How to limit Max Length of Draft js

Question

How to limit max characters in draft js?

I can get length of the state like that, but how to stop updating component?

var length = editorState.getCurrentContent().getPlainText('').length;

Answer 1

Mikhail's methods are correct, but the handler return value is not. 'not_handled' is a fall-through case that allows the Editor component to process the input normally. In this case, we want to stop the Editor from processing input.

In older versions of DraftJS, it looks like the presence of a string evaluated to 'true' in the handling code, and so the above code behaved correctly. In later versions of DraftJS, the above fiddle doesn't work - I don't have the reputation to post more that one Fiddle here, but try Mikhail's code with v0.10 of DraftJS to replicate.

To correct this, return 'handled' or true when you don't want the Editor to continue handling the input.

Fiddle with corrected return values

For example,

_handleBeforeInput = () => {
  const currentContent = this.state.editorState.getCurrentContent();
  const currentContentLength = currentContent.getPlainText('').length

  if (currentContentLength > MAX_LENGTH - 1) {
    console.log('you can type max ten characters');
    return 'handled';
  }
}

See the DraftJS docs on Cancelable Handlers for more.

Answer 2

Let's think about this for a second. What is called to make the changes? Your onChange, right? Good. We also know the length. Correct? We attact the "worker" which is the onChange:

const length = editorState.getCurrentContent().getPlainText('').length;

// Your onChange function:   
onChange(editorState) {
 const MAX_LENGTH = 10;
 const length = editorState.getCurrentContent().getPlainText('').length;

 if (length <= MAX_LENGTH) {
  this.setState({ editorState }) // or this.setState({ editorState: editorState })
 }
} else {
 console.log(`Sorry, you've exceeded your limit of ${MAX_LENGTH}`)
}

I have not tried this but my 6th sense says it works just fine.

Answer 3

You should define handleBeforeInput and handlePastedText props. In handler-functions, you check the length of current content + length of pasted text and if it reaches the maximum you should return 'handled' string.

UPD 21.03.2018: Upgraded to the last versions of react/react-dom (16.2.0) and Draft.js (0.10.5).

Working example - https://jsfiddle.net/Ln1hads9/11/

const {Editor, EditorState} = Draft;

const MAX_LENGTH = 10;

class Container extends React.Component {
  constructor(props) {
    super(props);
    this.state = {
      editorState: EditorState.createEmpty()
    };
  }
  render() {
    return (
      <div className="container-root">
        <Editor
          placeholder="Type away :)"
          editorState={this.state.editorState}
          handleBeforeInput={this._handleBeforeInput}
          handlePastedText={this._handlePastedText}
          onChange={this._handleChange}
        />
      </div>
    );
  }

  _getLengthOfSelectedText = () => {
    const currentSelection = this.state.editorState.getSelection();
    const isCollapsed = currentSelection.isCollapsed();

    let length = 0;

    if (!isCollapsed) {
      const currentContent = this.state.editorState.getCurrentContent();
      const startKey = currentSelection.getStartKey();
      const endKey = currentSelection.getEndKey();
      const startBlock = currentContent.getBlockForKey(startKey);
      const isStartAndEndBlockAreTheSame = startKey === endKey;
      const startBlockTextLength = startBlock.getLength();
      const startSelectedTextLength = startBlockTextLength - currentSelection.getStartOffset();
      const endSelectedTextLength = currentSelection.getEndOffset();
      const keyAfterEnd = currentContent.getKeyAfter(endKey);
      console.log(currentSelection)
      if (isStartAndEndBlockAreTheSame) {
        length += currentSelection.getEndOffset() - currentSelection.getStartOffset();
      } else {
        let currentKey = startKey;

        while (currentKey && currentKey !== keyAfterEnd) {
          if (currentKey === startKey) {
            length += startSelectedTextLength + 1;
          } else if (currentKey === endKey) {
            length += endSelectedTextLength;
          } else {
            length += currentContent.getBlockForKey(currentKey).getLength() + 1;
          }

          currentKey = currentContent.getKeyAfter(currentKey);
        };
      }
    }

    return length;
  }

  _handleBeforeInput = () => {
    const currentContent = this.state.editorState.getCurrentContent();
    const currentContentLength = currentContent.getPlainText('').length;
    const selectedTextLength = this._getLengthOfSelectedText();

    if (currentContentLength - selectedTextLength > MAX_LENGTH - 1) {
      console.log('you can type max ten characters');

      return 'handled';
    }
  }

  _handlePastedText = (pastedText) => {
    const currentContent = this.state.editorState.getCurrentContent();
    const currentContentLength = currentContent.getPlainText('').length;
    const selectedTextLength = this._getLengthOfSelectedText();

    if (currentContentLength + pastedText.length - selectedTextLength > MAX_LENGTH) {
      console.log('you can type max ten characters');

      return 'handled';
    }
  }

  _handleChange = (editorState) => {
    this.setState({ editorState });
  }
}

ReactDOM.render(<Container />, document.getElementById('react-root'))