.setAttribute("disabled", false); changes editable attribute to false

A disabled element is, (self-explaining) disabled and thereby logically not editable, so:

set the disabled attribute [...] changes the editable attribute too

Is an intended and well-defined behaviour.

The real problem here seems to be you're trying to set disabled to false via setAttribute() which doesn't do what you're expecting. an element is disabled if the disabled-attribute is set, independent of it's value (so, disabled="true", disabled="disabled" and disabled="false" all do the same: the element gets disabled). you should instead remove the complete attribute:

element.removeAttribute("disabled");

or set that property directly:

element.disabled = false;

Just set the property directly: .

eleman.disabled = false;

Try doing this instead:

function enable(id)
{
    var eleman = document.getElementById(id);
    eleman.removeAttribute("disabled");        
}

To enable an element you have to remove the disabled attribute. Setting it to false still means it is disabled.

http://jsfiddle.net/SRK2c/