TextFormatUpdateEvent: getTextFormats() method

Limited availability

This feature is not Baseline because it does not work in some of the most widely-used browsers.

Experimental: This is an experimental technology
Check the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

The getTextFormats() method of the TextFormatUpdateEvent interface returns an Array of TextFormat objects that represent the formats that an Input Method Editor (IME) window wants to apply to the text being composed.

Syntax

js
getTextFormats()

Parameters

None.

Return value

An Array containing TextFormat objects.

Examples

Styling IME-composed text

In the following example, the textformatupdate event is used to update the formatting of the text in the editable region.

html
<canvas id="editor-canvas"></canvas>
js
const TEXT_X = 10;
const TEXT_Y = 10;

const canvas = document.getElementById("editor-canvas");
const ctx = canvas.getContext("2d");

const editContext = new EditContext();
canvas.editContext = editContext;

editContext.addEventListener("textformatupdate", (e) => {
  // Clear the canvas.
  ctx.clearRect(0, 0, canvas.width, canvas.height);

  // Render the text.
  ctx.fillText(editContext.text, TEXT_X, TEXT_Y);
  console.log(`Rendering text: ${editContext.text}`);

  // Get the text formats that the IME window wants to apply.
  const formats = e.getTextFormats();

  // Iterate over the text formats
  for (const format of formats) {
    const { rangeStart, rangeEnd, underlineStyle, underlineThickness } = format;

    console.log(
      `Applying underline ${underlineThickness} ${underlineStyle} between ${rangeStart} and ${rangeEnd}.`,
    );

    const underlineXStart = ctx.measureText(
      editContext.text.substring(0, rangeStart),
    ).width;
    const underlineXEnd = ctx.measureText(
      editContext.text.substring(0, rangeEnd),
    ).width;
    const underlineY = TEXT_Y + 3;

    // For brevity, this example only draws a simple underline.
    // Use underlineStyle and underlineThickness to draw the correct underline.

    ctx.beginPath();
    ctx.moveTo(TEXT_X + underlineXStart, underlineY);
    ctx.lineTo(TEXT_X + underlineXEnd, underlineY);
    ctx.stroke();
  }
});

Specifications

Specification
EditContext API
# dom-textformatupdateevent-gettextformats

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
getTextFormats
Experimental
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 121 (Release date: 2024-01-23)
footnote Full support
Edge – Full support
Edge 121 (Release date: 2024-01-25)
footnote Full support
Firefox – No support
Firefox
footnote No support
Opera – Full support
Opera 107 (Release date: 2024-02-07)
footnote Full support
Safari – No support
Safari
footnote No support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 121 (Release date: 2024-01-23)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – No support
Firefox for Android
footnote No support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 81 (Release date: 2024-03-14)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – No support
Safari on iOS
footnote No support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 25 (Release date: 2024-04-24)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 121 (Release date: 2024-01-23)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – No support
WebView on iOS
footnote No support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support
No support
No support
Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.