Article ID: 314279 - Last Review: May 21, 2007 - Revision: 2.1

BUG: The FOR Attribute of the LABEL Object Resets Focus

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SYMPTOMS

When you click a label that is associated with a select box, the element that you selected in the select box is reset to the first element on the list.
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RESOLUTION

You can only work around this problem in Internet Explorer 6 by using the onfocusin event. You can basically store the selected index into a temporary variable and reset the index to that variable when the select box obtains focus.

Use the following code as an example: 
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<SCRIPT>

//Set a temp expando to store the current selectedIndex
function SelectOnFocusIn()
{
	try
	{
		var eSrc = window.event.srcElement;
		if (eSrc) 
			eSrc.tmpIndex = eSrc.selectedIndex;
	}
	catch (e)
	{
		HandleError(e, false);
	}
}
//restore the selectedIndex
function SelectOnFocus()
{
	try
	{
		var eSrc = window.event.srcElement;
		if (eSrc) 
			eSrc.selectedIndex = eSrc.tmpIndex;
	}
	catch (e)
	{
		HandleError(e, false);
	}
}

</SCRIPT>
</HEAD>
<BODY>

<LABEL for="test">Citizenship Status:</LABEL>

<SELECT NAME="test" ID="test" onfocusin="SelectOnFocusIn()" onfocus="SelectOnFocus()">
<OPTION VALUE="3">Alien Perm </OPTION>
<OPTION VALUE="4">Alien Temp </OPTION>
<OPTION VALUE="1" SELECTED>Native </OPTION>
<OPTION VALUE="2">Naturalized </OPTION>
<OPTION VALUE="N">Not Indic. </OPTION>
</SELECT>

</BODY>
</HTML>
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STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.
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MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce the Problem

In following the drop-down list box, the third element is selected. If you click the Citizenship Status Label, the selected element in the drop-down list is reset to the first element. 
<html>
<BODY>
<LABEL for='test'>Citizenship Status:</LABEL>

<SELECT NAME='test' ID='test'>
<OPTION VALUE="3" >Alien Perm
<OPTION VALUE="4">Alien Temp
<OPTION VALUE="1" SELECTED >Native
<OPTION VALUE="2">Naturalizd
<OPTION VALUE="N">Not Indic.
</SELECT>

</BODY>
</HTML>
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REFERENCES

For more information about developing Web-based solutions for Internet Explorer, visit the following Microsoft Web sites:
Internet Explorer Web Site:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/ie/ (http://msdn.microsoft.com/ie/)
For information about the properties and events that this article uses, visit the following Microsoft Web sites:
MSDN - for attribute (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/workshop/author/dhtml/reference/properties/htmlfor_1.asp)
MSDN - onfocusin event (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/workshop/author/dhtml/reference/events/onfocusin.asp)
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APPLIES TO
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer (Programming) 6 (SP1)
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Keywords: 
kbbug kbnofix KB314279
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Retired KB ArticleRetired KB Content Disclaimer
This article was written about products for which Microsoft no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated.
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