Get the value in an input text box
//Get
var bla = $('#txt_name').val();
//Set
$('#txt_name').val(bla);
You can only select a value with the following two ways:
// First way to get a value
value = $("#txt_name").val();
// Second way to get a value
value = $("#txt_name").attr('value');
If you want to use straight JavaScript to get the value, here is how:
document.getElementById('txt_name').value
There is one important thing to mention:
$("#txt_name").val();
will return the current real value of a text field, for example if the user typed something there after a page load.
But:
$("#txt_name").attr('value')
will return value from DOM/HTML.