Adjustable TextBox (multiline input field)

Question

Adjustable TextBox (multiline input field)

In need of some assistance, I am working with a MultiLine asp:Textbox (similar to a standard html textarea) that I would like to have auto-sized to fit its content using only CSS. My goal is to have it display at a specified height in the web browser, with scrolling enabled.

Though I have successfully implemented a print style sheet, I am encountering an issue where text inside the textarea is being cut off when printed due to overflow being hidden.

I attempted to manually set the height of the textarea in the print.css file, but this approach presents problems as the fields are not always required and having a 350px empty box is not ideal, especially since there could be more text than anticipated.

I experimented with:

height: auto;
height: 100%;

In different browsers such as IE and Firefox, but these styles seem to be overridden by the row number specified in the HTML markup for the form. It appears that .NET automatically generates this row count if a height is not specified on the asp:Textbox tag, which only accepts numerical measurements like px or em.

If you have any suggestions or solutions, please share them!

asp.net html css

Answer 1

Answer №1

Unfortunately, a CSS solution for your request is not feasible.

Due to the fact that the content within the textarea does not consist of HTML elements, it cannot be leveraged by CSS in order to determine the size of the textarea.

The only potential option would involve using JavaScript, such as accessing the scrollHeight property and utilizing it to establish the height of the element. However, it's worth noting that the scrollHeight property is non-standard and may not be supported across all browsers.

Answer 2

Unfortunately, a CSS solution for your request is not feasible.

Due to the fact that the content within the textarea does not consist of HTML elements, it cannot be leveraged by CSS in order to determine the size of the textarea.

The only potential option would involve using JavaScript, such as accessing the scrollHeight property and utilizing it to establish the height of the element. However, it's worth noting that the scrollHeight property is non-standard and may not be supported across all browsers.

Answer 3

Answer №2

In my experience, using jQuery or a javascript function to find and enlarge textboxes has proven to be the most effective solution.

We currently utilize this series of functions and trigger a clean form action after the page loads. I understand that this method may not be optimal, so I am in the process of transitioning to a more sophisticated jQuery-based solution. One important note is to ensure that your textareas have specified rows and columns, as otherwise, the functionality may not work correctly.

function countLines(strtocount, cols)
{ 
    var hard_lines = 1; 
    var last = 0; 
    while (true) 
    { 
        last = strtocount.indexOf("\n", last + 1); 
        hard_lines++; 
        if (last == -1) break; 
    } 
    var soft_lines = Math.round(strtocount.length / (cols - 1)); 
    var hard = eval("hard_lines  " + unescape("%3e") + "soft_lines;"); 
    if (hard) soft_lines = hard_lines; return soft_lines; 
}

function cleanForm() 
{
    var the_form = document.forms[0];
    for (var i = 0, il = the_form.length; i < il; i++)
    { 
        if (!the_form[i]) continue; 
        if (typeof the_form[i].rows != "number") continue;
        the_form[i].rows = countLines(the_form[i].value, the_form[i].cols) + 1; 
    }
    setTimeout("cleanForm();", 3000);
}

Answer 4

In my experience, using jQuery or a javascript function to find and enlarge textboxes has proven to be the most effective solution.

We currently utilize this series of functions and trigger a clean form action after the page loads. I understand that this method may not be optimal, so I am in the process of transitioning to a more sophisticated jQuery-based solution. One important note is to ensure that your textareas have specified rows and columns, as otherwise, the functionality may not work correctly.

function countLines(strtocount, cols)
{ 
    var hard_lines = 1; 
    var last = 0; 
    while (true) 
    { 
        last = strtocount.indexOf("\n", last + 1); 
        hard_lines++; 
        if (last == -1) break; 
    } 
    var soft_lines = Math.round(strtocount.length / (cols - 1)); 
    var hard = eval("hard_lines  " + unescape("%3e") + "soft_lines;"); 
    if (hard) soft_lines = hard_lines; return soft_lines; 
}

function cleanForm() 
{
    var the_form = document.forms[0];
    for (var i = 0, il = the_form.length; i < il; i++)
    { 
        if (!the_form[i]) continue; 
        if (typeof the_form[i].rows != "number") continue;
        the_form[i].rows = countLines(the_form[i].value, the_form[i].cols) + 1; 
    }
    setTimeout("cleanForm();", 3000);
}

Answer 5

Answer №3

By setting the rows to an excessively high number, you can ensure that the CSS height rule will take precedence on the screen.

In the print stylesheet, simply adjust the height to auto. This may lead to some extra white space where not all rows have been utilized, but it guarantees that all text will be shown in its entirety.

Answer 6

By setting the rows to an excessively high number, you can ensure that the CSS height rule will take precedence on the screen.

In the print stylesheet, simply adjust the height to auto. This may lead to some extra white space where not all rows have been utilized, but it guarantees that all text will be shown in its entirety.

Answer 7

Answer №4

try out jQuery's autogrow() function @

http://plugins.jquery.com/project/autogrow

Answer 8

try out jQuery's autogrow() function @

http://plugins.jquery.com/project/autogrow

Adjustable TextBox (multiline input field)

Answer №1

Answer №2

Answer №3

Answer №4

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