HTML form readonly SELECT tag/input

html, javascript

Solution

You should keep the `select` element `disabled` but also add another hidden `input` with the same name and value.

If you reenable your SELECT, you should copy its value to the hidden input in an onchange event and disable (or remove) the hidden input.

Here is a demo:

$('#mainform').submit(function() {
    $('#formdata_container').show();
    $('#formdata').html($(this).serialize());
    return false;
});

$('#enableselect').click(function() {
    $('#mainform input[name=animal]')
        .attr("disabled", true);
    
    $('#animal-select')
        .attr('disabled', false)
     .attr('name', 'animal');
    
    $('#enableselect').hide();
    return false;
});

#formdata_container {
    padding: 10px;
}

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<div>
    <form id="mainform">
        <select id="animal-select" disabled="true">
            <option value="cat" selected>Cat</option>
            <option value="dog">Dog</option>
            <option value="hamster">Hamster</option>
        </select>
        <input type="hidden" name="animal" value="cat"/>
        <button id="enableselect">Enable</button>
        
        <select name="color">
            <option value="blue" selected>Blue</option>
            <option value="green">Green</option>
            <option value="red">Red</option>
        </select>

        <input type="submit"/>
    </form>
</div>

<div id="formdata_container" style="display:none">
    <div>Submitted data:</div>
    <div id="formdata">
    </div>
</div>

Problem

According to HTML specs, the `select` tag in HTML doesn't have a `readonly` attribute, only a `disabled` attribute. So if you want to keep the user from changing the dropdown, you have to use `disabled`. The only problem is that disabled HTML form inputs don't get included in the POST / GET data. What's the best way to emulate the `readonly` attribute for a `select` tag, and still get the POST data?

Original source

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