Which Submit Button is Activated in HTML Forms Without Explicit Button Activation?

Determining Active Submit Button in HTML Forms

When an HTML form is submitted without explicit button activation (e.g., pressing Enter or calling HTMLFormElement.submit()), the browser must select a default submit button. This poses questions regarding which button is used, with implications for event handling and data submission.

Browser Behavior for Enter Submissions

Experiments have shown that browser behavior varies:

• Firefox, Opera, Safari: Activate the first submit button in the form.
• IE: Inconsistent behavior, sometimes activating the first submit button or none at all.

Browser Behavior for JavaScript Submissions

In all tested browsers, no submit buttons are activated when the form is submitted via JavaScript.

Standard Specification

The HTML specification does not define how browsers should determine the active submit button for Enter submissions. It only specifies that forms are submitted when a submit button is activated.

Implications

The browser's choice of active submit button is arbitrary and can vary between browsers. Relying on specific behavior in this scenario can lead to inconsistent results. To ensure predictable behavior, consider explicitly activating a specific submit button instead of relying on default activation.

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