Can I simulate text selection with the mouse in JavaScript?
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07-07-2019 - |
Question
I would like to select text on the page by simulating a left mouse button down and drag it to a specified x,y location (in pixels)
Can this be done with JavaScript?
Solution
I don't think its possible to control the mouse in this way using JavaScript.
However, you can select parts of a document directly using JavaScript. For example:
var h3s = document.getElementsByTagName("h3");
var range = document.createRange();
range.selectNode(h3s[0]);
window.getSelection().addRange(range);
would select the first h3 element.
Also see: http://www.quirksmode.org/dom/range_intro.html for more info about building ranges.
To select the entire body of a document, you can use:
var body = document.getElementsByTagName("body")[0];
var range = document.createRange();
range.selectNode(body);
window.getSelection().addRange(range);
To select the 3rd character of, say, the 4th paragraph in a document, try:
var p4 = document.getElementsByTagName("p")[3].firstChild;
var range = document.createRange();
range.setStart(p4, 2);
range.setEnd(p4, 3);
window.getSelection().addRange(range);
OTHER TIPS
/** * Select text between 2 elements. Support selection of continuous elements. * @param {Object} element1 begin element. * @param {Object} element2 end element. */ function selectBetweenTwoElements(element1, element2) { if (window.getSelection) { /* all browsers, except IE 8 and IE 7 */ var selection = window.getSelection(); selection.removeAllRanges(); var range = document.createRange(); range.setStart(element1, 0); range.setEnd(element2, 1); selection.addRange(range); } else { /* works fine in IE 8 / IE 7 */ if (document.body.createControlRange) { var range1 = document.body.createTextRange(); range1.moveToElementText(element1); var range2 = document.body.createTextRange(); range2.moveToElementText(element2); var range = document.body.createTextRange(); range.setEndPoint("StartToStart", range1); range.setEndPoint("EndToEnd", range2); range.select(); } } }
as far as I know that can't be done. the only text you can select is in a form element (textarea, input text etc.)
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