeus - James MacFarlane
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Assuming you're not using text as the ID, and you have more than one input of type 'text', you could use this

var inputBoxes = document.querySelectorAll("input[type='text']");
for (i = 0; i < inputBoxes.length; i++)
{
    inputBoxes[i].disabled=true;   
}

As noted by SimonSimCity

When you set the property disabled to true, it's not available for interaction anymore! You won't get it when submitting the form and click-events aren't triggered. This is the difference to setting readonly to true. All interesting browsers support both properties. See also: developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/…

In this case, use inputBoxes[i].readOnly=true

kei
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  • When you set the property `disabled` to `true`, it's not available for interaction anymore! You won't get it when submitting the form and click-events aren't triggered. This is the difference to setting `readonly` to `true`. All interesting browsers support both properties. See also: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/input#attr-disabled – SimonSimCity Mar 14 '14 at 20:31
  • What CSS would you use to remove the faded look? – Jacob G Mar 14 '14 at 20:35
  • @BunnyMan Use `readOnly` instead of `disabled` and you won't see the *faded* look – kei Mar 14 '14 at 20:38