Here's quick introduction.
The main issue with transferring values from one place to another is making
the correct reference to the value you want to transfer. If you have just one
form on a page, with one field, and you want to extract an entered value and use
it in, say, an alert box, that's relatively easy.
If you want to extract a value from a form and place it in another form, it
gets more complicated because you have to be careful how you name your forms.
The references to the values get longer and more complicated.
Transferring between frames again requires care with names.
If you want to transfer values between windows, you're asking for trouble.
The reason is that you're entering into Document Object Model (DOM) territory,
and the Netscape and Explorer DOMs are quite different. It's not too hard to make
the transfer work in just one type of browser, but doing it for both main browsers requires
many lines of cross-browser JavaScript. In fact the cross-browser version is so
difficult that it's rarely done - we've found no reference to it on the Internet.
You'll almost certainly have to parse the browser and supply different code for
the two main types.
All in all, transferring values using JavaScript is a tricky business and you'll
need a decent knowledge of JavaScript to adapt the examples below to your specific
requirements.
Tutorials
Passing parameters and returning values.
http://www.webdevelopersjournal.com/articles/jsintro3/js_begin3.html
Writing across windows in IE5 (begins half way down the page).
http://javascriptweenie.com/articles/dynamic_doc_windows.html
Using JavaScript and forms. About 10% of the way down the page is a short section
entitled: Getting a Value from a Form Object.
http://www.webreference.com/content/jssource/chap16.html
Values from form objects. There's a script half way down the page.
http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-06-1996/jw-06-javascript.html
Using JavaScript to Write JavaScript (actually it's more about JavaScript within
multiple frames)
http://www.webtechniques.com/archives/1997/09/junk/
Scripts
Pass form values from one page to the next.
http://javascript.internet.com/forms/passing-values-source.html
Pass Textbox (in frames).
http://javascript.internet.com/forms/pass-textbox-frames.html
Pass Menu (in frames).
http://javascript.internet.com/forms/pass-menu-frames.html
Mousover in one frame changing an image in another frame.
http://idm.internet.com/ix/msg/22464.html
At the following irt.org site you can find further scripts:
http://www.developer.irt.org/script/form.htm#10
Examples of their scripts include
Copying multiple options from one options list to another.
http://www.developer.irt.org/script/218.htm
Copy letters from one form field to another,
http://www.developer.irt.org/script/420.htm
Set the value of a form field when a check box is selected.
http://www.developer.irt.org/script/933.htm
Pass values from one frame to another in a single frameset.
http://developer.irt.org/script/834.htm
