Part 6 - Getting Input from Users
Data may be received from the user with the window.prompt command:
variable = window.prompt(display text, initial value)
This script ran when the current page loaded:
<![CDATA[
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
user = window.prompt("Please enter your name: ", "");
document.write("Welcome, <B>", user, "</B> to this part of the workshop.");
</SCRIPT>
]]>
Another example of entering data from a prompt:
<![CDATA[
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
bg = new Array("#FFFFFF", "#00FFFF", "#0000FF", "#00FF00");
bgcolor = 0;
bgcolor = window.prompt("Background color (0-White 1-Aqua 2-Blue 3-Lime): ", 0);
document.bgColor = bg[bgcolor];
</SCRIPT>
]]>
You can also display a message to the user with the window.alert command:
<![CDATA[
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
window.alert("Your name is: " + user);
</SCRIPT>
]]>
Click here to try it out.
Pros and Cons
- Quick way to collect user input
- Disrupts interface
- Limited and restricted
Better alternative: HTML form tags.
Next: HTML Forms