contentEditable

Summary

Sets or retrieves the string that indicates whether the user can edit the content of the object.

Applies to

## Examples

In the following example, setting the DIV elements to have 100% height and width makes all content within the borders of the cells editable.

<P>Table 1 Editable</P><BR/>
<TABLE BORDER=1 WIDTH=80%>
<THEAD>
<TR>
<TH><DIV CONTENTEDITABLE STYLE="height: 100%; width: 100%;">Heading 1 <DIV></TH>
<TH><DIV CONTENTEDITABLE STYLE="height: 100%; width: 100%;">Heading 2 <DIV></TH>
</TR>
</THEAD>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD><DIV CONTENTEDITABLE STYLE="height: 100%; width: 100%;">Row 1, Column 1 text.<DIV></TD>
<TD><DIV CONTENTEDITABLE STYLE="height: 100%; width: 100%;">Row 1, Column 2 text.<DIV></TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><DIV CONTENTEDITABLE STYLE="height: 100%; width: 100%;">Row 2, Column 1 text.<DIV></TD>
<TD><DIV CONTENTEDITABLE STYLE="height: 100%; width: 100%;">Row 2, Column 2 text.<DIV></TD>
</TR>
</TBODY>
</TABLE>

The following example shows how to use the contentEditable property to control whether the user can edit the content of the object.

<HEAD>
<SCRIPT>
function chgSpan() {
    currentState = oSpan.isContentEditable;
    newState = !currentState;
    oSpan.contentEditable = newState;
    oCurrentValue.innerText = newState;
    newState==false ? oBtn.innerText="Enable Editing" :
        oBtn.innerText="Disable Editing"
}
</SCRIPT>
</HEAD>
<BODY onload="oCurrentValue.innerText = oSpan.isContentEditable;">
<P>Click the button to enable or disable SPAN content editing.</P>
<P>
<BUTTON ID="oBtn" onclick="chgSpan()">Enable Editing</BUTTON>
</P>
<P><SPAN ID="oSpan">You can edit this text.</SPAN></P>
SPAN can be edited: <SPAN ID="oCurrentValue"></SPAN>
</BODY>

View live example

Notes

Remarks

Child elements do not inherit this attribute unless they have layout. Use the hasLayout property to determine if an object has layout. If this attribute is applied to a BODY element, it has the same effect as setting the designMode property of the Document object. Elements with the disabled attribute set to false do not respond to the contentEditable attribute. If this attribute is applied to the A element, the default functionality of the A element will be lost while p is set to the value of true. If this attribute is applied to the MARQUEE element, the default functionality of the MARQUEE element will be lost while p is set to the value of true. Though the TABLE, COL, COLGROUP, TBODY, TD, TFOOT, TH, THEAD, and TR elements cannot be set as content editable directly, a content editable SPAN, or DIV element can be placed inside the individual table cells (TD and TH elements). See the example below. **Security Warning: **Users can change the contents of a document when the contentEditable property is set to TRUE. Using this property incorrectly can compromise the security of your application. Incorrect use of the contentEditable property might include not validating user input. If you do not validate user input, a malicious user can inject control characters or script that can harm your data. You should take routine precautions against displaying unvalidated user input. For more information, see Security Considerations: Dynamic HTML. Windows Internet Explorer 8 and later. When a webpage is displayed in IE8 Standards mode, an object cannot receive focus when p is set to false. When pages are displayed in earlier document compatibility modes, objects can receive focus when p is false.

Compatibility

IE bug 809254: IE9-10 window freezes when using mousewheel while dragging
IE bug 801770: IE10 crashes after selecting “Cut” from the context menu
IE bug 796187: IE10 crashes in some cases when editing lists
IE bug 774350: IE10 does not fire contextmenu event when right-clicking on misspelled words
IE bug 794285: IE10-11 does not fire the input event
IE bug 807199: IE11+ does not allow placing the caret in an empty table cell
IE bug 864804: IE11 appends <br> elements to the <body> when showing/hiding an <iframe> with contenteditable document inside
IE bug 907422: IE11 does not allow disabling resize handles for images/inputs
IE bug 858749: IE11+ uses invalid positioning for caret when an element is floated

Attributions

Microsoft Developer Network: [Windows Internet Explorer API reference Article]