hidden fields contain value, but then lose value on submission

[dmorand]

I'm having a strange issue with a form I'm developing. I'm saving some values to hidden fields when a user clicks a button. I setup a function which gets ran on submission of the form, but I also placed this function on my submission button when clicked.

<input name="button5" type="button" class="Buttons" id="button5" value="On File" OnClick="setup_req('cpr_onfile',1);"/>
<input type="hidden" name="cert_onfile"/>
 
.....
 
<cfform action="submit.cfm" method="post" name="perf_form" id="perf_form" onsubmit="return form_submission(); return false;">
 
....
 
<input type="submit" name="button13" id="button13" value="Submit" class="Buttons" onClick="return form_submission();return false;"/>
 

function setup_req(req,val){
    //This function saves the data when the user selects "On File" or "NA"
    req_ele=document.getElementsByName(req)
    req_ele.value=val
}
 
function form_submission(){
    alert("Validating Fields")
    var testing = document.getElementsByName('cert_onfile')
    alert(testing.value)    
    alert(testing)
    return true;
}
 

When the alert pops up when the submission button is selected, I can see the value of the hidden field. When the alert pops up when the form submission calls the "form_submissio n" function, the hidden field is undefined.

What could be happening when the form submission takes place that's erasing my hidden fields?

[dmorand]

Nevermind, I should be using getElementById rather than getElementsByNa me

[acoder]

Even if you do, if you've not set the ID, it's not going to work.

[dmorand]

Even if you do, if you've not set the ID, it's not going to work.

I set the ID and used getElementById( ) and it worked like a charm.

[acoder]

A couple of points:

1. You could've use document.getEle mentsByTagName like this:
   

   document.getElementsByName("cert_onfile")[0]

   assuming that was the only element named "cert_onfil e" or the first one. Having said that, it's better to use a unique ID.
2. There's no need to return false in the onclick/onsubmit since you're already returning with form_submission ().

[dmorand]

A couple of points:

1. You could've use document.getEle mentsByTagName like this:
   

   document.getElementsByName("cert_onfile")[0]

   assuming that was the only element named "cert_onfil e" or the first one. Having said that, it's better to use a unique ID.
2. There's no need to return false in the onclick/onsubmit since you're already returning with form_submission ().

Thanks for those tips acoder, I'll keep them in mind. I had a feeling I didn't need the return false in my onsubmit. I'm still learning javascript, but it's coming along.