Handler for when text is selected

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Selected text event trigger in Javascript
jquery: select text event

Is there a handler/listener in javascript which determines when text is selected in a certain element? Raw Javascript is fine, although something jQuery would be preferred. Thanks!

What kind of element? For example, the `input` tag has an `onselect` event. — Mike Christensen, Aug 18 '12 at 02:11
this is probably a question asked repetitively so bear with me- is there anywhere we can suggest features for js to implement in the future? — Kpower, Aug 18 '12 at 02:17

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 18 '12 at 02:15

Rangy comes with all kinds of goodies related to manipulating text selection: http://code.google.com/p/rangy/

Using it with jQuery is incredibly simple. For example:

$( 'body' ).on( 'mouseup', function(){
  var sel = rangy.getSelection();
  if( sel.length > 0 ){
    console.log( sel );
  }
});

Good luck!

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 18 '12 at 02:13

0

There is no event for selection, but you can use document.getSelection to access text that may be currently selected. You can bind a handler to onmouseup or onkeyup, etc.

answered Aug 18 '12 at 02:13

Tanzeeb Khalili

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Which handler do you think would be more suitable? – Kpower Aug 18 '12 at 02:13
I would say onmouseup if your website is desktop-based. Not sure what event gets fired on touch devices if your site is for mobile devices. – Tanzeeb Khalili Aug 18 '12 at 02:15

Handler for when text is selected

2 Answers2