How can I get the form value from a disabled <input> element

Question

You should use the readOnly flag rather than disabled. Read-only fields cannot be edited by the user, but are still submitted with the form.

<input type="text" value="blah" readonly="true"/>

The HTML standard for forms appears to be such that disabled input elements do not contribute to the form name/value collection.

That is correct.

HACK: You could use Javascript to, upon submit:

1. Unset disabled
2. Set readonly
3. Submit!

If you make the value readonly, instead of disabling it, the field's name/value will be sent with the rest of the non-disabled fields.

Make the readonly fields' focus event handler pass the focus to the next eligible field, to make it act more like a disabled element. Some browsers let you focus and select readonly fields, and some even let you paste into a readonly field, though they revert to the original value onblur and onchange.

<input type="text" value="" readonly="readonly">

As a slightly more robust variant of Wayne's hack (which might get confused by a Back button push), when disabling a control: set readonly= true and className= 'disabled' instead of disabled= true, then style .disabled to look similar to a disabled field.

I whipped up a quick (Jquery only) plugin, that saves the value in a data field while an input is disabled. This just means as long as the field is being disabled programmaticly through jquery using .prop() or .attr()... then accessing the value by .val(), .serialize() or .serializeArra() will always return the value even if disabled :)

https://github.com/Jezternz/jq-disabled-inputs

You can easily

1. Change status to normal (disabled=false)
2. Read Value

3. reset input status to disabled

   $(element).prop("disabled", false); var text = $(element).val(); $(element).prop("disabled", true)