# Text Box

This operation will add a text box to the current [Form Container](https://docs.mylinkconnect.com/actions-and-operations/forms/form-container) action. A text field can contain an arbitrary amount of free text.

![](https://content.gitbook.com/content/tZEstFBYh3uMutlup6ku/blobs/WCQp42a5RPKWlNyl2mj8/image.png)

### Settings

The action uses the following settings:

| Setting               | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                       | [Parsed](https://docs.mylinkconnect.com/actions-and-operations/dynamic-parsing) |
| --------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Label                 | The text that should be displayed beside the input field.                                                                                                                                                         | :white\_check\_mark:                                                            |
| Placeholder           | The text displayed inside the input field if the field is empty.                                                                                                                                                  | :white\_check\_mark:                                                            |
| Default Value         | The default text value of the input field.                                                                                                                                                                        | :white\_check\_mark:                                                            |
| Mandatory             | Choose if the field is required to save the form or not.                                                                                                                                                          | :no\_entry:                                                                     |
| Validation Expression | A standard [JS validation expression](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Regular_Expressions) that will be used to validate the input field. Leave blank if no validation is required. | :white\_check\_mark:                                                            |
| Validation Message    | The message that will be displayed if the the user input does not pass the validation expression check.                                                                                                           | :white\_check\_mark:                                                            |
| Target Variable       | The variable that will receive the final value of the input field.                                                                                                                                                | :white\_check\_mark:                                                            |

### Remarks

This is a standard HTML input field. UI layout may vary depending on the browser and on the platform used.

Validation expressions should **not** be specified as literals. Remove the slashes enclosing the expression before using them for this field.

### Trigger

This action does not trigger any event. 

### Variables

This action does not return any variable but the one that have been specified in the *Target Variable* setting.

### Availability

Channel specific availability follows the table below:

| Channel          | Availability       |
| ---------------- | ------------------ |
| Facebook         | Fully Available.   |
| WhatsApp         | Fully Available.   |
| Telegram         | Fully Available.   |
| Web              | Fully Available.   |
| Alexa            | **Not Available.** |
| Google Assistant | **Not Available.** |
| Slack            | Fully Available.   |
| API              | Fully Available.   |

This action can be used only inside interactions and not as child of other actions. This action is available only to [Premium Accounts](https://docs.mylinkconnect.com/basic-concepts/your-account/the-free-plan).