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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-31T23:53:08+00:00

In the following code, this line is a bit strange to me: var x=document.forms[myForm][fname].value;

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In the following code, this line is a bit strange to me:

var x=document.forms["myForm"]["fname"].value;

The web page:

<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
function validateForm()
{
var x=document.forms["myForm"]["fname"].value;
if (x==null || x=="")
  {
  alert("First name must be filled out");
  return false;
  }
}
</script>
</head>

<body>

<form name="myForm" action="demo_form.asp" onsubmit="return validateForm()" method="post">

First name: <input type="text" name="fname">
<input type="submit" value="Submit">
</form>

</body>

</html>

How does that work? Where is the multidimensional array ? thanks

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    This:

    var x=document.forms["myForm"]["fname"].value;

    is exactly the same as:

    var x = document.forms.myForm.fname.value;

    In fact there’s really no reason (in this case) for it to be written the way it is.

    Now, if instead of those two string constants — “myForm” and “fname” — there were some dynamic mechanism that computed or fetched the names, then the first form makes sense. The [ ] operator allows for an expression to be evaluated to determine a property name to access.

    There are no arrays involved in this example at all, by the way. Just object property references.

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