Document.caretRangeFromPoint()

The caretRangeFromPoint() method of the Document interface returns a Range object for the document fragment under the specified coordinates.

Syntax

var range = document.caretRangeFromPoint(float x, float y);

Returns

One of the following:

• A Range.
• Null, if x or y are negative, outside viewport, or there is no text entry node.

Parameters

x

A horizontal position within the current viewport.

y

A vertical position within the current viewport.

Example

Basic demo: When clicking in a paragraph insert a line break at the caret position:

HTML Content

<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr,
sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat,
sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum.
Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.</p>

JavaScript Content

function insertBreakAtPoint(e) {

    var range;
    var textNode;
    var offset;

    if (document.caretPositionFromPoint) {
        range = document.caretPositionFromPoint(e.clientX, e.clientY);
        textNode = range.offsetNode;
        offset = range.offset;
        
    } else if (document.caretRangeFromPoint) {
        range = document.caretRangeFromPoint(e.clientX, e.clientY);
        textNode = range.startContainer;
        offset = range.startOffset;
    }

    // only split TEXT_NODEs
    if (textNode && textNode.nodeType == 3) {
        var replacement = textNode.splitText(offset);
        var br = document.createElement('br');
        textNode.parentNode.insertBefore(br, replacement);
    }
}

var paragraphs = document.getElementsByTagName("p");
for (i=0 ; i < paragraphs.length; i++) {
    paragraphs[i].addEventListener("click", insertBreakAtPoint, false);
}

Browser compatibility