Accessing one htmlb tag by another

Question

How can I access one tag by another.
So once the user selects an option from a dropdownlist, javascript gets executed that stores what the user has selected into a hidden inputfield.
I need another dropdownlist to be able to read what has been written into that inputfield. Is there a way I can access the inputfield from the second dropdownlist tag ?
Thanks

Answer 1

There are a couple of methods that will enable you to do this: -
1) (possibly the simplest) Have the input field as standard HTML tag as you can have both HTMLb elements and normal HTML in a JSP page. Then you can reference the element by using the standard document.getElementById('<tagid>').value
2) (Slightly more complex)
   Have this type of thing at the top of the JSP page "<%String inputId = null;%>". This is the variable that will store the ID of the inputfield (or any other HTMLb element).
   Then, to set this field to the value required
   <hbj:inputField
    id="myfield"
    text="Click Here"
    tooltip="Click Here"
    disabled="false"
   >               
   <%inputId = myContext.getParamIdForComponent(myfield);%>
   </hbj:inputField>
   Then, you should have some javascript like this
alert(document.getElementById('<%=inputId%>').value);
   Please note that this Javascript normally has to be after the set up of the innput field so that the inputId field is filled in before the javascript is executed
I hope this helps
D