HTMLOutputElement

The HTMLOutputElement interface provides properties and methods (beyond those inherited from HTMLElement) for manipulating the layout and presentation of <output> elements.

Properties

Inherits properties from its parent, HTMLElement.

Name	Type	Description
defaultValue	DOMString	The default value of the element, initially the empty string.
formRead only	HTMLFormElement	Indicates the control's form owner, reflecting the form HTML attribute if it is defined.
htmlForRead only	DOMSettableTokenList	Reflects the for HTML attribute, containing a list of IDs of other elements in the same document that contribute to (or otherwise affect) the calculated value.
labelsRead only	NodeList	A list of label elements associated with this output element.
name	DOMString	Reflects the name HTML attribute, containing the name for the control that is submitted with form data.
type	DOMString	Must be the string output.
validationMessage	DOMString	A localized message that describes the validation constraints that the control does not satisfy (if any). This is the empty string if the control is not a candidate for constraint validation (willValidate is false), or it satisfies its constraints.
validityRead only	ValidityState	The validity states that this element is in.
value	DOMString	The value of the contents of the elements. Behaves like the Node.textContent property.
willValidateRead only	Boolean	The behavior of this property is subject to an open specification bug, as some browser maker are not happy with what is specified. It is unclear which will be the final the outcome of this. The standard behavior is to always return false because output objects are never candidates for constraint validation. The proposed new behavior, implemented in Firefox since Gecko 2.0 is to use this property to indicate whether the element is a candidate for constraint validation. It is false if any conditions bar it from constraint validation (See bug 604673).

Methods

Inherits methods from its parent, HTMLElement.

Name & Arguments	Return	Description
checkValidity()	Boolean	The behavior of this property is subject to an open specification bug, as some browser maker are not happy with what is specified. It is unclear which will be the final the outcome of this. The standard behavior is to always return true because output objects are never candidates for constraint validation. The proposed new behavior, implemented in Firefox since Gecko 2.0 is to return false if the element is a candidate for constraint validation, and it does not satisfy its constraints. In this case, it also fires an invalid event at the element. It returns true if the element is not a candidate for constraint validation, or if it satisfies its constraints (See bug 604673.).
setCustomValidity (in DOMString error)	void	Sets a custom validity message for the element. If this message is not the empty string, then the element is suffering from a custom validity error, and does not validate.

Modes

This element behaves in one of two modes: default mode and value mode.

Default Mode

Initially, the element is in default mode, and so the contents of the element represent both the value of the element and its default value.

If the element is in default mode when the descendants of the element are changed in any way, the defaultValue property is set to the value of the textContent property.

Resetting the form puts the element into default mode, and sets the textContent property to the value of the defaultValue property.

Value Mode

The element goes into value mode when the contents of the value property are set. The value property otherwise behaves like the textContent property. When the element is in value mode, the default value is accessible only through the defaultValue property.

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
WHATWG HTML Living Standard The definition of 'HTMLOutputElement' in that specification.	Living Standard	No change from HTML5.
HTML5.1 The definition of 'HTMLOutputElement' in that specification.	Recommendation
HTML5 The definition of 'HTMLOutputElement' in that specification.	Recommendation	Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

See also

• The HTML element implementing this interface: <output>.