The number of characters can be measured in a div element that is editable

Question

The number of characters can be measured in a div element that is editable

Looking to create a character counter similar to Twitter in a contenteditable div. The goal is to restrict users to typing a maximum of 140 characters.

Using jQuery for character count and remaining display, but encountering an issue where the Enter key (new line) is not being counted as a character. Need to account for new lines in the character count.

Attempted using a textarea, but running into problems with specifying max-height to only show the scrollbar when exceeding this height. No limitations on lines or characters in the textarea.

DEMO: https://jsfiddle.net/oLomzakh/

In need of assistance to incorporate new line count in the character count. Can you help?

javascript jquery html css

Answer 1

Answer №1

Instead of using $.text(), consider using $.html() to accurately detect line breaks including '\n' characters.

If you prefer not to use jQuery, you can also utilize the "this.innerText.length" property, though keep in mind it will include both '\r\n' for new lines instead of counting them as one character each.

To handle line breaks more efficiently, you can retrieve the $.html() content and replace <br> tags with a single character before calculating the final length.

Answer 2

Instead of using $.text(), consider using $.html() to accurately detect line breaks including '\n' characters.

If you prefer not to use jQuery, you can also utilize the "this.innerText.length" property, though keep in mind it will include both '\r\n' for new lines instead of counting them as one character each.

To handle line breaks more efficiently, you can retrieve the $.html() content and replace <br> tags with a single character before calculating the final length.

Answer 3

Answer №2

Initially, functioning code:

maxCharacters = 140;

$('#char-count').text(maxCharacters);

$('#text-area').bind('input', function() {

    var count = $('#char-count');
    var characters = $(this).text().length;
    var newlines = $($(this).html()).length;

    if (!!newlines) newlines -= 1;

    characters += newlines;

    if (characters > (maxCharacters - 11)) {
        count.addClass('over');
    } else {
        count.removeClass('over');
    }
    count.text(maxCharacters - characters);

});

Next, an interpretation:

It appears that content-editable displays new lines using HTML (particularly in Webkit). Inserting a debugger; statement in the event handler, and examining the value of $(this).html() will show that:

https://i.sstatic.net/XMpXe.png

As evident from the presence of both div's and br's.

This is where

var newlines = $($(this).html()).length;

comes into play. It calculates the children of the element (including both div's and br's). Adjustment of newlines by -1 is necessary as there always remains a div or br post editing.

Including this with our $(this).text() value provides the accurate character count.

Answer 4

Initially, functioning code:

maxCharacters = 140;

$('#char-count').text(maxCharacters);

$('#text-area').bind('input', function() {

    var count = $('#char-count');
    var characters = $(this).text().length;
    var newlines = $($(this).html()).length;

    if (!!newlines) newlines -= 1;

    characters += newlines;

    if (characters > (maxCharacters - 11)) {
        count.addClass('over');
    } else {
        count.removeClass('over');
    }
    count.text(maxCharacters - characters);

});

Next, an interpretation:

It appears that content-editable displays new lines using HTML (particularly in Webkit). Inserting a debugger; statement in the event handler, and examining the value of $(this).html() will show that:

https://i.sstatic.net/XMpXe.png

As evident from the presence of both div's and br's.

This is where

var newlines = $($(this).html()).length;

comes into play. It calculates the children of the element (including both div's and br's). Adjustment of newlines by -1 is necessary as there always remains a div or br post editing.

Including this with our $(this).text() value provides the accurate character count.

Answer 5

Answer №3

John's response is spot-on. If you also want to include white spaces and special characters in the character count, use the following code:

maxCharCount = 140;

$('#char-counter').text(maxCharCount);

$('#input-text').bind('input', function() {

    var charCount = $('#char-counter');
    var totalCharacters = $(this).text().length;

    if (totalCharacters > (maxCharCount - 11)) {
        charCount.addClass('over-limit');
    } else {
        charCount.removeClass('over-limit');
    }
    charCount.text(maxCharCount - totalCharacters);
});

I decided to eliminate these 3 lines of code:

var newLines = $($(this).html()).length;

if (!!newLines) newLines -= 1;

totalCharacters += newLines;

Answer 6

John's response is spot-on. If you also want to include white spaces and special characters in the character count, use the following code:

maxCharCount = 140;

$('#char-counter').text(maxCharCount);

$('#input-text').bind('input', function() {

    var charCount = $('#char-counter');
    var totalCharacters = $(this).text().length;

    if (totalCharacters > (maxCharCount - 11)) {
        charCount.addClass('over-limit');
    } else {
        charCount.removeClass('over-limit');
    }
    charCount.text(maxCharCount - totalCharacters);
});

I decided to eliminate these 3 lines of code:

var newLines = $($(this).html()).length;

if (!!newLines) newLines -= 1;

totalCharacters += newLines;

The number of characters can be measured in a div element that is editable

Answer №1

Answer №2

Initially, functioning code:

Next, an interpretation:

Answer №3

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