jQuery event for html change in a div element?

Question

Long story short - I have an editable <div> and I want to clear formatting when someone pastes something in. Since jQuery has no control over the clipboard and I don't want to get into cross-browser compatibility, I figured I'd listen for an event that runs when the content changes.

I've tried $("#mydiv").change() but obviously that only works on text fields and textareas(?), so is there a way to do this?

I'd also accept alternative solutions, and any solution I choose to use will be marked as the correct answer.

Thanks!

Answer 1

You can make use of .keyup() for copy and pasting. The right click followed by choosing paste in the context menu doesn't seem to record a click, so .click() doesn't work.... instead use setInterval() to check every X seconds to capture right click pastes.

Not sure if you can bind .keyup() to the div (whether the div is focusable across all browsers), but all keyups bubble up to the document, so $(document) will always work.

$(function() {

      // Get initial text:
    var previous = $("#mydiv").text();

      // Make DIV editable if clicked
    $("#mydiv").click(function() { this.contentEditable = 'true'; });

      // Create a function for what to do if there is a change:
    $check = function() {

          // Check for a change
        if ($("#mydiv").text() != previous) {
            // What to do if there's been a change
            // ...
        }

          // Store what contents are for later comparison
        previous = $("#mydiv").text();        
    }

      // Add the div changed handler to both keyup (ctr + v)
      //   and mouseclick (right click paste)
    $(document).keyup($check);
      // Right click work around is to check every Xs
    setInterval(function() { $check(); }, 1000);
});​

jsFiddle Example

This works with pasting.... it captures ctr, shift, etc keys. (if you try it out w ctr-v and you release one key after the other, then keep an eye on the status, since the status will only show changed after the release of the first key and same after the release of the second.... as it should).

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Note: I do like having both a .keyup() handler and a setInterval, since this guarantees that the feedback is instant for keystrokes.... even though there might be a lag after a right click paste.