Vue 2 contentEditable with v-model

Question

I'm trying to make a text editor similar to Medium. I'm using a content editable paragraph tag and store each item in an array and render each with v-for. However, I'm having problems with binding the text with the array using v-model. Seems like there's a conflict with v-model and the contenteditable property. Here's my code:

<div id="editbar">
     <button class="toolbar" v-on:click.prevent="stylize('bold')">Bold</button>
</div>
<div v-for="(value, index) in content">
     <p v-bind:id="'content-'+index" v-bind:ref="'content-'+index" v-model="content[index].value" v-on:keyup="emit_content($event)" v-on:keyup.delete="remove_content(index)" contenteditable></p>
</div>

and in my script:

export default { 
   data() {
      return {
         content: [{ value: ''}]
      }
   },
   methods: {
      stylize(style) {
         document.execCommand(style, false, null);
      },
      remove_content(index) {
         if(this.content.length > 1 && this.content[index].value.length == 0) {
            this.content.splice(index, 1);
         }
      }
   }
}

I haven't found any answers online for this.

Answer 1

I tried an example, and eslint-plugin-vue reported that v-model isn't supported on p elements. See the valid-v-model rule.

As of this writing, it doesn't look like what you want is supported in Vue directly. I'll present two generic solutions:

Use input events directly on the editable element

<template>
  <p
    contenteditable
    @input="onInput"
  >
    {{ content }}
  </p>
</template>

<script>
export default {
  data() {
    return { content: 'hello world' };
  },
  methods: {
    onInput(e) {
      console.log(e.target.innerText);
    },
  },
};
</script>

---

Create a reusable editable component

Editable.vue

<template>
  <p
    ref="editable"
    contenteditable
    v-on="listeners"
  />
</template>

<script>
export default {
  props: {
    value: {
      type: String,
      default: '',
    },
  },
  computed: {
    listeners() {
      return { ...this.$listeners, input: this.onInput };
    },
  },
  mounted() {
    this.$refs.editable.innerText = this.value;
  },
  methods: {
    onInput(e) {
      this.$emit('input', e.target.innerText);
    },
  },
};
</script>

index.vue

<template>
  <Editable v-model="content" />
</template>

<script>
import Editable from '~/components/Editable';

export default {
  components: { Editable },
  data() {
    return { content: 'hello world' };
  },
};
</script>

---

Custom solution for your specific problem

After a lot of iterations, I found that for your use case it was easier to get a working solution by not using a separate component. It seems that contenteditable elements are extremely tricky - especially when rendered in a list. I found I had to manually update the innerText of each p after a removal in order for it to work correctly. I also found that using ids worked, but using refs didn't.

There's probably a way to get a full two-way binding between the model and the content, but I think that would require manipulating the cursor location after each change.

<template>
  <div>
    <p
      v-for="(value, index) in content"
      :id="`content-${index}`"
      :key="index"
      contenteditable
      @input="event => onInput(event, index)"
      @keyup.delete="onRemove(index)"
    />
  </div>
</template>

<script>
export default {
  data() {
    return {
      content: [
        { value: 'paragraph 1' },
        { value: 'paragraph 2' },
        { value: 'paragraph 3' },
      ],
    };
  },
  mounted() {
    this.updateAllContent();
  },
  methods: {
    onInput(event, index) {
      const value = event.target.innerText;
      this.content[index].value = value;
    },
    onRemove(index) {
      if (this.content.length > 1 && this.content[index].value.length === 0) {
        this.$delete(this.content, index);
        this.updateAllContent();
      }
    },
    updateAllContent() {
      this.content.forEach((c, index) => {
        const el = document.getElementById(`content-${index}`);
        el.innerText = c.value;
      });
    },
  },
};
</script>