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Form enctype Property

< Form Object

Example

Return how form-data should be encoded before sending it to the server:

var x = document.getElementById("myForm").enctype;

The result of x will be:

application/x-www-form-urlencoded
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Definition and Usage

The enctype property sets or returns the value of the enctype attribute in a form.

The enctype attribute specifies how form-data should be encoded before sending it to the server.

The form-data is encoded to "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" by default. This means that all characters are encoded before they are sent to the server (spaces are converted to "+" symbols, and special characters are converted to ASCII HEX values).


Browser Support

Property
enctype Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Syntax

Return the enctype property:

formObject.enctype

Set the enctype property:

formObject.enctype="application/x-www-form-urlencoded,multipart/form-data,text/plain"

Property Values

Value Description
application/x-www-form-urlencoded All characters are encoded before sent (this is default)
multipart/form-data No characters are encoded. This value is required when you are using forms that have a file upload control
text/plain Spaces are converted to "+" symbols, but no special characters are encoded

Technical Details

Return Value: A String, representing how form-data should be encoded before sending it to the server

More Examples

Example

Change the enctype value for how form-data should be encoded before sending it to the server:

document.getElementById("myForm").enctype = "multipart/form-data";
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Related Pages

HTML reference: HTML <form> enctype attribute


< Form Object