…………
ans in java script before submit..

var elem = document.getElementById(“i_chkbox”)
if (elem.checked == false){
elem.checked = true;
elem.value = “off”
}
……………

at the server side i get “off” or “on”

A second alternative is to send a hidden field containing a list of checkbox names, then at the host pre-process the input to interrogate this hidden list of checkbox names and add any with an appropriate “missing” indicator to the session environment, this assumes that variables can be added transparently at the host to the POSTed stream.

A third alternative is to use javascript on the client to use the hidden field mentioned in alternative #2 above when the form is submitted to interrogate the form fields and if none of the boxes are checked then create a dummy entry and attach it to the DOM to be sent (still assumes that the application wants a real value=).

The menu form shown earlier is a classic example of what should be a checkbox array where each value= is the name e.g.
type=”checkbox” name=”sauces” value=”Apricot Sauce”
type=”checkbox” name=”sauces” value=”Marinara Sauce”
etc.
so the application should be iterating through the array and checking the presence of the array before starting the iteration.

There are many pros and cons to the W3C “successful” behaviour of an individual HTML element in a POST or GET, but the fact remains we should be writing defensive code, after all we never know when a ‘bot may be trying to infiltrate our site.

Phil

Thanks again!

at the END of the document instead of the front then it also works for arrays of checkboxes, you can also use it for arrays of radio buttons.

Thanks!