Limiting characters in textarea

Enygma

Does anyone know if its possible to limit the number of characters typed into a textarea?
Without using Javascript?

beaver

AFAIK it's not.

nahdoic

I don't think it's possible either. The input text fields have the maxlength option, but the textarea doesn't.

Why don't you want to use javascript to do it?

beaver

One reason would be because users can turn it off...

I guess you could script it server-side to ensure a max length. I'd implement javascript first with that as a backup if javascript is turned off, though.

Enygma

Yeah just did it on the server side.
How does one go about getting the length of the text in a textarea in JavaScript?
I've tried using document.myform.description.value.length
and document.myform.description.length
but neither work.
Anyone know how it's done?

Bard

There is no provision for a maximum length in HTML for textareas.

If you want to implement it on the client, it's probably best done in JavaScript.

It's a good idea to use ' wrap="virtual" ' in the <textarea> tag, so that the box doesn't end up scrolling to the right when the user is typing.

It's also a good idea to put a note on the page showing the user what the maximum length should be.

beaver

AFAIK the attribute 'wrap' is deprecated.

EDIT: Also, I doubt I'd bother filling out a form if I had to count how many words I was typing. Just do it server-side. End of complications.

Enygma

Got it using the above Javascript.
Go figure??