I created a form to be processed with javascript only (no submit) and found that Google Chrome was erasing all the inputs when I popped up an alert. After some experimenting, I found that Chrome behaves differently depending on whether the javascript alert is called from button element or an input element. In particular, the HTML button causes the text in the input box to be deleted when you click OK. This does not happen in IE. I have not tried it in other browsers. It does not happen with the input element, and it does not happen with the button element if it is outside the form.
Has anyone else noticed this, or know of a reason why it should be so?
<form>
<p>Enter some text in the input box, then click one of the buttons.</p>
<input type="text"><br>
<input type="button" onclick="alert('What happens to form values?')" value="Input button"> <br>
<button onclick="alert('What happens to form values?')">HTML button</button>
</form>