3

How would I populate an array from text in a <textarea> input?

My end goal is to take a list of names and then insert it into an array to perform some operations. The names would be separated by lines, like this:

bob 
tim 
sally

and then added to the array. To be honest, I don't know where to start other than adding the <textarea> and creating a blank array. I was reading other posts, but they were in jQuery or some other language that I don't know yet. My understanding is that I have to split the content somehow?

Improve this question
2
  • var array = textareaElement.value.split('\n'); Commented Jul 16, 2017 at 0:04
  • 1
    If you want to remove surounding spaces use map and trim. If you want to remove empty strings use filter: var array = textareaElement.value.split('\n').map(e => e.trim()).filter(e => e);. Commented Jul 16, 2017 at 0:07

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
5

It's pretty straightforward:

var textarea = document.querySelector('textarea#names');
var textareaValue = textarea.value; // 'bob\ntim\nsally';
var arr = textareValue.split('\n');

split() takes string and cuts it into an array every given character (or string).

\n is new line character.

Edit: Answer to questions asked in comment below:

var names = [];
var textarea = document.querySelector('textarea#names');

function saveNames() {
    names = textarea.value.split('\n');
}

textarea.addEventListener('blur', saveNames, false);
// or this:
// textarea.addEventListener('keyup', saveNames, false);

You use events. You can use blur event or even keyup event. Basically you listen for (events) something to happen (like textarea loose focus or user press keyboard button), and then do something (read textarea value and save names to array).

This is of course pure js, but if you want to use jquery, then you need to go to jquery reference and see how to use events with jquery.

Improve this answer
Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

this works and is helpful, thank you. now, one additional question i have to this, right now when i type things in the textarea, nothing shows because it doesn't submit to anywhere but does work if i type in between the tags. how can i store and access this data without using a database for testing purposes?
Sure, this is easy, too. I edited my answer to add answer to your question. Learn about events. They are really useful and you can do a lot with them.
2

Let's assume you have a textarea and after typing each name you hit return. This should get you started:

<textarea id="textToArray" style="width:300px; height:120px;"></textarea>
<button onclick="toArray()">To Array</button>
<div id="arrayOutput"><div/>

<script type="text/javascript">
    function toArray( ) {
        var textAreaElement = document.getElementById('textToArray');
        var namesArray = textAreaElement.value.trim().split('\n');
        console.log( namesArray );
        document.getElementById('arrayOutput').innerText = JSON.stringify(namesArray);
    }
</script>
Improve this answer

Comments

0

If your words are s Here you go:

<textarea name="example" id="example" cols="30" rows="10">
    bob 
    tim 
    sally
</textarea>

const textareaContent = document.getElementById('example').value.split('\n');

demo

https://codepen.io/nicholasabrams/pen/weZaOj

Improve this answer

1 Comment

OP wants values separated with new lines \n, not spaces.
0

try this:

<html>
<body>

<textarea id="textArea"></textarea>

<button onclick="textToArray()">to array</button>

<!--show array result-->
<p id="result"></p>

</body>
</html>
<script>
function textToArray() {
    //assign value of textarea to mytext
    var myText = document.getElementById("textArea").value;

    //split mytext by nextline = "\n" 
    var myArray = myText.split("\n");

    //to check the result
    var result = '';
    for(i=0;i<myArray.length;i++)
    {
        result += myArray[i]+"<br>";
    }

    document.getElementById("result").innerHTML = result;
}
</script>
Improve this answer

Comments

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.