Getting Selected Text from a TextBox Control Using JavaScript

When working with textboxes, you may encounter the need to retrieve selected text. This article aims to provide a comprehensive solution for this task, addressing issues encountered with Internet Explorer 6.

The selection of text within a textbox can be achieved using JavaScript's built-in properties. For standards-compliant browsers, the selectionStart and selectionEnd properties provide the range of selected text. However, for Internet Explorer, a workaround using the selection object is necessary.

function ShowSelection() {
  var textComponent = document.getElementById('Editor');
  var selectedText;

  if (textComponent.selectionStart !== undefined) { 
    // Standards-compliant version
    var startPos = textComponent.selectionStart;
    var endPos = textComponent.selectionEnd;
    selectedText = textComponent.value.substring(startPos, endPos);
  } else if (document.selection !== undefined) {
    // Internet Explorer version
    textComponent.focus();
    var sel = document.selection.createRange();
    selectedText = sel.text;
  }

  alert("You selected: "   selectedText);
}

Initially, an issue arose in Internet Explorer 6, preventing the above code from functioning correctly. To address this, a focus() call is added before accessing the selection object. Additionally, attaching the ShowSelection() function to the onkeydown event provides a stable solution for detecting the selected text.

document.onkeydown = function (e) {
  ShowSelection();
};

For further clarification, the issue with buttons stems from their inherent behavior of deselecting text in Internet Explorer. Therefore, utilizing a simple input button is recommended instead. By implementing this solution, you can effectively retrieve selected text from a textbox control, overcoming the challenges encountered with Internet Explorer 6.