Change color of specific words in textarea

user4579153 picture user4579153 · May 10, 2016 · Viewed 35.1k times · Source

I'm building a Sql query builder and would like to change the text color of a word in a textarea when the user types in words like SELECT, FROM, WHERE.

I've searched around a bit and beyond this (https://jsfiddle.net/qcykvr8j/2/) I unfortunately do not come any further.

Example code

HTML:

<textarea name="query_field_one" id="query_field_one" onkeyup="checkName(this)"></textarea>

JS:

    function checkName(el)
    {
    if (el.value == "SELECT" || 
    el.value == "FROM" || 
    el.value == "WHERE" || 
    el.value == "LIKE" || 
    el.value == "BETWEEN" || 
    el.value == "NOT LIKE" || 
    el.value == "FALSE" || 
    el.value == "NULL" || 
    el.value == "TRUE" || 
    el.value == "NOT IN")
    {
      el.style.color='orange'

    }
    else {
      el.style.color='#FFF'

    }
  }

JSFiddle:

https://jsfiddle.net/qcykvr8j/2/

But this example deletes the color when I type further.

What I want is this:

Right way

I've tried something with Keyup in combination with Contains in jQuery but that did not result in much.

Keyup: https://api.jquery.com/keyup/

Contains: https://api.jquery.com/contains-selector/

I hope someone can help me with an example or sites where I can find more information .

Regards, Jens

Answer

Mohammad picture Mohammad · May 11, 2016

You can't change the colours of words in a <textarea>, but you can use the contenteditable attribute to make a <div>, <span>, or <p> look like a <textarea>.

To do this you can use a JavaScript plugin, but if you want to create a new one, the code below may help you.

For this purpose, you need to get any word in the text. Then check that if it's a SQL keyword.

// SQL keywords
var keywords = ["SELECT","FROM","WHERE","LIKE","BETWEEN","NOT LIKE","FALSE","NULL","FROM","TRUE","NOT IN"];
// Keyup event
$("#editor").on("keyup", function(e){
  // Space key pressed
  if (e.keyCode == 32){
    var newHTML = "";
    // Loop through words
    $(this).text().replace(/[\s]+/g, " ").trim().split(" ").forEach(function(val){
      // If word is statement
      if (keywords.indexOf(val.trim().toUpperCase()) > -1)
        newHTML += "<span class='statement'>" + val + "&nbsp;</span>";
      else
        newHTML += "<span class='other'>" + val + "&nbsp;</span>"; 
    });
    $(this).html(newHTML);

    // Set cursor postion to end of text
    var child = $(this).children();
    var range = document.createRange();
    var sel = window.getSelection();
    range.setStart(child[child.length-1], 1);
    range.collapse(true);
    sel.removeAllRanges();
    sel.addRange(range);
    this.focus();
  }
});
#editor {
    width: 400px;
    height: 100px;
    padding: 10px;
    background-color: #444;
    color: white;
    font-size: 14px;
    font-family: monospace;
}
.statement {
    color: orange;
}
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<div id="editor" contenteditable="true"></div>