Count characters in textarea

StackOverflow https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5371089

Question

I want to count characters in a textarea, so I just made:

<textarea id="field" onkeyup="countChar(this)"></textarea>

function countChar(val){
     var len = val.value.length;
     if (len >= 500) {
              val.value = val.value.substring(0, 500);
     } else {
              $('#charNum').text(500 - len);
     }
};

What's wrong with my piece of code? It does not work! Well, that was a newbie handwriting, need a help.

Was it helpful?

Solution

What errors are you seeing in the browser? I can understand why your code doesn't work if what you posted was incomplete, but without knowing that I can't know for sure.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.5.js"></script>
    <script>
      function countChar(val) {
        var len = val.value.length;
        if (len >= 500) {
          val.value = val.value.substring(0, 500);
        } else {
          $('#charNum').text(500 - len);
        }
      };
    </script>
  </head>

  <body>
    <textarea id="field" onkeyup="countChar(this)"></textarea>
    <div id="charNum"></div>
  </body>

</html>

... works fine for me.

Edit: You should probably clear the charNum div, or write something, if they are over the limit.

OTHER TIPS

Improved version based on Caterham's function:

$('#field').keyup(function () {
  var max = 500;
  var len = $(this).val().length;
  if (len >= max) {
    $('#charNum').text(' you have reached the limit');
  } else {
    var char = max - len;
    $('#charNum').text(char + ' characters left');
  }
});

⚠️ The accepted solution is flawed.

Here are two scenarios where the keyup event will not get fired:

  1. The user drags text into the textarea.
  2. The user copy-paste text in the textarea with a right click (contextual menu).

Use the HTML5 input event instead for a more robust solution:

<textarea maxlength='140'></textarea>

JavaScript (demo):

const textarea = document.querySelector("textarea");

textarea.addEventListener("input", event => {
    const target = event.currentTarget;
    const maxLength = target.getAttribute("maxlength");
    const currentLength = target.value.length;

    if (currentLength >= maxLength) {
        return console.log("You have reached the maximum number of characters.");
    }

    console.log(`${maxLength - currentLength} chars left`);
});

And if you absolutely want to use jQuery:

$('textarea').on("input", function(){
    var maxlength = $(this).attr("maxlength");
    var currentLength = $(this).val().length;

    if( currentLength >= maxlength ){
        console.log("You have reached the maximum number of characters.");
    }else{
        console.log(maxlength - currentLength + " chars left");
    }
});

HTML sample, used wherever I need a counter, notice the relevance of IDs of textarea and second span : id="post" <-> id="rem_post" and the title of the span that holds the desired characters amount of each particular textarea

<textarea class="countit" name="post" id="post"></textarea>
<p>
  <span>characters remaining: <span id="rem_post" title="1000"></span></span>
</p>

JavaScript function, usually placed before </body> in my template file, requires jQuery

$(".countit").keyup(function () {
  var cmax = $("#rem_" + $(this).attr("id")).attr("title");

  if ($(this).val().length >= cmax) {
    $(this).val($(this).val().substr(0, cmax));
  }

  $("#rem_" + $(this).attr("id")).text(cmax - $(this).val().length);

});

this worked fine for me.

$('#customText').on('keyup', function(event) {
   var len = $(this).val().length;
   if (len >= 40) {
      $(this).val($(this).val().substring(0, len-1));
   }
});

substring() needs to become substr().

Example: jsfiddle.net/xqyWV

Well, this is not that different from what have been said, but this works very well in all browsers.

The idea is to delete any text which overflows the defined length.

function countTextAreaChar(txtarea, l){
    var len = $(txtarea).val().length;
    if (len > l) $(txtarea).val($(txtarea).val().slice(0, l));
    else $('#charNum').text(l - len);
    }

The HTMl code would be:

<div id="charNum"></div>
<textarea onkeyup="countTextAreaChar(this, 10)" class="textareaclass" id="smallword" rows="40" cols="30" name="smallword"></textarea>

HTML 

<form method="post">
<textarea name="postes" id="textAreaPost" placeholder="Write what's you new" maxlength="500"></textarea>

<div id="char_namb" style="padding: 4px; float: right; font-size: 20px; font-family: Cocon; text-align: center;">500 : 0</div>
</form>

jQuery

$(function(){
    $('#textAreaPost').keyup(function(){
      var charsno = $(this).val().length;
      $('#char_namb').html("500 : " + charsno);
    });
});

I did a combination of the above. It allows for the halting of the text entry, and allows for the backspacing, plus keeps the count, even when backspacing:

JavaScript code:

$(document).ready(function () {

  $('#giftmsg').keypress(function (event) {
    var max = 250;
    var len = $(this).val().length;

    if (event.which < 0x20) {
      // e.which < 0x20, then it's not a printable character
      // e.which === 0 - Not a character
      return; // Do nothing
    }

    if (len >= max) {
      event.preventDefault();
    }

  });

  $('#giftmsg').keyup(function (event) {
    var max = 250;
    var len = $(this).val().length;
    var char = max - len;

    $('#textleft').text(char + ' characters left');

  });

});

HTML:

<div class="col3">
    <h2>3. Optional gift message</h2>
    Enter gift message. Limit 250 characters.<br /><br />
    <textarea cols="36" rows="5" id="giftmsg" ></textarea>
    <a style="padding:7px 0 0 0" href="#">Save Message</a>
    <div id="textleft">250 characters left</div>
</div>

Credit to those posters before me!! Hope this helps someone!

I created my own jQuery plugin for this task, you can try it out here:

http://jsfiddle.net/Sk8erPeter/8NF4r/

You can create character counters on-the-fly (and also remaining character counters), you can define whether you want to chop text, you can define the suffix texts and you can also define a short format and its separator.

Here's an example usage:

$(document).ready(function () {

    $('#first_textfield').characterCounter();

    $('#second_textfield').characterCounter({
        maximumCharacters: 20,
        chopText: true
    });

    $('#third_textfield').characterCounter({
        maximumCharacters: 20,
        shortFormat: true,
        shortFormatSeparator: " / ",
        positionBefore: true,
        chopText: true
    });

    $('#fourth_textfield').characterCounter({
        maximumCharacters: 20,
        characterCounterNeeded: true,
        charactersRemainingNeeded: true,
        chopText: false
    });

    $('#first_textarea').characterCounter({
        maximumCharacters: 50,
        characterCounterNeeded: true,
        charactersRemainingNeeded: false,
        chopText: true
    });

    $('#second_textarea').characterCounter({
        maximumCharacters: 25
    });

});

Here's the code of the plugin:

/**
 * Character counter and limiter plugin for textfield and textarea form elements
 * @author Sk8erPeter
 */ 
(function ($) {
  $.fn.characterCounter = function (params) {
    // merge default and user parameters
    params = $.extend({
      // define maximum characters
      maximumCharacters: 1000,
      // create typed character counter DOM element on the fly
      characterCounterNeeded: true,
      // create remaining character counter DOM element on the fly
      charactersRemainingNeeded: true,
      // chop text to the maximum characters
      chopText: false,
      // place character counter before input or textarea element
      positionBefore: false,
      // class for limit excess
      limitExceededClass: "character-counter-limit-exceeded",
      // suffix text for typed characters
      charactersTypedSuffix: " characters typed",
      // suffix text for remaining characters
      charactersRemainingSuffixText: " characters left",
      // whether to use the short format (e.g. 123/1000)
      shortFormat: false,
      // separator for the short format
      shortFormatSeparator: "/"
    }, params);

    // traverse all nodes
    this.each(function () {
      var $this = $(this),
        $pluginElementsWrapper,
        $characterCounterSpan,
        $charactersRemainingSpan;

      // return if the given element is not a textfield or textarea
      if (!$this.is("input[type=text]") && !$this.is("textarea")) {
        return this;
      }

      // create main parent div
      if (params.characterCounterNeeded || params.charactersRemainingNeeded) {
        // create the character counter element wrapper
        $pluginElementsWrapper = $('<div>', {
          'class': 'character-counter-main-wrapper'
        });

        if (params.positionBefore) {
          $pluginElementsWrapper.insertBefore($this);
        } else {
          $pluginElementsWrapper.insertAfter($this);
        }
      }

      if (params.characterCounterNeeded) {
        $characterCounterSpan = $('<span>', {
          'class': 'counter character-counter',
          'text': 0
        });

        if (params.shortFormat) {
          $characterCounterSpan.appendTo($pluginElementsWrapper);

          var $shortFormatSeparatorSpan = $('<span>', {
            'html': params.shortFormatSeparator
          }).appendTo($pluginElementsWrapper);

        } else {
          // create the character counter element wrapper
          var $characterCounterWrapper = $('<div>', {
            'class': 'character-counter-wrapper',
            'html': params.charactersTypedSuffix
          });

          $characterCounterWrapper.prepend($characterCounterSpan);
          $characterCounterWrapper.appendTo($pluginElementsWrapper);
        }
      }

      if (params.charactersRemainingNeeded) {

        $charactersRemainingSpan = $('<span>', {
          'class': 'counter characters-remaining',
          'text': params.maximumCharacters
        });

        if (params.shortFormat) {
          $charactersRemainingSpan.appendTo($pluginElementsWrapper);
        } else {
          // create the character counter element wrapper
          var $charactersRemainingWrapper = $('<div>', {
            'class': 'characters-remaining-wrapper',
            'html': params.charactersRemainingSuffixText
          });
          $charactersRemainingWrapper.prepend($charactersRemainingSpan);
          $charactersRemainingWrapper.appendTo($pluginElementsWrapper);
        }
      }

      $this.keyup(function () {

        var typedText = $this.val();
        var textLength = typedText.length;
        var charactersRemaining = params.maximumCharacters - textLength;

        // chop the text to the desired length
        if (charactersRemaining < 0 && params.chopText) {
          $this.val(typedText.substr(0, params.maximumCharacters));
          charactersRemaining = 0;
          textLength = params.maximumCharacters;
        }

        if (params.characterCounterNeeded) {
          $characterCounterSpan.text(textLength);
        }

        if (params.charactersRemainingNeeded) {
          $charactersRemainingSpan.text(charactersRemaining);

          if (charactersRemaining <= 0) {
            if (!$charactersRemainingSpan.hasClass(params.limitExceededClass)) {
              $charactersRemainingSpan.addClass(params.limitExceededClass);
            }
          } else {
            $charactersRemainingSpan.removeClass(params.limitExceededClass);
          }
        }
      });

    });

    // allow jQuery chaining
    return this;

  };
})(jQuery);

$.fn.extend( {
       limiter: function(limit, elem) {
            $(this).on("keyup focus", function() {
               setCount(this, elem);
           });
            function setCount(src, elem) {
               var chars = src.value.length;
                if (chars > limit) {
                    src.value = src.value.substr(0, limit);
                    chars = limit;
                }
                elem.html( limit - chars );
            }
            setCount($(this)[0], elem);
        }
    });

    var elem = $("#cntr");  
    $("#status_txt").limiter(160, elem);

I was wondering how to do this same thing and taking ideas from everyone here this is what I came up with:

JsFiddle

<textarea name="message" rows="4" cols="24" maxlength="1000" id="message" placeholder="Message:" style=""></textarea><br/>
<span id="charNum"></span>

$('#message').keyup(function () {
  max = this.getAttribute("maxlength");
  var len = $(this).val().length;
   if (len >= max) {
    $('#charNum').text(' you have reached the limit');
   } else {
    var char = max - len;
    $('#charNum').text(char + ' characters left');
   }
});

Your code was a bit mixed up. Here is a clean version:

<script type="text/javascript">
    $(document).ready(function() {
        $("#add").click(function() {
            $.post("SetAndGet.php", {
                know: $("#know").val()
            }, function(data) {
                $("#know_list").html(data);
            });
        });

        function countChar(val) {
            var len = val.value.length;
            if (len >= 500) {
                val.value = val.value.substring(0, 500);
            } else {
                $('#charNum').text(500 - len);
            }
        }
    });
</script>

Try this one.

<textarea maxlength="410" name="about_me" onkeydown="CountLeft(this.form.about_me, this.form.left);" onkeyup="CountLeft(this.form.about_me,this.form.left); "></textarea>

<input maxlength="3" name="left" readonly="" size="3" type="text" value="410" /> characters left

<script>
function CountLeft(field, count) 
{
    var max = "410";
    if (field.value.length > max)
    {
        field.value = field.value.substring(0, max);
    }
    else
    {
        count.value = max - field.value.length;
    }
}
</script>

A more generic version so you can use the function for more than one field.

<script src="../site/jquery/jquery.min.js" ></script>
<script type="text/javascript">

function countChar(inobj, maxl, outobj) {
    var len = inobj.value.length;
    var msg = ' chr left';
    if (len >= maxl) {
        inobj.value = inobj.value.substring(0, maxl);
        $(outobj).text(0 + msg);
    } else {
        $(outobj).text(maxl - len + msg);
    }
}


$(document).ready(function(){

    //set up summary field character count
    countChar($('#summary').get(0),500, '#summarychrs'); //show inital value on page load
    $('#summary').keyup(function() {
        countChar(this, 500, '#summarychrs'); //set up on keyup event function
    });

});
</script>

<textarea name="summary" id="summary" cols="60" rows="3" ><?php echo $summary ?></textarea> 
<span id="summarychrs">0</span>

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.11.2/jquery.min.js"></script>

    <script>

            function countChar(val) 
            {

             var limit = 1024;

            if ( val.length > limit )
              { 
              $("#comment").val(val.substring(0, limit-1));
              val.length = limit;
              }

              $("#count").html((limit)-(val.length));     
              }

        </script>

        <textarea id="comment" onKeyUp="countChar(this.value)" required></textarea>

        <div id="count"></div>

Use the following to skip using else and also skip getting negative count.

Here my example. Supper simple 

$(document).ready(function() {
      
        var textarea    = $("#my_textarea");
  
        textarea.keydown(function(event) {
          
            var numbOfchars = textarea.val();
            var len = numbOfchars.length;
            $(".chars-counter").text(len);

        });
  
  
 }); 
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<textarea id="my_textarea" class="uk-textarea" rows="5" name="text"></textarea>
<h1 class="chars-counter">0</h1>

We weren't happy with any of the purposed solutions.

So we've created a complete char counter solution for JQuery, built on top of jquery-jeditable. It's a textarea plugin extension that can count to both ways, displays a custom message, limits char count and also supports jquery-datatables.

You can test it right away on JSFiddle.

GitHub link: https://github.com/HippotecLTD/realworld_jquery_jeditable_charcount

Quick start

Add these lines to your HTML:

<script async src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/HippotecLTD/realworld_jquery_jeditable_charcount@1.0.0/dist/jquery.jeditable.charcounter.realworld.min.js"></script>
<script async src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/HippotecLTD/realworld_jquery_jeditable_charcount@1.0.0/dist/jquery.charcounter.realworld.min.js"></script>

And then:

$("#myTextArea4").charCounter();

$(document).ready(function() {
    var count = $("h1").text().length;
    alert(count);
});

Also, you can put your own element id or class instead of "h1" and length event count your characters of text area string ☻

$('#field').keyup(function () {
    var max = 160;
    var len = $(this).val().length;
//  var char = max - len;
    var messages = Math.ceil(len / 160);
    if (len >= max) {
        $('#charNum').text('(' + messages + ') ' + len + '/' + max);
    } else {
        $('#charNum').text(len + '/' + max);
    }
    });

U can use : 

    $(document).ready(function () {
  $('#ID').keyup(function () {
   var val = $(this).val();
   len = val.length;
   if (len >= 140) {
    $(this).text(val.substring(0, 140));
   } else {
    console.log(140 - len);
    $('#charNum').empty().append(140 - len);
   }
  });
 });
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