HTML <section> data-* Attribute

HTML <script>

HTML <select>

A data-* attribute on a <section> tag attaches additional data to the section.

To create a custom attribute, replace * with a lowercase string, such as data-id, data-status, or data-location.

Example

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A custom data-title attribute on a <section>.
The attribute value is not visible, but it is readable by JavaScript.

The Night Watch

The Night Watch (Dutch: De Nachtwacht), is a 1642 painting by Rembrandt van Rijn. It is in the collection of the Amsterdam Museum but is prominently displayed in the Rijksmuseum (State Museum) as the best-known painting in its collection. The Night Watch is the most famous Dutch Golden Age painting.

<section data-title="The Night Watch">
  <h2>The Night Watch</h2>
  <p>The Night Watch (Dutch: De Nachtwacht), is a 1642 
     painting by Rembrandt van Rijn. It is in the collection 
     of the Amsterdam Museum but is prominently displayed 
     in the Rijksmuseum (State Museum) as the best-known 
     painting in its collection. The Night Watch is 
     the most famous Dutch Golden Age painting.
  </p>
</section>

Using data-*

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The data-* attribute adds custom information to a <section> element.

The * part is replaced with a lowercase string, such as data-id, data-cost, or data-location.

An <section> element can have any number of data-* attributes, each with their own name.

Using data-* attributes reduces the need for requests to the server.

Note: The data-* attribute is not visible and does not change the appearance of the section.

Syntax

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<section data-*="value">

Note: The * can be any string, such as data-id, data-cost, data-supplier, etc.

Values

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Value	Description
value	A string value. Can be numeric, alphanumeric, JSON, etc.

More Examples

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A custom data-topic attribute on a <section> element.
Clicking the button will display the topic value.

The Night Watch

<section id="mysection" data-topic="The Night Watch">
  <h2>The Night Watch</h2>
  <p>The Night Watch (Dutch: De Nachtwacht), is a 1642 
     painting by Rembrandt van Rijn. It is in the collection 
     of the Amsterdam Museum but is prominently displayed 
     in the Rijksmuseum (State Museum) as the best-known 
     painting in its collection. The Night Watch is 
     the most famous Dutch Golden Age painting.
  </p>
</section>

<br/>
<button onclick="show();">Show data</button>

<script>
  let show = () => {
     let element = document.getElementById("mysection");
     alert("Topic = " + element.getAttribute('data-topic'));
  }
</script>

Code explanation

The <section> tag has a custom data-topic attribute.

The data-topic attribute holds the topic of the <section> content.

Clicks are handled by the onclick event.

Onclick invokes a JavaScript function that extracts and displays <section> topic.

Note: Notice how the title displays immediately without server call.

Browser support

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Here is when data-* support started for each browser: