Question

Fields created by <input> tags with a type of text or password , as well as textarea tags, share a common interface. Their DOM elements have a value property that holds their current content as a string value. Setting this property to another string changes the field’s content.

The selectionStart and selectionEnd properties of text fields give us information about the cursor and selection in the text. When nothing is selected, these two properties hold the same number, indicating the position of the cursor. For example, 0 indicates the start of the text, and 10 indicates the cursor is after the 10^th character. When part of the field is selected, the two properties will differ, giving us the start and end of the selected text. Like value , these properties may also be written to.

As an example, imagine you are writing an article about Khasekhemwy but have some trouble spelling his name. The following code wires up a <textarea> tag with an event handler that, when you press F2, inserts the string “Khasekhemwy” for you.

<textarea></textarea>
<script>
  var textarea = document.querySelector("textarea");
  textarea.addEventListener("keydown", function(event) {
    // The key code for F2 happens to be 113
    if (event.keyCode == 113) {
      replaceSelection(textarea, "Khasekhemwy");
      event.preventDefault();
    }
  });
  function replaceSelection(field, word) {
    var from = field.selectionStart, to = field.selectionEnd;
    field.value = field.value.slice(0, from) + word +
                  field.value.slice(to);
    // Put the cursor after the word
    field.selectionStart = field.selectionEnd =
      from + word.length;
  }
</script>

The replaceSelection function replaces the currently selected part of a text field’s content with the given word and then moves the cursor after that word so that the user can continue typing.

The "change" event for a text field does not fire every time something is typed. Rather, it fires when the field loses focus after its content was changed. To respond immediately to changes in a text field, you should register a handler for the "input" event instead, which fires for every time the user types a character, deletes text, or otherwise manipulates the field’s content.

The following example shows a text field and a counter showing the current length of the text entered:

<input type="text"> length: <span id="length">0</span>
<script>
  var text = document.querySelector("input");
  var output = document.querySelector("#length");
  text.addEventListener("input", function() {
    output.textContent = text.value.length;
  });
</script>

This is a book about getting computers to do what you want them to do. Computers are about as common as screwdrivers today, but they contain a lot more hidden complexity and thus are harder to operate and understand. To many, they remain alien, slightly threatening things.