Text Input

A Text Input is a form element that provides users with a way to read, input, or edit data.

Usage

When to use

• As a form element that provides users with a way to read, input, or edit data in a freeform way.

When not to use

• If needing a multi-line text input, consider Textarea
• If needing to allow the user to make a selection from a predetermined list of options, consider Checkbox, Radio button, or Select.

Types of text inputs

Text Input accepts all native HTML types, but we offer built in styling for the following:

Text

Password

The TextInput component has a visibility toggle feature for password fields. By default, a button appears allowing users to switch easily between visible and obfuscated input.

Search

Loading

Date and time

Telephone

Required and optional

For complex forms, indicate required fields. This is the most explicit and transparent method and ensures users don’t have to make assumptions. Read more about best practices for marking required fields in forms.

For shorter, simpler forms (e.g., login/signup and feedback requests), indicate optional fields instead.

Readonly, disabled, and hidden fields

Readonly, disabled, and hidden fields are very similar, but there are key differences to be aware of when choosing the correct type of Text Input. Since these fields are not editable by a user, we recommend using them sparingly.

Readonly fields are not editable by the user but the value in the field is passed when the form is submitted.

Disabled fields are not editable by the user and the value in the field is not passed when the form is submitted.

Hidden fields are not visible to the user but the value in the field is passed when the form is submitted.

Character count

For tracking the number of characters entered into a TextInput and defining requirements around minimum and maximum length, refer to the Character count documentation.

Error validation

For error validation recommendations, refer to the Form patterns documentation.

Content

For high-level content recommendations, refer to our Primitives documentation.

How to use this component

There are two ways to use the Text Input component:

• Form::TextInput::Base - the base component: just the <input> control.
• Form::TextInput::Field - the field component: the <input> control, with label, helper text, and error messaging (in a wrapping container).

We recommend using the Field component as it provides built-in accessibility functionality. Use the Base component if needing to achieve custom layouts or for special use cases not covered by the Field component.

Form::TextInput::Field

The basic invocation requires a Label. This creates:

• a <label> element with a for attribute automatically associated with the input ID attribute.
• a <input type="text"> control with an automatically generated ID attribute.

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field name="demo-cluster-name" as |F|>
  <F.Label>Cluster name</F.Label>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

Input value

Pass a @value argument to pre-populate the input.

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field @value="my-cluster-1234" name="demo-cluster-name" as |F|>
  <F.Label>Cluster name</F.Label>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

Type

Pass a @type argument to change the type of input.

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field @type="email" @value="janedoe@email.com" name="demo-email" as |F|>
  <F.Label>Email</F.Label>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>
<br />
<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field @type="date" name="demo-birthday" as |F|>
  <F.Label>Date of birth</F.Label>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

Helper text

You can add extra information to the field using helper text. When helper text is added, the component automatically adds an aria-describedby attribute to the input control, associating it with the automatically generated ID of the helper text element.

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field @value="036140285924" name="demo-aws-account-id" as |F|>
  <F.Label>AWS Account ID</F.Label>
  <F.HelperText>Copy this ID to your AWS Resource Access Manager to initiate the resource share.</F.HelperText>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

Extra content in label and helper text

The Label and HelperText contextual components used in the Field component yield their content. This means you can also pass structured content.

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field name="demo-aws-account-id" as |F|>
  <F.Label>AWS Account ID <Hds::Badge @size="small" @text="Beta" /></F.Label>
  <F.HelperText>This is an experimental feature (<Hds::Link::Inline @href="#">read more</Hds::Link::Inline>).</F.HelperText>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

Required vs. optional

Use the @isRequired and @isOptional arguments to add a visual indication that the field is "required" or "optional".

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field @isRequired={{true}} name="demo-aws-account-id" as |F|>
  <F.Label>AWS Account ID</F.Label>
  <F.HelperText>Copy this ID to your AWS Resource Access Manager to initiate the resource share.</F.HelperText>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>
<br />
<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field @isOptional={{true}} name="demo-aws-account-id" as |F|>
  <F.Label>AWS Account ID</F.Label>
  <F.HelperText>Copy this ID to your AWS Resource Access Manager to initiate the resource share.</F.HelperText>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

Character count

If the user input needs to be limited to a certain number of characters, use @maxLength on a CharacterCount contextual component to guide the user in meeting the length requirements. This property does not restrict the users from entering characters over the limit. To define the maximum string length that the user can enter, set maxlength attribute on the associated input field.

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field @value={{this.value1}} name="demo-cluster-name" {{on "input" (fn this.updateValue "value1")}} as |F|>
  <F.Label>Cluster name</F.Label>
  <F.CharacterCount @maxLength={{30}}/>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

If the user input is required to have a certain number of characters, use @minLength on a CharacterCount contextual component to guide the user in meeting the length requirements.

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field @value={{this.value2}} name="demo-cluster-name" {{on "input" (fn this.updateValue "value2")}} as |F|>
  <F.Label>Cluster name</F.Label>
  <F.CharacterCount @minLength={{20}}/>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

When the user input needs to be in a certain range, use both @minLength and @maxLength on a CharacterCount contextual component to guide the user in meeting the length requirements.

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field @value={{this.value3}} name="demo-cluster-name" {{on "input" (fn this.updateValue "value3")}} as |F|>
  <F.Label>Cluster name</F.Label>
  <F.CharacterCount @minLength={{20}} @maxLength={{30}}/>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

Custom message

For custom messages, you can use the following arguments to build a relevant message: currentLength (the current number of characters in the associated form control), maxLength (the maximum number of characters allowed in the associated form control), minLength (the minimum number of characters required in the associated form control), remaining (the difference between maxLength and currentLength), and shortfall (the difference between currentLength and minLength).

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field @value={{this.value4}} name="demo-cluster-name" {{on "input" (fn this.updateValue "value4")}} as |F|>
  <F.Label>Cluster name</F.Label>
  <F.CharacterCount @maxLength={{30}} as |CC|>
    {{CC.remaining}} characters remaining
  </F.CharacterCount>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

Validation based on length

You can raise an error based on the number of characters entered into a field using a custom validation function.

  <Hds::Form::TextInput::Field
    @value={{this.value5}}
    @isInvalid={{this.fieldIsInvalid}}
    {{on "input" (fn this.updateValue "value5")}}
    name="demo-cluster-name"
    as |F|
  >
    <F.Label>Cluster name</F.Label>
    <F.CharacterCount @minLength={{this.minLength}} />
    {{#if this.fieldIsInvalid}}
      <F.Error>Length should be at least 30 characters</F.Error>
    {{/if}}
  </Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

Validation

To indicate a field is invalid, declare that it’s invalid by using the @isInvalid argument and provide an error message using the Error contextual component.

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field @type="email" @value="jane.doe@.com" @isInvalid={{true}} name="demo-email" as |F|>
  <F.Label>Email</F.Label>
  <F.Error>The provided email is not valid.</F.Error>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

Add more than one error message using the more specific Message contextual component.

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field @type="password" @value="1234" @isInvalid={{true}} name="demo-password" as |F|>
  <F.Label>Password</F.Label>
  <F.Error as |E|>
    <E.Message>Length should be at least 12 characters</E.Message>
    <E.Message>Must contain at least a special character</E.Message>
  </F.Error>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

Custom control ID

If needing a custom ID for the control instead of the one automatically generated by the component, pass the @id argument to the field.

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field @id="my-control" name="demo-aws-account-id" as |F|>
  <F.Label>AWS Account ID</F.Label>
  <F.HelperText>Copy this ID to your AWS Resource Access Manager to initiate the resource share.</F.HelperText>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

Additional aria-describedby

Pass an @extraAriaDescribedBy argument to the field to connect one or more extra elements describing the field to the control. This provides extra ID values to the aria-describedby attribute of the control, in addition to those automatically generated by the component.

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field @extraAriaDescribedBy="my-extra-element-ID" name="demo-aws-account-id" as |F|>
  <F.Label>AWS Account ID</F.Label>
  <F.HelperText>Copy this ID to your AWS Resource Access Manager to initiate the resource share.</F.HelperText>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

HTML native attributes

This component supports use of ...attributes. This means you can use all the standard HTML attributes of the <input> element. This can be useful in case you want to add specific native behaviors to the field, that are not exposed directly by the component (e.g., providing a name for the control, or adding min, max, minlength, maxlength, or pattern attributes to it).

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field
  @type="password"
  name="demo-user-password"
  placeholder="Insert your password here"
  minlength="4"
  maxlength="64"
  as |F|
>
  <F.Label>Password</F.Label>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

Events handling

Because this component supports use of ...attributes, you can use all the usual Ember techniques for event handling (e.g., input, blur, change), validation, etc.

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field @type="email" placeholder="eg. name.surname@email.com" name="demo-email" {{on "blur" this.yourOnBlurFunction}} as |F|>
  <F.Label>Email</F.Label>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

Custom width

By default, the input control width is set to fill the parent container, with the exception of "date" and "time" input types.

Pass a custom width for the control using the @width argument.

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field @type="search" placeholder="Search clusters" @width="200px" name="demo-filter" as |F|>
  <F.Label>Filter the list:</F.Label>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

Password

By default, password fields render with a button allowing users to toggle between visible and obfuscated input content.

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field @type="password" @value="1234567890" name="demo-password" as |F|>
  <F.Label>Password</F.Label>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

You can remove the visibility toggle button by setting @hasVisibilityToggle to false.

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Field @hasVisibilityToggle={{false}} @type="password" @value="1234567890" name="demo-password" as |F|>
  <F.Label>Password</F.Label>
</Hds::Form::TextInput::Field>

Form::TextInput::Base

The Base component is intended for rare cases where the Field component can’t be used and a custom implementation is needed. Most of the details for the Field component also apply to the Base component, but see the Component API for more details.

A basic invocation requires a @type argument to be passed. This creates a <input type="text"> control with an automatically generated ID attribute.

<Hds::Form::TextInput::Base
  @type="email"
  @value="janedoe@email.com"
  aria-label="User email"
  placeholder="eg. name.surname@email.com"
  @isRequired={{true}}
  name="demo-email"
  {{on "blur" this.yourOnBlurFunction}}
/>

Component API

The Text Input component has two different variants with their own APIs:

• Form::TextInput::Base - the base component: the <input> control
• Form::TextInput::Field - the field parent component: the <input> control, with label, helper text, and error messaging (in a wrapping container)

Form::TextInput::Base

Form::TextInput::Field

Contextual components

Label, HelperText, CharacterCount, and Error content are passed to the field as yielded components.

Anatomy

States

Conformance rating

Form::TextInput::Field

Form::TextInput::Field is conformant when used as directed. For this reason, we recommend using Form::TextInput::Field by default.

Form::TextInput::Base

Form::TextInput::Base is not conformant until it has an accessible name.

Known issues

If a link is used within a label, helper text, or error text, it will not be presented as a link to the user with a screen reader; only the text content is read out. As such, care should be used when considering this feature.

Applicable WCAG Success Criteria

This section is for reference only, some descriptions have been truncated for brevity. This component intends to conform to the following WCAG Success Criteria:

Support

If any accessibility issues have been found within this component, let us know by submitting an issue.

4.15.0

Updated

Aligned private class properties to follow a standardized notation

4.7.0

Updated

Added support for month, week, and tel input types