disable text selection except input

Question

I've got this snippet of code to disable all text selection. How would I go about disabling all text except for input? I tried $('* :not(input)').disableTextSelect(); but it disabled selection for everything (input included)

$.extend($.fn.disableTextSelect = function () {
                return this.each(function () {
                    if ($.browser.mozilla) {//Firefox
                        $(this).css('MozUserSelect', 'none');
                    } else if ($.browser.msie) {//IE
                        $(this).bind('selectstart', function () { return false; });
                    } else {//Opera, etc.
                        $(this).mousedown(function () { return false; });
                    }
                });
            });
            $('* :not(input)').disableTextSelect();

Note that disabling selection changes the default behaviour of the browser and will confuse or even annoy the user. — Felix Kling, Jun 09 '11 at 22:24

deerchao · Answer 1 · 2013-10-13T16:35:20.107

14

$(document).bind('mousedown selectstart', function(e) {
    return $(e.target).is('input, textarea, select, option, html');
});

Thanks to @user2873592, who mentioned that adding html here would fix the chrome scroll bar can't be dragged issue.

edited Oct 13 '13 at 16:35

answered Feb 13 '12 at 06:39

deerchao

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just pasted it inside document.ready and it worked like a charm !! thanks a lot @deerchao – Vignesh Subramanian Jun 06 '13 at 09:40

Stif · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-15T14:59:15.680

This works in IE and FF:

    jQuery(document).ready(function () {
        //Disable default text selection behavior
        toggleEnableSelectStart(false);

        //for inputs it must be possible to select text
        jQuery("input[type=text]").focusin(function () { toggleEnableSelectStart(true); });
        jQuery("input[type=text]").mouseover(function () { toggleEnableSelectStart(true); });
        jQuery("input[type=text]").focusout(function () { toggleEnableSelectStart(false); });
        jQuery("input[type=text]").mouseout(function () { toggleEnableSelectStart(false); });

    });

    function toggleEnableSelectStart(enable) {
        document.onmousedown = function (e) { return enable; };
        document.onselectstart = function (e) { return enable; }; ;
    }

Works for me in IE, FF, Opera & Chrome – MorningStar Jun 16 '11 at 21:22 — MorningStar, Jun 16 '11 at 21:22

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 09 '11 at 22:41

The problem seems to be that this disabling is inherited. So, even though you aren't selected them in the $() they still get disabled. But this can also be in our favor.

After disabling, you can enable the inputs.

$('body').css('MozUserSelect', '-moz-none');
$('input').css('MozUserSelect', 'text');

NOTE: the value must be '-moz-none'. If 'none', it can't be changed.

I can't test IE nor do I have a solution for Opera. But maybe this will help part way.

disable text selection except input

3 Answers3

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