Push-button

Updated: 04/12/2021 by Computer Hope

A push-button may refer to any of the following:

1. With software, a button, or push-button, is a graphical representation of a button that performs an action in a program when pressed. For example, when closing a file without saving it, a dialog box may appear and ask if you want to save the file, discard your changes, or cancel. Each of these options are push buttons that perform the task.

Push button dialog box

Traditionally, a push-button is clicked using the mouse button. However, the push button can also be pressed using the keyboard. To press a button using the keyboard, press the Tab key until the button is highlighted, then press the Spacebar. In the example above, the "Save" button is highlighted, so pressing the spacebar would open a Save window.

A push-button is also used online for forms and tools that perform a specific task. For example, when searching online, the search query is entered in the text box, and you click a "Search" push button to perform a search for the entered text. Below is an example of a search box with a Search push button.


Creating a push-button, similar to the example above, in HTML (hypertext markup language) requires the input tag within a form tag, like what's shown below. In this code, the action points to a script on Computer Hope that performs the action once the button is pressed. If you want the button to perform an action, such as sending an e-mail, point the action to the address of the script.

<form action="https://www.computerhope.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi">
<input name="q" type="text" size="23">
<input name="sa" type="submit" value="Search"></form>

2. With hardware, a button is a physical button on a hardware device. For example, the button on a computer monitor turns the monitor on and off. For full information about these types of buttons and other examples and pictures, see our button page.

Cancel, Check box, Command button, GUI, Hardware terms, Ok, Operating system terms, Push, Radio button, Software terms, Start