cursor positioning within a text area

pthompson2002

08-23-2002, 01:30 PM

Could anyone tell me if and how it is possilbe to return the character position within a <textarea> When either moving the arrow keys, and clicking anywhere within the textarea with the mouse?

Cheers Pete

Here is the code I have currently, this just returns the currentcharacter position as you type.

NOTE: the submit button doesn't do anything. It is just there for layout purposes at the moment

-------------------------------------------------

<BODY>
<form method="POST">
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tr>
<td width="100%" colspan="2">
<textarea rows="12" name="charcount" onkeyup="return countit(this)" cols="60" wrap="virtual"></textarea>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="35%">Current Character Position:</td>
<td><div id="displaycount" size="20">  </div></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align=left><input type="submit" name="submitMsg" value="Submit"></td>
</tr>
</table>

</form>
<script language="JavaScript">

function countit(what){
formcontent=what.form.charcount.value
displaycount.innerHTML=formcontent.length
}
</script>
</BODY>

jkd

08-23-2002, 04:22 PM

In Mozilla, it is as easy as event.rangeOffset to get the caret/selection offset (event is the argument passed to your event handlers).

IE requires some ugly TextRange work that I don't have handy.

x_goose_x

08-23-2002, 05:34 PM

In ie you can use:

function docjslib_getRealTop(imgElem) {
yPos = eval(imgElem).offsetTop;
tempEl = eval(imgElem).offsetParent;
while (tempEl != null) {
yPos += tempEl.offsetTop;
tempEl = tempEl.offsetParent;
}
return yPos;
}

to find the absolute position of an object. Just find the cursor position and subtract the abs pos.

In case you don't know how to get the cursor position in ie:

<script>
function mmove() {
xpos = event.clientX+document.body.scrollLeft;
ypos = event.clientY+document.body.scrollTop;
window.status = xpos+" - "+ypos;
}
document.onmousemove=mmove;
</script>

jkd

08-23-2002, 07:30 PM

x_goose_x, it seems to me they wanted caret offset in a textarea? (maybe I misread...)

adios

08-23-2002, 07:44 PM

http://www.faqts.com/knowledge_base/view.phtml/aid/1052/fid/130

x_goose_x

08-23-2002, 10:10 PM

Sorry. I'm out to lunch