Etherpad: How to capture selected text from etherpad - etherpad

Question

I want to capture selected text from Etherpad. There is API methods available /getText that will return the entire text.
My requirement is to get only selected text.
Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

If you want to use the selected text in an outer frame, you could use a postMessage System.
exports.postAceInit = (hookName, context) => {
window.addEventListener('message', function receiver(e) {
// Data of Request
let data = e.data;
// Origin URL of Request
let origin = e.origin;
if(data == 'GET_SELECTION'){
context.ace.callWithAce((ace) => {
// Read current selection
let rep = ace.ace_getRep();
// Start of the Selection [x,y]
let selStart = rep.selStart;
// End of the Selection [x,y]
let selEnd = rep.selEnd;
// Read Lines of Pad
let lines = rep.lines;
let retVal = '';
// Run through Selection
for(let idx = selStart[0]; idx < selEnd[0]+1; idx++){
retVal = retVal + lines.atIndex(idx).text;
}
// Send text to Receiver
e.source.postMessage(retVal, origin);
}, 'GET_SELECTION', true);
}
, false);
}
Receiver and Sender Site:
<script type="text/javascript">
function sendMessage(message) {
document.getElementById('etherpad').contentWindow.postMessage(message, '_URL OF YOUR ETHERPAD INSTANCE_');
}
function receiver(e) {
// Read Data of Request
let data = e.data;
// Origin URL of Request
let origin = e.origin;
alert("GOT: " + data + "\nFROM: " + origin);
e.source.postMessage('Thanks', origin);
}
// Listener gets Requests
window.addEventListener('message', receiver, false);
</script>
<button type="button" onclick="sendMessage('GET_SELECTION')">GET SELECTION</button>
This code will get you the whole lines of text from the selection. If you want to get the exacts characters, you would need a second loop within the idx for-loop