Non-standard
This feature is non-standard and is not on a standards track. Do not use it on production sites facing the Web: it will not work for every user. There may also be large incompatibilities between implementations and the behavior may change in the future.
The Selection.modify()
method applies a change to the current selection or cursor position, using simple textual commands.
Syntax
sel.modify(alter, direction, granularity)
Parameters
alter
- The type of change to apply. Specify
"move"
to move the current cursor position or"extend"
to extend the current selection. direction
- The direction in which to adjust the current selection. You can specify
"forward"
or"backward"
to adjust in the appropriate direction based on the language at the selection point. If you want to adjust in a specific direction, you can specify"left"
or"right"
. granularity
- The distance to adjust the current selection or cursor position. You can move by
"character"
,"word"
,"sentence"
,"line"
,"paragraph"
,"lineboundary"
,"sentenceboundary"
,"paragraphboundary"
, or"documentboundary"
.
"sentence"
, "paragraph"
, "sentenceboundary"
, "paragraphboundary"
, or "documentboundary"
. WebKit and Blink do.Note: Starting in Gecko 5.0, the "word"
granularity no longer includes the following space, regardless of the default platform behavior. This makes the behavior more consistent, as well as making it work the same way WebKit used to work, but unfortunately they have recently changed their behavior.
Example
This example demonstrates the various granularity
options for modifying a selection. Click somewhere inside the example (optionally selecting some text), and then click the button to expand the selection.
HTML
<p>Click somewhere in this example. Then click the button below to expand the selection. Watch what happens!</p> <p>Et harum quidem rerum facilis est et expedita distinctio. Nam libero tempore, cum soluta nobis est eligendi optio cumque nihil impedit quo minus id quod maxime placeat facere possimus, omnis voluptas assumenda est, omnis dolor repellendus.</p> <label for="granularity">Granularity:</label> <select id="granularity"> <option value="character">Character</option> <option value="word">Word</option> <option value="sentence">Sentence</option> <option value="line">Line</option> <option value="paragraph">Paragraph</option> <option value="lineboundary">Line Boundary</option> <option value="sentenceboundary">Sentence Boundary</option> <option value="paragraphboundary">Paragraph Boundary</option> <option value="documentboundary">Document Boundary</option> </select> <br><br> <button>Extend selection</button>
JavaScript
let select = document.querySelector('select'); let button = document.querySelector('button'); button.addEventListener('click', modify); function modify() { let selection = window.getSelection(); selection.modify('extend', 'forward', select.value); }
Result
Specifications
This method is not part of any specification.
Browser compatibility
Desktop | Mobile | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
modify | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support ≤79 | Firefox Full support 4 | IE ? | Opera Full support Yes | Safari Full support Yes | WebView Android Full support Yes | Chrome Android Full support Yes | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
node parameter is nullable | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support ≤79 | Firefox Full support 55 | IE ? | Opera Full support Yes | Safari Full support Yes | WebView Android Full support Yes | Chrome Android Full support Yes | Firefox Android Full support 55 | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
offset parameter is optional | Chrome Full support Yes | Edge Full support ≤79 | Firefox Full support 55 | IE ? | Opera Full support Yes | Safari Full support Yes | WebView Android Full support Yes | Chrome Android Full support Yes | Firefox Android Full support 55 | Opera Android Full support Yes | Safari iOS Full support Yes | Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support
- Compatibility unknown
- Compatibility unknown
- Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
- Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
- Non-standard. Expect poor cross-browser support.
- Non-standard. Expect poor cross-browser support.
See also
Selection
, the interface it belongs to.