Javascript – How to set the focus to the first input element in an HTML form independent from the id

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Is there a simple way to set the focus (input cursor) of a web page on the first input element (textbox, dropdownlist, …) on loading the page without having to know the id of the element?

I would like to implement it as a common script for all my pages/forms of my web application.

Best Answer

Although this doesn't answer the question (requiring a common script), I though it might be useful for others to know that HTML5 introduces the 'autofocus' attribute:

<form>
  <input type="text" name="username" autofocus>
  <input type="password" name="password">
  <input type="submit" value="Login">
</form>

Dive in to HTML5 has more information.

Related Solutions

Html – How to disable browser autocomplete on web form field / input tags

Firefox 30 ignores autocomplete="off" for passwords, opting to prompt the user instead whether the password should be stored on the client. Note the following commentary from May 5, 2014:

The password manager always prompts if it wants to save a password. Passwords are not saved without permission from the user.

We are the third browser to implement this change, after IE and Chrome.

According to the Mozilla Developer Network documentation, the Boolean form element attribute autocomplete prevents form data from being cached in older browsers.

<input type="text" name="foo" autocomplete="off" />

Html – Make a div fill the height of the remaining screen space

2015 update: the flexbox approach

There are two other answers briefly mentioning flexbox; however, that was more than two years ago, and they don't provide any examples. The specification for flexbox has definitely settled now.

Note: Though CSS Flexible Boxes Layout specification is at the Candidate Recommendation stage, not all browsers have implemented it. WebKit implementation must be prefixed with -webkit-; Internet Explorer implements an old version of the spec, prefixed with -ms-; Opera 12.10 implements the latest version of the spec, unprefixed. See the compatibility table on each property for an up-to-date compatibility status.

(taken from https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Guide/CSS/Flexible_boxes)

All major browsers and IE11+ support Flexbox. For IE 10 or older, you can use the FlexieJS shim.

To check current support you can also see here: http://caniuse.com/#feat=flexbox

Working example

With flexbox you can easily switch between any of your rows or columns either having fixed dimensions, content-sized dimensions or remaining-space dimensions. In my example I have set the header to snap to its content (as per the OPs question), I've added a footer to show how to add a fixed-height region and then set the content area to fill up the remaining space.

html,
body {
  height: 100%;
  margin: 0;
}

.box {
  display: flex;
  flex-flow: column;
  height: 100%;
}

.box .row {
  border: 1px dotted grey;
}

.box .row.header {
  flex: 0 1 auto;
  /* The above is shorthand for:
  flex-grow: 0,
  flex-shrink: 1,
  flex-basis: auto
  */
}

.box .row.content {
  flex: 1 1 auto;
}

.box .row.footer {
  flex: 0 1 40px;
}

<!-- Obviously, you could use HTML5 tags like `header`, `footer` and `section` -->

<div class="box">
  <div class="row header">
    <p><b>header</b>
      <br />
      <br />(sized to content)</p>
  </div>
  <div class="row content">
    <p>
      <b>content</b>
      (fills remaining space)
    </p>
  </div>
  <div class="row footer">
    <p><b>footer</b> (fixed height)</p>
  </div>
</div>

In the CSS above, the flex property shorthands the flex-grow, flex-shrink, and flex-basis properties to establish the flexibility of the flex items. Mozilla has a good introduction to the flexible boxes model.