HTML 5 <command> Tag

The HTML <command> tag is used for specifying a command that the user can invoke.

According to the HTML 5 specification:

A command is the abstraction behind menu items, buttons, and links. Once a command is defined, other parts of the interface can refer to the same command, allowing many access points to a single feature to share aspects such as the disabled state.

The <command> tag was introduced (and subsequently dropped) in HTML 5.

The <command> element has now been dropped from the HTML5 specification. Therefore, you should not use it in your HTML markup. I have decided to keep this page for information purposes only.

Attributes

HTML tags can contain one or more attributes. Attributes are added to a tag to provide the browser with more information about how the tag should appear or behave. Attributes consist of a name and a value separated by an equals (=) sign, with the value surrounded by double quotes. Here's an example, style="color:black;".

There are 3 kinds of attributes that you can add to your HTML tags: Element-specific, global, and event handler content attributes.

The attributes that you can add to this tag are listed below.

Element-Specific Attributes

The following table shows the attributes that are specific to this tag/element.

AttributeDescription
typeSpecifies the type of command.

Possible values:

  • command (default value)
  • checkbox
  • radio
labelSpecifies the name of the command, as shown to the user.
iconSpecifies the URI (or IRI) of graphical image that represents the action.
disabledSpecifies if the command is disabled or not.

This is a boolean attribute. If the attribute is present, its value must either be the empty string or a value that is an ASCII case-insensitive match for the attribute's canonical name, with no leading or trailing whitespace (i.e. either disabled or disabled="disabled").

Possible values:

  • [Empty string]
  • disabled
checkedIndicates whether the command is selected or not.

This is a boolean attribute. If the attribute is present, its value must either be the empty string or a value that is an ASCII case-insensitive match for the attribute's canonical name, with no leading or trailing whitespace (i.e. either checked or checked="checked").

Possible values:

  • [Empty string]
  • checked
radiogroupSpecifies the name of the group of commands that will be toggled when the command itself is toggled, for commands whose type attribute has the value "radio".
commandHere's what the HTML5 specification says about the command attribute:

If a <command> element slave has a command attribute, and slave is in a Document, and there is an element in that Document whose ID has a value equal to the value of slave's command attribute, and the first such element in tree order, hereafter master, itself defines a command and either is not a <command> element or does not itself have a command attribute, then the master command of slave is master.

An element with a command attribute must have a master command and must not have any type, label, icon, disabled, checked, or radiogroup attributes.
titleSpecifies a hint describing the command, which can be shown to the user.

Global Attributes

The following attributes are standard across all HTML 5 tags (although the tabindex attribute does not apply to dialog elements).

For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 global attributes.

Event Handler Content Attributes

Event handler content attributes enable you to invoke a script from within your HTML. The script is invoked when a certain "event" occurs. Each event handler content attribute deals with a different event.

For a full list of event handlers, see HTML 5 event handler content attributes.