Develop Reference

Adding a space after 4 chars in an input [duplicate]

I'm really new in JavaScript and I would like to add to my input text, space insertion for IBAN account registering.
<input type="text" name="iban" onkeyup="if(this.value.length > 34){this.value=this.value.substr(0, 34);}" />
There is my input field; could someone tell me how I can do this?

The existing answers are relatively long, and they look like over-kill. Plus they don't work completely (for instance, one issue is that you can't edit previous characters).
For those interested, according to Wikipedia:
Permitted IBAN characters are the digits 0 to 9 and the 26 upper-case Latin alphabetic characters A to Z.
Here is a relatively short version that is similar to the existing answers:
document.getElementById('iban').addEventListener('input', function (e) {
e.target.value = e.target.value.replace(/[^\dA-Z]/g, '').replace(/(.{4})/g, '$1 ').trim();
});
<label for="iban">iban</label>
<input id="iban" type="text" name="iban" />
As stated above, the caveat is that you can't go back and edit previous characters. If you want to fix this, you would need to retrieve the caret's current position by initially accessing the selectionEnd property and then setting the caret's position after the regex formatting has been applied.
document.getElementById('iban').addEventListener('input', function (e) {
var target = e.target, position = target.selectionEnd, length = target.value.length;
target.value = target.value.replace(/[^\dA-Z]/g, '').replace(/(.{4})/g, '$1 ').trim();
target.selectionEnd = position += ((target.value.charAt(position - 1) === ' ' && target.value.charAt(length - 1) === ' ' && length !== target.value.length) ? 1 : 0);
});
<label for="iban">iban</label>
<input id="iban" type="text" name="iban" />
You will notice that there is a slight issue when the character after the caret is a space (because the space wasn't accounted for when initially retrieving the caret's position to begin with). To fix this, the position is manually incremented if the succeeding character is a space (assuming a space was actually added - which is determined by comparing the length before and after replacing the characters).

Using plain-JavaScript, I'd suggest:
function space(el, after) {
// defaults to a space after 4 characters:
after = after || 4;
/* removes all characters in the value that aren't a number,
or in the range from A to Z (uppercase): */
var v = el.value.replace(/[^\dA-Z]/g, ''),
/* creating the regular expression, to allow for the 'after' variable
to be used/changed: */
reg = new RegExp(".{" + after + "}","g")
el.value = v.replace(reg, function (a, b, c) {
return a + ' ';
});
}
var el = document.getElementById('iban');
el.addEventListener('keyup', function () {
space(this, 4);
});
JS Fiddle demo.
Somewhat belatedly, my rewrite of the above to handle strings, rather than DOM nodes:
function space(str, after) {
if (!str) {
return false;
}
after = after || 4;
var v = str.replace(/[^\dA-Z]/g, ''),
reg = new RegExp(".{" + after + "}", "g");
return v.replace(reg, function (a) {
return a + ' ';
});
}
var el = document.getElementById('iban');
el.addEventListener('keyup', function () {
this.value = space(this.value, 4);
});
JS Fiddle demo.
References:
addEventListener().
JavaScript regular expressions.

I wrote a simple function extending David's function to handle the last space. Also you can specify the separator.
function spacify(str, after, c) {
if (!str) {
return false;
}
after = after || 4;
c = c || " ";
var v = str.replace(/[^\dA-Z]/g, ''),
reg = new RegExp(".{" + after + "}", "g");
return v.replace(reg, function (a) {
return a + c;
}).replace(/[^0-9]+$/, "");
}
console.log(spacify("123123123131",4," "))
console.log(spacify("12312312313",4,"-"))

The code from Josh Crozie is really nice, but not complete.
Two issues with it;
If the caret is not at the end but e.g. at the before last position and the user starts typing, sometimes the caret doesn't stay at the before last position
Another issue is with Android 7+ devices. Those devices update the caret position slightly later, that means it needs a setTimeout() before reading the caret location
The code below is based on the code of Josh Crozie, now with the two issues mentioned above fixed and a little more verbose for readability purpose:
var isAndroid = navigator.userAgent.indexOf("ndroid") > -1;
var element = document.getElementById('iban');
element.addEventListener('input', function () {
if (isAndroid) {
// For android 7+ the update of the cursor location is a little bit behind, hence the little delay.
setTimeout(reformatInputField);
return;
}
reformatInputField();
});
function reformatInputField() {
function format(value) {
return value.replace(/[^\dA-Z]/gi, '')
.toUpperCase()
.replace(/(.{4})/g, '$1 ')
.trim();
}
function countSpaces(text) {
var spaces = text.match(/(\s+)/g);
return spaces ? spaces.length : 0;
}
var position = element.selectionEnd;
var previousValue = element.value;
element.value = format(element.value);
if (position !== element.value.length) {
var beforeCaret = previousValue.substr(0, position);
var countPrevious = countSpaces(beforeCaret);
var countCurrent = countSpaces(format(beforeCaret));
element.selectionEnd = position + (countCurrent - countPrevious);
}
}
<label for="iban">iban</label>
<input id="iban" type="text" name="iban" size="35" />

You have to capture each group of 4 digits and then put a space between each group.
$('input').blur(function () {
//Replace each group 4 digits with a group plus a space
var reformat = this.value.replace(/(\d{4})/g, function(match){
return match + " ";
});
this.value = reformat;
})
And this one updates the element while typing
//Keys pressed 0 times
var downed = 0;
$('#test').keydown(function (g) {
if(g.code.match("^Digit")){
downed++;
console.log(g)
}
if(downed == 1){
var reformat = this.value.replace(/(\d{4}\s*)/g, function(match){
//Strip spaces
if(match.match(/\s/)){return match;}
return match + " ";
});
console.log(reformat);
this.value = reformat;
//Start recount
downed = 0;
}
});
Check out the fiddle

for thousands on angular 4 in a pipe
integer = integer.replace(/[^\dA-Z]/g, '').replace(/(.{3})/g, '$1.').trim();

I need the same but for BVR/BVR+ swiss payment form.
So what I need is add a space every 5 chars but from the end of the string.
Example : "52 86571 22001 00000 10520 15992" or sometimes shorter like "843 14293 10520 15992".
So, here is the solution by reversing the string before and after adding spaces if rev=1.
function space(str, stp, rev) {
if (!str) {
return false;
}
if (rev == 1) {
str = str.split('').reverse().join('');
}
if(stp > 0) {
var v = str.replace(/[^\dA-Z]/g, ''),
reg = new RegExp(".{" + stp + "}", "g");
str = v.replace(reg, function (a) {
return a + ' ';
});
}
if (rev == 1) {
str = str.split('').reverse().join('');
}
return str;
}
Use :
var refTxt = space(refNum, 5, 1);
EDIT : PHP version added
function space($str=false, $stp=0, $rev= false) {
if(!$str)
return false;
if($rev)
return trim(strrev(chunk_split(strrev($str), $stp, ' ')));
else
return trim(chunk_split($str, $stp, ' '));
}

document.getElementById('iban').addEventListener('input', function (e) {
e.target.value = e.target.value.replace(/[^\dA-Z]/g, '').replace(/(.{4})/g, '$1 ').trim();
});
<label for="iban">iban</label>
<input id="iban" type="text" name="iban" />

This is the shortest version using JQuery on input with type number or tel:
$('input[type=number], input[type=tel]').on('input', function (e) {
e.target.value = e.target.value.replace(/[^\dA-Z]/g, '').replace(/(.{4})/g, '$1 ').trim();
});
You can also change the 4 to any other character limit you want.

onChangeText={number => {
const data =
number.length % 5 !== 4
? number
.replace(/[^\dA-Z]/g, '')
.replace(/(.{4})/g, '$1-')
.trim()
: number;
this.setState({
...this.state,
card: {...this.state.card, number: data},
});
}}
If you are trying to use for text input to adjust with credit card then this method will help you solve the backspace problem too

To Add space after 4 Digits
Useful to validate IBAN Number
document.getElementById('IBAN').addEventListener('input', function (e) {
e.target.value = e.target.value.replace(/[^\dA-Z]/g, '').replace(/(.{4})/g, '$1 ').trim();
});
<label for="IBAN">IBAN</label>
<input id="IBAN" maxlength="14" type="text" name="IBAN" />

Measure actual activity time

Fiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/qfn04xzj/
var a, b;
$('input:not([type=password]), textarea, select').on('focus', function(event) {
a = performance.now();
});
$('input:not([type=password]), textarea, select').on('blur', function(event) {
b = performance.now();
$('#console').append( $(this).attr('name') + ' took ' + (b - a) + ' ms.' + "<br/>");
});
... works but it measures time between focus and blur.
Is there any way I could measure the actual time — the time it took to type or time between two value changes?

You should first define what actual time means. If you mean the time between the first and last keystroke, then the following code should work. It creates an object for each time the user focuses on the input and listens for every keystroke, keeping record of the first and last keystrokes. When the input is blurred, it computes the difference between the two.
Of course, the user can still type a couple of characters, go for a cup of coffee and then return and type the others, which will result in a very long time of activity. There is no way to know how much time the user has spent actually staring at the input. You could, however, define a "timeout" or period of inactivity after which you assume that the user is idle.
Fiddle
$('input:not([type=password]), textarea, select').on('focus', function() {
new EditingSession($(this));
});
/**
* Represents the period of time during which the user is focused on
* the input.
*/
function EditingSession(input){
var firstKeydownTime = null;
var lastKeydownTime = null;
var sessionId = makeRandomId();
input.on("keydown." + sessionId, function(){
// User typed something
var time = performance.now();
lastKeydownTime = time;
if(firstKeydownTime === null){
firstKeydownTime = time;
}
});
input.on("blur." + sessionId, function(){
// Editing session finished.
// Detach all handlers
input.off("." + sessionId);
// Print time between first and last keydown
var time;
if(firstKeydownTime === null){
time = 0;
} else {
time = lastKeydownTime - firstKeydownTime;
}
$('#console').append(input.attr('name') + ' took ' + time + ' ms.' + "<br/>");
});
}
// Borrowed from http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1349404/generate-a-string-of-5-random-characters-in-javascript
function makeRandomId() {
var text = "";
var possible = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789";
for( var i=0; i < 5; i++ )
text += possible.charAt(Math.floor(Math.random() * possible.length));
return text;
}

Instead of getting the time difference between keydown and keyup (which is silly :)) you need to simply get one single performance.now() timestamp and store it into a b variable for a later "input" event time-difference comparison.
var $fields = $('input:not([type=password]), textarea, select'),
$console = $("#console"),
$total = $("#totTime"),
tot=0, a=0, b=0;
$fields.on('input', function() {
a = performance.now();
var diff = (a - b)|0; // |0 prevents floated results (happens in FF)
$console.append( this.name +" took "+ diff +" ms"+ this.value +"<br>");
$total.text("Total time: "+ (tot+=diff) +" ms");
b = a; // Store a into b for later use.
});
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<div id="totTime"></div>
<input type="text" name="" id="">
<div id="console"></div>
Performance-wise (since you're dealing with hopefully time accuracy) cache your Elements selectors into variables, that way you'll prevent parsing again the DOM in the search for your elements on every input event.
Also "input" as event is quite enough to handle all you need from copy-paste, change etc...

This will give you total time typing: Fiddle
<input type="text" name="" id="">
<div id="total"></div>
<div id="console"></div>
JS
$('input:not([type=password]), textarea, select').on('input change keyup', function (event) {
if (event.type == 'input') {
$('#console').append("input: " + $(this).val() + "<br/>");
}
if (event.type == 'change') {
$('#console').append("change: " + $(this).val() + "<br/>");
}
});
var a, b, total = 0;
$('input:not([type=password]), textarea, select').on('keydown', function (event) {
a = performance.now();
});
$('input:not([type=password]), textarea, select').on('keyup', function (event) {
b = performance.now();
var net = (b - a);
$('#console').append($(this).attr('name') + ' took ' + net + ' ms.' + "<br/>");
var final = total += net;
$('#total').text('Total time typing: ' + final + ' ms.');
});

struggling with creating asterisks in Javascript

I've been struggling with this for some time now. What I wanted to create is to output a triangle of asterisks based on user's input. Let say user entered size 5, it would look something like this:
*
**
***
****
*****
My HTML looks like:
<p>
Size: <input type="text" id="size">
<input type="button" value="Draw" onclick="draw()">
</p>
<pre id="output">
</pre>
In my Javascript, I have:
function draw()
{
var size = customJS.get ( "size" ); //I have a custom library where it get the Id from HTML
var theTriangle = makeTriangle( size.value ); //sending in the size
customJS.set ("output", theTriangle); //will set theTriangle to display to "output" in HTML
}
function makeTriangle( theSize )
{
var allLines = ""; // an empty string to hold the entire triangle
for ( var i = 0; i <= size; i++) // this loop size times
{
var oneLine = createLine ( i <= size ); // amount of asterisks for this line
allLines += oneLine;
}
return allLines;
}
function createLine ( length )
{
var aLine = ""; // an empty string to hold the contents of this one line
for ( var j = 0; j <= i; j++ ) //this loop length times
{
aLine += '*';
}
return aLine + "<br>";
}
anyone have any tip on how I go about this? thank you so much!

Newlines in HTML normally display as spaces, but you want them to show as newlines. The pre tag makes newlines actually appear as new lines, so wrap the output in a pre tag:
customJS.set ("output", "<pre>" + theTriangle + "</pre>");
Also, you're calling createLine like this:
var oneLine = createLine ( i <= size );
i <= size yields a boolean (true or false) rather than a number. You probably mean to just pass it i:
var oneLine = createLine ( i );
Additionally, you're setting size like this:
var size = customJS.get = ( "size" );
You probably want to drop the second equals, since as is, it sets the variable size to the string "size".
And finally, you've got a few variables wrong: in makeTriangle, you're looping size times, but size is undefined; you probably meant theSize. In createLine, you're looping i times, but i is undefined; you probably meant length.
With all that, it works.

There were several bugs in your code. For example using theSize instead size as parameter in the function makeTriangle(), using i instead of length in the createLine() function in the for loop condition.
Another one was:
use
return aLine + "<br/>";
instead of
return aLine + "\n";
The working solution for your code can be found in this jsFiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/uwe_guenther/wavDH/
And below is a copy of the fiddle:
index.html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title></title>
</head>
<body>
<p>Size:
<input type="text" id="sizeTextField">
<input id='drawButton' type="button" value="Draw">
<div id='output'></div>
</p>
<script src='main.js'></script>
</body>
</html>
main.js
(function (document) {
var drawButton = document.getElementById('drawButton'),
sizeTextField = document.getElementById('sizeTextField'),
output = document.getElementById('output');
function makeTriangle(size) {
var allLines = '';
for (var i = 0; i <= size; i++) {
var oneLine = createLine(i); // amount of asterisks for this line
allLines += oneLine;
}
return allLines;
}
function createLine(length) {
var aLine = '';
for (var j = 0; j <= length; j++) {
aLine += '*';
}
return aLine + "<br/>";
}
drawButton.onclick = function () {
output.innerHTML = makeTriangle(sizeTextField.value);
};
})(document);

You can leverage some JavaScript tricks to make the code a bit more terse:
<div style="text-align: center">
<label>Size:
<input type="text" id="size" value="5">
</label> <pre id='output'></pre>
</div>
<script>
var size = document.getElementById('size'),
output = document.getElementById('output');
function update() {
var width = +size.value, // Coerce to integer.
upsideDown = width < 0, // Check if negative.
width = Math.abs(width), // Ensure positive.
treeArray = Array(width).join('0').split('0') // Create an array of 0s "width" long.
.map(function(zero, level) { // Visit each one, giving us the chance to change it.
return Array(2 + level).join('*'); // Create a string of *s.
});
upsideDown && treeArray.reverse(); // If width was negative, stand the tree on its head.
output.innerHTML = treeArray.join('\n'); // Join it all together, and output it!
}
size.onkeyup = update;
update();
size.focus();
</script>
http://jsfiddle.net/mhtKY/4/

Count textarea characters

I am developing a character count for my textarea on this website. Right now, it says NaN because it seems to not find the length of how many characters are in the field, which at the beginning is 0, so the number should be 500. In the console in chrome developer tools, no error occur. All of my code is on the site, I even tried to use jQuery an regular JavaScript for the character count for the textarea field, but nothing seems to work.
Please tell me what I am doing wrong in both the jQuery and the JavaScript code I have in my contact.js file.
$(document).ready(function() {
var tel1 = document.forms["form"].elements.tel1;
var tel2 = document.forms["form"].elements.tel2;
var textarea = document.forms["form"].elements.textarea;
var clock = document.getElementById("clock");
var count = document.getElementById("count");
tel1.addEventListener("keyup", function (e){
checkTel(tel1.value, tel2);
});
tel2.addEventListener("keyup", function (e){
checkTel(tel2.value, tel3);
});
/*$("#textarea").keyup(function(){
var length = textarea.length;
console.log(length);
var charactersLeft = 500 - length;
console.log(charactersLeft);
count.innerHTML = "Characters left: " + charactersLeft;
console.log("Characters left: " + charactersLeft);
});​*/
textarea.addEventListener("keypress", textareaLengthCheck(textarea), false);
});
function checkTel(input, nextField) {
if (input.length == 3) {
nextField.focus();
} else if (input.length > 0) {
clock.style.display = "block";
}
}
function textareaLengthCheck(textarea) {
var length = textarea.length;
var charactersLeft = 500 - length;
count.innerHTML = "Characters left: " + charactersLeft;
}

$("#textarea").keyup(function(){
$("#count").text($(this).val().length);
});
The above will do what you want. If you want to do a count down then change it to this:
$("#textarea").keyup(function(){
$("#count").text("Characters left: " + (500 - $(this).val().length));
});
Alternatively, you can accomplish the same thing without jQuery using the following code. (Thanks #Niet)
document.getElementById('textarea').onkeyup = function () {
document.getElementById('count').innerHTML = "Characters left: " + (500 - this.value.length);
};

⚠️ The accepted solution is outdated.
Here are two scenarios where the keyup event will not get fired:
The user drags text into the textarea.
The user copy-paste text in the textarea with a right click (contextual menu).
Use the HTML5 input event instead for a more robust solution:
<textarea maxlength='140'></textarea>
JavaScript (demo):
const textarea = document.querySelector("textarea");
textarea.addEventListener("input", event => {
const target = event.currentTarget;
const maxLength = target.getAttribute("maxlength");
const currentLength = target.value.length;
if (currentLength >= maxLength) {
return console.log("You have reached the maximum number of characters.");
}
console.log(`${maxLength - currentLength} chars left`);
});
And if you absolutely want to use jQuery:
$('textarea').on("input", function(){
var maxlength = $(this).attr("maxlength");
var currentLength = $(this).val().length;
if( currentLength >= maxlength ){
console.log("You have reached the maximum number of characters.");
}else{
console.log(maxlength - currentLength + " chars left");
}
});

textarea.addEventListener("keypress", textareaLengthCheck(textarea), false);
You are calling textareaLengthCheck and then assigning its return value to the event listener. This is why it doesn't update or do anything after loading. Try this:
textarea.addEventListener("keypress",textareaLengthCheck,false);
Aside from that:
var length = textarea.length;
textarea is the actual textarea, not the value. Try this instead:
var length = textarea.value.length;
Combined with the previous suggestion, your function should be:
function textareaLengthCheck() {
var length = this.value.length;
// rest of code
};

Here is simple code. Hope it help you
$(document).ready(function() {
var text_max = 99;
$('#textarea_feedback').html(text_max + ' characters remaining');
$('#textarea').keyup(function() {
var text_length = $('#textarea').val().length;
var text_remaining = text_max - text_length;
$('#textarea_feedback').html(text_remaining + ' characters remaining');
});
});
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<textarea id="textarea" rows="8" cols="30" maxlength="99" ></textarea>
<div id="textarea_feedback"></div>

This code gets the maximum value from the maxlength attribute of the textarea and decreases the value as the user types.
<DEMO>
var el_t = document.getElementById('textarea');
var length = el_t.getAttribute("maxlength");
var el_c = document.getElementById('count');
el_c.innerHTML = length;
el_t.onkeyup = function () {
document.getElementById('count').innerHTML = (length - this.value.length);
};
<textarea id="textarea" name="text"
maxlength="500"></textarea>
<span id="count"></span>

I found that the accepted answer didn't exactly work with textareas for reasons noted in Chrome counts characters wrong in textarea with maxlength attribute because of newline and carriage return characters, which is important if you need to know how much space would be taken up when storing the information in a database. Also, the use of keyup is depreciated because of drag-and-drop and pasting text from the clipboard, which is why I used the input and propertychange events. The following takes newline characters into account and accurately calculates the length of a textarea.
$(function() {
$("#myTextArea").on("input propertychange", function(event) {
var curlen = $(this).val().replace(/\r(?!\n)|\n(?!\r)/g, "\r\n").length;
$("#counter").html(curlen);
});
});
$("#counter").text($("#myTextArea").val().replace(/\r(?!\n)|\n(?!\r)/g, "\r\n").length);
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.11.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<textarea id="myTextArea"></textarea><br>
Size: <span id="counter" />

For those wanting a simple solution without jQuery, here's a way.
textarea and message container to put in your form:
<textarea onKeyUp="count_it()" id="text" name="text"></textarea>
Length <span id="counter"></span>
JavaScript:
<script>
function count_it() {
document.getElementById('counter').innerHTML = document.getElementById('text').value.length;
}
count_it();
</script>
The script counts the characters initially and then for every keystroke and puts the number in the counter span.
Martin

They say IE has issues with the input event but other than that, the solution is rather straightforward.
ta = document.querySelector("textarea");
count = document.querySelector("label");
ta.addEventListener("input", function (e) {
count.innerHTML = this.value.length;
});
<textarea id="my-textarea" rows="4" cols="50" maxlength="10">
</textarea>
<label for="my-textarea"></label>

var maxchar = 10;
$('#message').after('<span id="count" class="counter"></span>');
$('#count').html(maxchar+' of '+maxchar);
$('#message').attr('maxlength', maxchar);
$('#message').parent().addClass('wrap-text');
$('#message').on("keydown", function(e){
var len = $('#message').val().length;
if (len >= maxchar && e.keyCode != 8)
e.preventDefault();
else if(len <= maxchar && e.keyCode == 8){
if(len <= maxchar && len != 0)
$('#count').html(maxchar+' of '+(maxchar - len +1));
else if(len == 0)
$('#count').html(maxchar+' of '+(maxchar - len));
}else
$('#count').html(maxchar+' of '+(maxchar - len-1));
})
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<textarea id="message" name="text"></textarea>

$(document).ready(function(){
$('#characterLeft').text('140 characters left');
$('#message').keydown(function () {
var max = 140;
var len = $(this).val().length;
if (len >= max) {
$('#characterLeft').text('You have reached the limit');
$('#characterLeft').addClass('red');
$('#btnSubmit').addClass('disabled');
}
else {
var ch = max - len;
$('#characterLeft').text(ch + ' characters left');
$('#btnSubmit').removeClass('disabled');
$('#characterLeft').removeClass('red');
}
});
});

This solution will respond to keyboard and mouse events, and apply to initial text.
$(document).ready(function () {
$('textarea').bind('input propertychange', function () {
atualizaTextoContador($(this));
});
$('textarea').each(function () {
atualizaTextoContador($(this));
});
});
function atualizaTextoContador(textarea) {
var spanContador = textarea.next('span.contador');
var maxlength = textarea.attr('maxlength');
if (!spanContador || !maxlength)
return;
var numCaracteres = textarea.val().length;
spanContador.html(numCaracteres + ' / ' + maxlength);
}
span.contador {
display: block;
margin-top: -20px;
}
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<textarea maxlength="100" rows="4">initial text</textarea>
<span class="contador"></span>

word limits on multiple text areas

I am creating a website with four textarea forms. Each form has a word limit.
textarea1: 250 word limit
textarea2: 500 word limit
textarea3: 500 word limit
textarea4: 250 word limit
I have tried using existing examples that I have found when trying to fix this problem but nothing seems to work.
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.6.4/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script>
var maxwords = 250;
//
function check_length(obj, cnt, rem)
{
var ary = obj.value.split(" "); // doubled spaces will throw this off
var len = ary.length;
cnt.innerHTML = len;
rem.innerHTML = maxwords - len;
if (len > maxwords) {
alert("Message in '" + obj.name + "' limited to " + maxwords + " words.");
ary = ary.slice(0,maxwords-1);
obj.value = ary.join(" "); // truncate additional words
cnt.innerHTML = maxwords;
rem.innerHTML = 0;
return false;
}
return true;
}
</script>
HTML
<textarea name="Message 1" onkeypress="
return check_length(this,
document.getElementById('count1'),
document.getElementById('remaining1'));"></textarea>
Word count: <span id="count1">0</span>
Words remaining: <span id="remaining1">250</span>
<textarea name="Message 2" onkeypress="
return check_length(this,
document.getElementById('count2'),
document.getElementById('remaining2'));"></textarea>
Word count: <span id="count2">0</span>
Words remaining: <span id="remaining2">500</span>
Does anyone know a solution to this problem?
Thanks in advance,
Tom

Add an extra parameter to your function, and send it the maxWords from each function call:
function check_length(obj, cnt, rem, maxwords)
{
//... rest of the function would stay the same
and when you call it, include the max words
<textarea name="Message 2" onkeypress="
return check_length(this,
document.getElementById('count2'),
document.getElementById('remaining2'), 250);"></textarea>
Word count: <span id="count2">0</span>
Words remaining: <span id="remaining2">500</span>
To remove the words remaining,
function check_length(obj, cnt, maxwords)
{
var ary = obj.value.split(" "); // doubled spaces will throw this off
var len = ary.length;
cnt.innerHTML = len;
if (len > maxwords) {
alert("Message in '" + obj.name + "' limited to " + maxwords + " words.");
ary = ary.slice(0,maxwords-1);
obj.value = ary.join(" "); // truncate additional words
cnt.innerHTML = maxwords;
return false;
}
return true;
}
and in your HTML,
<textarea name="Message 1" onkeypress="
return check_length(this,
document.getElementById('count1'),250);"></textarea>
Word count: <span id="count1">0</span>

insert a class attribute for those textareas, (like class='area250', class='area500' and so on) then include an if statement in the function
function check_length(obj, cnt, rem)
{
if(window.event.srcElement.getAttribute('class')=='area250')
maxwords=250;
else if(window.event.srcElement.getAttribute('class')=='area500')
maxwords=500;
else .......................................
}

The problem with your function is that you're always checking the amount of words inserted against maxwords variable (which is set to 250 words as the first textarea limit)
so a better attempt is to pass an extra parameter to the function with the original limit (different for each textarea)