The issue of JavaScript text not being able to be selected persists in Chrome and Internet Explorer

While the text appears fine in Firefox, it remains selectable in Chrome and Internet Explorer. Is there a way to work around this issue? The code snippet was borrowed from another post (which I cannot locate at the moment) so it may be outdated?

// To prevent text selection
function disableSelection(target) {
    if (typeof target.onselectstart != "undefined") // Method for Internet Explorer
        target.onselectstart = function() { return false }
    else if (typeof target.style.MozUserSelect != "undefined") // Method for Firefox
        target.style.MozUserSelect = "none"
    else // Default method for other browsers like Opera
        target.onmousedown = function() { return false }
}

Implementation in code:

disableSelection(document.getElementById("gBar"));

Answer №1

To style text in Webkit, use khtmlUserSelect instead of MozUserSelect.

In Opera and MSIE, you can set the unselectable-property to "On".

For styles related to Gecko/Webkit using CSS, apply a class:

<script type="text/javascript>
<!--
function disableSelection(target)
{
  target.className='unselectable';
  target.setAttribute('unselectable','on');
}
//-->
</script>
<style type="text/css">
<!--  
.unselectable{
-moz-user-select:none;
-khtml-user-select: none;
}
-->
</style>

Note: The unselectable property will not be passed on to child elements, so if there are other elements within the target besides textNodes, a workaround is needed for MSIE/Opera.

Answer №2

After reviewing the previous examples, I found them to be too complex and reliant on specific browser versions. I have come up with a simple solution that works across all browsers!

// Specify which HTML elements you want to exclude from being selected
var ExcludeElems = ["INPUT","SELECT","OPTION"]

function disableSelection (target) {
   // This code will work across all browsers
   target.onmousedown = function (e) 
  {
     var i;
     var e = e ? e : window.event;

     if (e) 
      for (i=0; i<ExcludeElems.length;i++)
        if (e.target.nodeName == ExcludeElems[i] ) 
           return true;
     return false;
  }

If needed, this function can be further customized. Simply apply this code to any container element...

disableSelection (document) 
//disableSelection (document.body) 
//disableSelection (divName) ....

Answer №3

When working with Webkit browsers such as Chrome and Safari, you can include the following code:

else if (typeof target.style.webkitUserSelect != "undefined") // Webkit approach
    target.style.webkitUserSelect = "none";

For Internet Explorer, utilize 'unselectable':

else if (typeof target.unselectable != "undefined") // IE method
    target.unselectable = true;

Check out this resource for more information:

Answer №4

To achieve the same styling effect as MozUserSelect in Firefox, you can utilize -webkit-user-select: none for Webkit-based browsers such as Safari and Chrome.

It is possible that -o-user-select: none could be used in Opera as well, although this has not been confirmed through testing.

// Function to disable text selection
function disableSelection(target) {
    if (typeof target.onselectstart != "undefined") // Handling for IE
        target.onselectstart = function() { return false }
    else if (typeof target.style.userSelect != "undefined") // Potential handling for future use
        target.style.userSelect = "none"
    else if (typeof target.style.webkitUserSelect != "undefined") // Handling for Webkit browsers
        target.style.webkitUserSelect = "none"
    else if (typeof target.style.MozUserSelect != "undefined") // Handling for Firefox
        target.style.MozUserSelect = "none"
    else // Default handling for other browsers like Opera
        target.onmousedown = function() { return false }
}

If you are looking for a solution specific to Internet Explorer, you may find this resource helpful: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms534706(VS.85).aspx

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