This is compatible with the standards-based browsers, but will probably fail in IE. I'm providing it as a starting point. IE doesn't support DOM Range.
var editable = document.getElementById('editable'),
selection, range;
// Populates selection and range variables
var captureSelection = function(e) {
// Don't capture selection outside editable region
var isOrContainsAnchor = false,
isOrContainsFocus = false,
sel = window.getSelection(),
parentAnchor = sel.anchorNode,
parentFocus = sel.focusNode;
while(parentAnchor && parentAnchor != document.documentElement) {
if(parentAnchor == editable) {
isOrContainsAnchor = true;
}
parentAnchor = parentAnchor.parentNode;
}
while(parentFocus && parentFocus != document.documentElement) {
if(parentFocus == editable) {
isOrContainsFocus = true;
}
parentFocus = parentFocus.parentNode;
}
if(!isOrContainsAnchor || !isOrContainsFocus) {
return;
}
selection = window.getSelection();
// Get range (standards)
if(selection.getRangeAt !== undefined) {
range = selection.getRangeAt(0);
// Get range (Safari 2)
} else if(
document.createRange &&
selection.anchorNode &&
selection.anchorOffset &&
selection.focusNode &&
selection.focusOffset
) {
range = document.createRange();
range.setStart(selection.anchorNode, selection.anchorOffset);
range.setEnd(selection.focusNode, selection.focusOffset);
} else {
// Failure here, not handled by the rest of the script.
// Probably IE or some older browser
}
};
// Recalculate selection while typing
editable.onkeyup = captureSelection;
// Recalculate selection after clicking/drag-selecting
editable.onmousedown = function(e) {
editable.className = editable.className + ' selecting';
};
document.onmouseup = function(e) {
if(editable.className.match(/\sselecting(\s|$)/)) {
editable.className = editable.className.replace(/ selecting(\s|$)/, '');
captureSelection();
}
};
editable.onblur = function(e) {
var cursorStart = document.createElement('span'),
collapsed = !!range.collapsed;
cursorStart.id = 'cursorStart';
cursorStart.appendChild(document.createTextNode('—'));
// Insert beginning cursor marker
range.insertNode(cursorStart);
// Insert end cursor marker if any text is selected
if(!collapsed) {
var cursorEnd = document.createElement('span');
cursorEnd.id = 'cursorEnd';
range.collapse();
range.insertNode(cursorEnd);
}
};
// Add callbacks to afterFocus to be called after cursor is replaced
// if you like, this would be useful for styling buttons and so on
var afterFocus = [];
editable.onfocus = function(e) {
// Slight delay will avoid the initial selection
// (at start or of contents depending on browser) being mistaken
setTimeout(function() {
var cursorStart = document.getElementById('cursorStart'),
cursorEnd = document.getElementById('cursorEnd');
// Don't do anything if user is creating a new selection
if(editable.className.match(/\sselecting(\s|$)/)) {
if(cursorStart) {
cursorStart.parentNode.removeChild(cursorStart);
}
if(cursorEnd) {
cursorEnd.parentNode.removeChild(cursorEnd);
}
} else if(cursorStart) {
captureSelection();
var range = document.createRange();
if(cursorEnd) {
range.setStartAfter(cursorStart);
range.setEndBefore(cursorEnd);
// Delete cursor markers
cursorStart.parentNode.removeChild(cursorStart);
cursorEnd.parentNode.removeChild(cursorEnd);
// Select range
selection.removeAllRanges();
selection.addRange(range);
} else {
range.selectNode(cursorStart);
// Select range
selection.removeAllRanges();
selection.addRange(range);
// Delete cursor marker
document.execCommand('delete', false, null);
}
}
// Call callbacks here
for(var i = 0; i < afterFocus.length; i++) {
afterFocus[i]();
}
afterFocus = [];
// Register selection again
captureSelection();
}, 10);
};