For information about scripting the <TEXTAREA> element, see the Scripting the <TEXTAREA> element topic.

The TEXTAREA element lets users enter more than one line of text.

Any text included up to the end element is used to initialise the field's value. This end element is always required even if the field is initially blank. When submitting a form, lines in a TEXTAREA should be terminated using CR/LF.

In a typical rendering, the ROWS and COLS attributes determine the visible dimension of the field in characters. The field is rendered in a fixed-width font. HTML user agents should allow text to extend beyond these limits by scrolling as needed.

Recent versions of Netscape (from version 2.0) have introduced the WRAP attribute in the TEXTAREA element: Now it is possible to specify how to handle word-wrapping display in text input areas in forms.

<TEXTAREA WRAP=OFF> -- the default setting - Wrapping doesn't happen. Lines are sent exactly as typed.
<TEXTAREA WRAP=VIRTUAL> -- The display word-wraps, but long lines are sent as one line without new-lines.
<TEXTAREA WRAP=PHYSICAL> -- The display word-wraps, and the text is transmitted at all wrap points.

NOTE : Word wrapping in a TEXTAREA text box (using the WRAP attribute) is supported by Netscape only. Internet Explorer (version 3.0 and above), by default wraps text in a <TEXTAREA> box.

the <TEXTAREA> can also take the NAME attribute, which can be used to set the name of the element for scripting purposes.

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