DocumentOrShadowRoot.getSelection()
The getSelection()
property of the DocumentOrShadowRoot
interface returns a Selection
object representing the range of text selected by the user, or the current position of the caret.
Syntax
var selection = documentOrShadowRootInstance.getSelection()
Parameters
None.
Returns
A Selection
object.
Example
function foo() {
var selObj = document.getSelection();
alert(selObj);
var selRange = selObj.getRangeAt(0);
// do stuff with the range
}
Notes
String representation of the Selection object
In JavaScript, when an object is passed to a function expecting a string (like Window.alert()
), the object's toString()
method is called and the returned value is passed to the function. This can make the object appear to be a string when used with other functions when it is really an object with properties and methods.
In the above example, selObj.toString()
is automatically called when it is passed to Window.alert()
. However, attempting to use a JavaScript String property or method such as length
or substr
directly on a Selection
object results in an error if it does not have that property or method and may return unexpected results if it does. To use a Selection
object as a string, call its toString()
method directly:
var selectedText = selObj.toString();
selObj
is aSelection
object.selectedText
is a string (Selected text).
Related objects
HTML inputs provide simpler helper APIs for working with selection (see HTMLInputElement.setSelectionRange()
).
Notice the difference between selection and focus. Document.activeElement
returns the focused element.
Specifications
Specification |
---|
Selection API # dom-document-getselection |
Browser Compatibility
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