Question

My code looks a little like this:

...
if (reason.options[reason.selectedIndex].value == "0") {
    alert("You must pick a reason for selecting this carrier");
    return false;
}
...

I’m checking to see if they left the drop down list untouched (value=”0″) and if they are, I put up an alert. The return false should stop the alert from refreshing/post back, but it seems to clear everything still. Ideas?

Answer 1

The return false will only stop the action if it is the top-level function.

element.onclick = function() {return false};

That works. This does not:

function handle() {return false;}
<a href="somepage.html" onclick="handle()">Click</a>

You need to make sure you “pass on” the return value, so something like:

<a href="somepage.html" onclick="return handle();">Click</a>