Is it OK to have multiple HTML forms with the same name?

Question

I have a valid reason for wanting to do this, but it's a long story so I'll forgot trying to explain why and just ask if it's OK to do.

I have a page where I need to have multiple forms with the same name, but I only want the form whose submit button is click to be submitted. For example, the following might be on my page:

<form name="input" action="" method="get">
Username: <input type="text" name="user" />
<input type="submit" value="Submit" />
</form>

text

<form name="input" action="" method="get">
Username: <input type="text" name="user" />
<input type="submit" value="Submit" />
</form>

text

<form name="input" action="" method="get">
Username: <input type="text" name="user" />
<input type="submit" value="Submit" />
</form>

Is this acceptable?

Answer 1

Regarding the HTML 4.01 specication, you can use form elements with the same name attribute, as there is no uniqueness requirement on them. Doing so defeats the purpose of such attributes, though. They are meant for making it easier to refer to forms in client-side scripting: if you have <form name=foo>, then document.foo refers to that form.

It is undefined what happens when same name attribute is used, but what browsers seem to do is to return an array. In your example, document.foo would be a 3-element array, with document.foo[0] being the first form. But this is not useful, since (assuming there are no other forms in the document) you could use document.forms[0], with a well-defined meaning.

The name attribute itself is outdated for form elements (but not for form fields, where it keeps being essential). The HTML 4.01 spec clause on form says:

“name = cdata [CI] This attribute names the element so that it may be referred to from style sheets or scripts. Note. This attribute has been included for backwards compatibility. Applications should use the id attribute to identify elements.”

In the HTML5 drafts, even the formal rules disallow the use of the same name attribute. The HTML5 clause on the name attribute on form says that its value “must be unique amongst the form elements in the forms collection that it is in, if any”. This is a confusing formulation, but it is safest to assume that it must be unique within the form elements of a document.

Answer 2

Yes it is allowed, only id's must be unique. I wouldn't recommend it however, why even put yourself in a position to be confused down the road.

The name attribute only defines what each form field element will be represented as when sent to the server.