Modify the behavior of the tab key using JavaScript

I'm currently working on a text editor embedded within a contenteditable div.

My goal is to modify the [TAB] functionality so that instead of shifting focus to the next element (as is done by default in browsers), it will either insert spaces or a \t character in the text area.

To achieve this, I've implemented an event handler as follows:

function keyDown(e) {
    // Capture tab press.
    if (e.keyCode == 9) {
        e.preventDefault();
        return;
    }
}

With this code in place, focus is maintained on the div. Now I just need to figure out how to actually insert a [TAB] or spaces at the current cursor position.

Any suggestions on how to accomplish this?

javascript

Answer №1

Here is a handy solution: http://jsfiddle.net/eFLGZ/

$('textarea').keydown(keyDown);

function keyDown(e) {

    // When the tab key is pressed
    if (e.keyCode == 9) {
        e.preventDefault();

        // Add a space.
        var txt = $('textarea').val();
        $('textarea').val(txt + ' ');

        return;
    }
}

For information on inserting text at the cursor location, refer to this link.

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