I'm using a hidden text area to put some text, select it and then using document.execCommand to copy it to the clipboard. This usually works but fails (returns false) when the text is large. In Chrome v55, it seems to fail around 180K characters.
Is there a limit to the amount of data that can be copied this way? Normal Ctrl+C doesn't seem subject to the same limitations.
note: someone marked this as a possible duplicate of Does document.execCommand('copy') have a size limitation?. It might be similar question, but that one was tagged as a specific framework that I don't use and also, it wasn't answered. I believe my question is more general and still relevant.
I attach the code for reference.
function copyTextToClipboard(text) {
var textArea = document.createElement('textarea');
textArea.style.position = 'fixed';
textArea.style.top = 0;
textArea.style.left = 0;
textArea.style.width = '2em';
textArea.style.height = '2em';
textArea.style.padding = 0;
textArea.style.border = 'none';
textArea.style.outline = 'none';
textArea.style.boxShadow = 'none';
textArea.style.background = 'transparent';
textArea.value = text;
document.body.appendChild(textArea);
textArea.select();
try {
var successful = document.execCommand('copy');
var msg = successful ? 'successful' : 'unsuccessful';
console.log('Copying text command was ' + msg);
} catch (err) {
console.log('Oops, unable to copy');
}
document.body.removeChild(textArea);
}
The problem has more to do with the time it takes to render this long text than the execCommand('copy') call itself.
Firefox raises an quite explanatory error message :
document.execCommand(‘cut’/‘copy’) was denied because it was not called from inside a short running user-generated event handler.
Your code takes too long to generate the text, and thus the browser doesn't recognizes it as an semi-trusted event...
The solution is then to generate this text first, and only after listen to an user-gesture to call execCommand. So to make it possible, you can e.g. listen to a mousedown event to generate the text, and only in the mouseup event will you really execute the copy command.
const text = ('some text a bit repetitive ' + Date.now()).repeat(50000);
function copyTextToClipboard(text) {
// first we create the textArea
var textArea = document.createElement('textarea');
textArea.style.position = 'absolute';
textArea.style.opacity = '0';
textArea.value = text;
document.body.appendChild(textArea);
var execCopy = e => { // triggered on mouseup
textArea.select();
var successful = document.execCommand('copy');
var msg = successful ? 'successful' : 'unsuccessful';
console.log('Copying text command was ' + msg);
document.body.removeChild(textArea);
};
// here the magic
btn.addEventListener('mouseup', execCopy, {
once: true
});
}
// triggered on mousedown
btn.onmousedown = e => copyTextToClipboard(text);
<button id="btn">copy some text in your clipboard</button>
<p>May struggle your browser a little bit, it's quite a long text... Please be patient</p>
I faced similar issue and came up with the workaround described here: How to copy extra large values to clipboard?
Idea is to check the size of the content to be copied to the clipboard and in case of size more than 150k symbols create a text file and throw it to a user.
After 5 years of usage I heard no complaints from end-users.
Related
I have no knowledge of JavaScript, but I managed to put this code together using bits and bolts from various Stack Overflow answers. It works OK, and it outputs an array of all selected checkboxes in a document via an alert box.
function getSelectedCheckboxes(chkboxName) {
var checkbx = [];
var chkboxes = document.getElementsByName(chkboxName);
var nr_chkboxes = chkboxes.length;
for(var i=0; i<nr_chkboxes; i++) {
if(chkboxes[i].type == 'checkbox' && chkboxes[i].checked == true) checkbx.push(chkboxes[i].value);
}
return checkbx;
}
And to call it I use:
<button id="btn_test" type="button" >Check</button>
<script>
document.getElementById('btn_test').onclick = function() {
var checkedBoxes = getSelectedCheckboxes("my_id");
alert(checkedBoxes);
}
</script>
Now I would like to modify it so when I click the btn_test button the output array checkbx is copied to the clipboard. I tried adding:
checkbx = document.execCommand("copy");
or
checkbx.execCommand("copy");
at the end of the function and then calling it like:
<button id="btn_test" type="button" onclick="getSelectedCheckboxes('my_id')">Check</button>
But it does not work. No data is copied to clipboard.
function copyToClipboard(text) {
var dummy = document.createElement("textarea");
// to avoid breaking orgain page when copying more words
// cant copy when adding below this code
// dummy.style.display = 'none'
document.body.appendChild(dummy);
//Be careful if you use texarea. setAttribute('value', value), which works with "input" does not work with "textarea". – Eduard
dummy.value = text;
dummy.select();
document.execCommand("copy");
document.body.removeChild(dummy);
}
copyToClipboard('hello world')
copyToClipboard('hello\nworld')
OK, I found some time and followed the suggestion by Teemu and I was able to get exactly what I wanted.
So here is the final code for anyone that might be interested. For clarification, this code gets all checked checkboxes of a certain ID, outputs them in an array, named here checkbx, and then copies their unique name to the clipboard.
JavaScript function:
function getSelectedCheckboxes(chkboxName) {
var checkbx = [];
var chkboxes = document.getElementsByName(chkboxName);
var nr_chkboxes = chkboxes.length;
for(var i=0; i<nr_chkboxes; i++) {
if(chkboxes[i].type == 'checkbox' && chkboxes[i].checked == true) checkbx.push(chkboxes[i].value);
}
checkbx.toString();
// Create a dummy input to copy the string array inside it
var dummy = document.createElement("input");
// Add it to the document
document.body.appendChild(dummy);
// Set its ID
dummy.setAttribute("id", "dummy_id");
// Output the array into it
document.getElementById("dummy_id").value=checkbx;
// Select it
dummy.select();
// Copy its contents
document.execCommand("copy");
// Remove it as its not needed anymore
document.body.removeChild(dummy);
}
And its HTML call:
<button id="btn_test" type="button" onclick="getSelectedCheckboxes('ID_of_chkbxs_selected')">Copy</button>
For general purposes of copying any text to the clipboard, I wrote the following function:
function textToClipboard (text) {
var dummy = document.createElement("textarea");
document.body.appendChild(dummy);
dummy.value = text;
dummy.select();
document.execCommand("copy");
document.body.removeChild(dummy);
}
The value of the parameter is inserted into value of a newly created <textarea>, which is then selected, its value is copied to the clipboard and then it gets removed from the document.
Very useful. I modified it to copy a JavaScript variable value to clipboard:
function copyToClipboard(val){
var dummy = document.createElement("input");
dummy.style.display = 'none';
document.body.appendChild(dummy);
dummy.setAttribute("id", "dummy_id");
document.getElementById("dummy_id").value=val;
dummy.select();
document.execCommand("copy");
document.body.removeChild(dummy);
}
When you need to copy a variable to the clipboard in the Chrome dev console, you can simply use the copy() command.
https://developers.google.com/web/tools/chrome-devtools/console/command-line-reference#copyobject
I managed to copy text to the clipboard (without showing any text boxes) by adding a hidden input element to body, i.e.:
function copy(txt){
var cb = document.getElementById("cb");
cb.value = txt;
cb.style.display='block';
cb.select();
document.execCommand('copy');
cb.style.display='none';
}
<button onclick="copy('Hello Clipboard!')"> copy </button>
<input id="cb" type="text" hidden>
Use Clipboard API
text = "HEllo World";
navigator.clipboard.writeText(text)
It works on Chrome 66+, Edge 79+, Firefox 63+ & doesn't work on I.E.
Read More About Clipboard API At MDN Docs
Nowadays there is a new(ish) API to do this directly. It works on modern browsers and on HTTPS (and localhost) only. Not supported by IE11.
IE11 has its own API.
And the workaround in the accepted answer can be used for unsecure hosts.
function copyToClipboard (text) {
if (navigator.clipboard) { // default: modern asynchronous API
return navigator.clipboard.writeText(text);
} else if (window.clipboardData && window.clipboardData.setData) { // for IE11
window.clipboardData.setData('Text', text);
return Promise.resolve();
} else {
// workaround: create dummy input
const input = h('input', { type: 'text' });
input.value = text;
document.body.append(input);
input.focus();
input.select();
document.execCommand('copy');
input.remove();
return Promise.resolve();
}
}
Note: it uses Hyperscript to create the input element (but should be easy to adapt)
There is no need to make the input invisible, as it is added and removed so fast. Also when hidden (even using some clever method) some browsers will detect it and prevent the copy operation.
At the time of writing, setting display:none on the element didn't work for me. Setting the element's width and height to 0 did not work either. So the element has to be at least 1px in width for this to work.
The following example worked in Chrome and Firefox:
const str = 'Copy me';
const el = document.createElement("input");
// Does not work:
// dummy.style.display = "none";
el.style.height = '0px';
// Does not work:
// el.style.width = '0px';
el.style.width = '1px';
document.body.appendChild(el);
el.value = str;
el.select();
document.execCommand("copy");
document.body.removeChild(el);
I'd like to add that I can see why the browsers are trying to prevent this hackish approach. It's better to openly show the content you are going copy into the user's browser. But sometimes there are design requirements, we can't change.
I just want to add, if someone wants to copy two different inputs to clipboard. I also used the technique of putting it to a variable then put the text of the variable from the two inputs into a text area.
Note: the code below is from a user asking how to copy multiple user inputs into clipboard. I just fixed it to work correctly. So expect some old style like the use of var instead of let or const. I also recommend to use addEventListener for the button.
function doCopy() {
try{
var unique = document.querySelectorAll('.unique');
var msg ="";
unique.forEach(function (unique) {
msg+=unique.value;
});
var temp =document.createElement("textarea");
var tempMsg = document.createTextNode(msg);
temp.appendChild(tempMsg);
document.body.appendChild(temp);
temp.select();
document.execCommand("copy");
document.body.removeChild(temp);
console.log("Success!")
}
catch(err) {
console.log("There was an error copying");
}
}
<input type="text" class="unique" size="9" value="SESA / D-ID:" readonly/>
<input type="text" class="unique" size="18" value="">
<button id="copybtn" onclick="doCopy()"> Copy to clipboard </button>
function CopyText(toCopy, message) {
var body = $(window.document.body);
var textarea = $('<textarea/>');
textarea.css({
position: 'fixed',
opacity: '0'
});
textarea.val(toCopy);
body.append(textarea);
textarea[0].select();
try {
var successful = document.execCommand('copy');
if (!successful)
throw successful;
else
alert(message);
} catch (err) {
window.prompt("Copy to clipboard: Ctrl+C, Enter", toCopy);
}
textarea.remove();
}
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.2.0/jquery.min.js"></script>
<button type="button" onClick="CopyText('Hello World', 'Text copped!!')">Copy</button>
Is there any cross-platform, or even mostly cross-platform, way to copy text to the clipboard in JavaScript without making an element, putting it on the page, and then selecting the text? How do the websites with "Copy to clipboard" buttons do it? I don't want it to use input fields because the idea is to copy anything into the clipboard, even stuff that may not be in an element.
I believe these days you can use navigator.clipboard if you only care about this working in modern versions of chrome, firefox, edge and opera.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Clipboard
e.g.
var amazingText = "Hello World! How sweet the content";
navigator.clipboard.writeText(amazingText);
Your best best for safari, ie,old browsers and anything else support is to check if navigator.clipboard is defined and have a fallback to the old inefficient create throw away element select and copy as a last resort.
I have used this mainly when there is a reasonably large about of data to copy to the clipboard as i have noticed performance issues with the select and exec methods.
Edit*
I briefly looked on the clipboard.js website as suggested and there is a sentence which says "This library relies on both Selection and execCommand APIs." which suggests perhaps it does not provide answer the question. However I have not looked at the source to verify this assumption.
https://clipboardjs.com/#browser-support
Hope this is what you looking for.
document.getElementById("copyButton").addEventListener("click", function() {
copyToClipboard(document.getElementById("txt"));
});
setInterval(function(){
document.getElementById("txt").innerHTML = "Copy Me!!! # " + new Date().getTime();
},1000);
function copyToClipboard(elem) {
// create hidden text element, if it doesn't already exist
var targetId = "_hiddenCopyText_";
var isInput = elem.tagName === "INPUT" || elem.tagName === "TEXTAREA";
var origSelectionStart, origSelectionEnd;
if (isInput) {
// can just use the original source element for the selection and copy
target = elem;
origSelectionStart = elem.selectionStart;
origSelectionEnd = elem.selectionEnd;
} else {
// must use a temporary form element for the selection and copy
target = document.getElementById(targetId);
if (!target) {
var target = document.createElement("textarea");
target.style.position = "absolute";
target.style.left = "-9999px";
target.style.top = "0";
target.id = targetId;
document.body.appendChild(target);
}
target.textContent = elem.textContent;
}
// select the content
var currentFocus = document.activeElement;
target.focus();
target.setSelectionRange(0, target.value.length);
// copy the selection
var succeed;
try {
succeed = document.execCommand("copy");
} catch(e) {
succeed = false;
}
// restore original focus
if (currentFocus && typeof currentFocus.focus === "function") {
currentFocus.focus();
}
if (isInput) {
// restore prior selection
elem.setSelectionRange(origSelectionStart, origSelectionEnd);
} else {
// clear temporary content
target.textContent = "";
}
return succeed;
}
input {
width: 400px;
}
<div id="txt">copy me!!!</div><br><br><button id="copyButton">Copy</button><br><br>
<input type="text" placeholder="Click here and press Ctrl-V to see clipboard contents">
You can try Clipboard.js, plenty of examples out there.
I have no knowledge of JavaScript, but I managed to put this code together using bits and bolts from various Stack Overflow answers. It works OK, and it outputs an array of all selected checkboxes in a document via an alert box.
function getSelectedCheckboxes(chkboxName) {
var checkbx = [];
var chkboxes = document.getElementsByName(chkboxName);
var nr_chkboxes = chkboxes.length;
for(var i=0; i<nr_chkboxes; i++) {
if(chkboxes[i].type == 'checkbox' && chkboxes[i].checked == true) checkbx.push(chkboxes[i].value);
}
return checkbx;
}
And to call it I use:
<button id="btn_test" type="button" >Check</button>
<script>
document.getElementById('btn_test').onclick = function() {
var checkedBoxes = getSelectedCheckboxes("my_id");
alert(checkedBoxes);
}
</script>
Now I would like to modify it so when I click the btn_test button the output array checkbx is copied to the clipboard. I tried adding:
checkbx = document.execCommand("copy");
or
checkbx.execCommand("copy");
at the end of the function and then calling it like:
<button id="btn_test" type="button" onclick="getSelectedCheckboxes('my_id')">Check</button>
But it does not work. No data is copied to clipboard.
function copyToClipboard(text) {
var dummy = document.createElement("textarea");
// to avoid breaking orgain page when copying more words
// cant copy when adding below this code
// dummy.style.display = 'none'
document.body.appendChild(dummy);
//Be careful if you use texarea. setAttribute('value', value), which works with "input" does not work with "textarea". – Eduard
dummy.value = text;
dummy.select();
document.execCommand("copy");
document.body.removeChild(dummy);
}
copyToClipboard('hello world')
copyToClipboard('hello\nworld')
OK, I found some time and followed the suggestion by Teemu and I was able to get exactly what I wanted.
So here is the final code for anyone that might be interested. For clarification, this code gets all checked checkboxes of a certain ID, outputs them in an array, named here checkbx, and then copies their unique name to the clipboard.
JavaScript function:
function getSelectedCheckboxes(chkboxName) {
var checkbx = [];
var chkboxes = document.getElementsByName(chkboxName);
var nr_chkboxes = chkboxes.length;
for(var i=0; i<nr_chkboxes; i++) {
if(chkboxes[i].type == 'checkbox' && chkboxes[i].checked == true) checkbx.push(chkboxes[i].value);
}
checkbx.toString();
// Create a dummy input to copy the string array inside it
var dummy = document.createElement("input");
// Add it to the document
document.body.appendChild(dummy);
// Set its ID
dummy.setAttribute("id", "dummy_id");
// Output the array into it
document.getElementById("dummy_id").value=checkbx;
// Select it
dummy.select();
// Copy its contents
document.execCommand("copy");
// Remove it as its not needed anymore
document.body.removeChild(dummy);
}
And its HTML call:
<button id="btn_test" type="button" onclick="getSelectedCheckboxes('ID_of_chkbxs_selected')">Copy</button>
For general purposes of copying any text to the clipboard, I wrote the following function:
function textToClipboard (text) {
var dummy = document.createElement("textarea");
document.body.appendChild(dummy);
dummy.value = text;
dummy.select();
document.execCommand("copy");
document.body.removeChild(dummy);
}
The value of the parameter is inserted into value of a newly created <textarea>, which is then selected, its value is copied to the clipboard and then it gets removed from the document.
Very useful. I modified it to copy a JavaScript variable value to clipboard:
function copyToClipboard(val){
var dummy = document.createElement("input");
dummy.style.display = 'none';
document.body.appendChild(dummy);
dummy.setAttribute("id", "dummy_id");
document.getElementById("dummy_id").value=val;
dummy.select();
document.execCommand("copy");
document.body.removeChild(dummy);
}
When you need to copy a variable to the clipboard in the Chrome dev console, you can simply use the copy() command.
https://developers.google.com/web/tools/chrome-devtools/console/command-line-reference#copyobject
I managed to copy text to the clipboard (without showing any text boxes) by adding a hidden input element to body, i.e.:
function copy(txt){
var cb = document.getElementById("cb");
cb.value = txt;
cb.style.display='block';
cb.select();
document.execCommand('copy');
cb.style.display='none';
}
<button onclick="copy('Hello Clipboard!')"> copy </button>
<input id="cb" type="text" hidden>
Use Clipboard API
text = "HEllo World";
navigator.clipboard.writeText(text)
It works on Chrome 66+, Edge 79+, Firefox 63+ & doesn't work on I.E.
Read More About Clipboard API At MDN Docs
Nowadays there is a new(ish) API to do this directly. It works on modern browsers and on HTTPS (and localhost) only. Not supported by IE11.
IE11 has its own API.
And the workaround in the accepted answer can be used for unsecure hosts.
function copyToClipboard (text) {
if (navigator.clipboard) { // default: modern asynchronous API
return navigator.clipboard.writeText(text);
} else if (window.clipboardData && window.clipboardData.setData) { // for IE11
window.clipboardData.setData('Text', text);
return Promise.resolve();
} else {
// workaround: create dummy input
const input = h('input', { type: 'text' });
input.value = text;
document.body.append(input);
input.focus();
input.select();
document.execCommand('copy');
input.remove();
return Promise.resolve();
}
}
Note: it uses Hyperscript to create the input element (but should be easy to adapt)
There is no need to make the input invisible, as it is added and removed so fast. Also when hidden (even using some clever method) some browsers will detect it and prevent the copy operation.
At the time of writing, setting display:none on the element didn't work for me. Setting the element's width and height to 0 did not work either. So the element has to be at least 1px in width for this to work.
The following example worked in Chrome and Firefox:
const str = 'Copy me';
const el = document.createElement("input");
// Does not work:
// dummy.style.display = "none";
el.style.height = '0px';
// Does not work:
// el.style.width = '0px';
el.style.width = '1px';
document.body.appendChild(el);
el.value = str;
el.select();
document.execCommand("copy");
document.body.removeChild(el);
I'd like to add that I can see why the browsers are trying to prevent this hackish approach. It's better to openly show the content you are going copy into the user's browser. But sometimes there are design requirements, we can't change.
I just want to add, if someone wants to copy two different inputs to clipboard. I also used the technique of putting it to a variable then put the text of the variable from the two inputs into a text area.
Note: the code below is from a user asking how to copy multiple user inputs into clipboard. I just fixed it to work correctly. So expect some old style like the use of var instead of let or const. I also recommend to use addEventListener for the button.
function doCopy() {
try{
var unique = document.querySelectorAll('.unique');
var msg ="";
unique.forEach(function (unique) {
msg+=unique.value;
});
var temp =document.createElement("textarea");
var tempMsg = document.createTextNode(msg);
temp.appendChild(tempMsg);
document.body.appendChild(temp);
temp.select();
document.execCommand("copy");
document.body.removeChild(temp);
console.log("Success!")
}
catch(err) {
console.log("There was an error copying");
}
}
<input type="text" class="unique" size="9" value="SESA / D-ID:" readonly/>
<input type="text" class="unique" size="18" value="">
<button id="copybtn" onclick="doCopy()"> Copy to clipboard </button>
function CopyText(toCopy, message) {
var body = $(window.document.body);
var textarea = $('<textarea/>');
textarea.css({
position: 'fixed',
opacity: '0'
});
textarea.val(toCopy);
body.append(textarea);
textarea[0].select();
try {
var successful = document.execCommand('copy');
if (!successful)
throw successful;
else
alert(message);
} catch (err) {
window.prompt("Copy to clipboard: Ctrl+C, Enter", toCopy);
}
textarea.remove();
}
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.2.0/jquery.min.js"></script>
<button type="button" onClick="CopyText('Hello World', 'Text copped!!')">Copy</button>
I have the following JS code for copying to clipboard:
function copyAll(copyEl){
var textToCopy = $(copyEl)[0];
var range = document.createRange();
range.selectNode(textToCopy);
window.getSelection().addRange(range);
try {
// Now that text is selected, execute the copy command
var copyRet = document.execCommand('copy');
var msg = copyRet ? 'successful' : 'unsuccessful';
$('#copyResult').stop(true, true).fadeOut(0).html('Copied to clipboard').fadeIn(500).fadeOut(3000);
// Remove the selections
window.getSelection().removeAllRanges();
console.log('Copy command was ' + msg);
}
catch(err) {
$('#copyResult').stop(true, true).fadeOut(0).html('Oops, unable to copy').fadeIn(500).fadeOut(3000);
console.log('Oops, unable to copy');
}
}
When this function is executed, I get this error and log in the console:
Discontiguous selection is not supported.
Copy command was successful
at this line:
window.getSelection().addRange(range);
And the text is not copied.
So, how come I get an error, still I get Copy command was successful?
Also, this behaviour is not observed always. Sometimes, I do not get this error, and at some other times, I get this error but still the text is copied to clipboard.
I am working only on Chrome.
Looks like it was a bug on Chrome's side. Check if it works properly now. More details here.
The reason that this error is thrown is because of the Selection Object's rangeCount is not zero.
As #dropout has mentioned the Chrome bug, it will avoid addRange to Selection Object if it already has selection range.
And the message 'Copy command was successful' is received because of the non null selection range. So whatever was under selection was added.
To solve this, you should check for the rangeCount. And if rangeCount is not 0, you can fire window.getSelection().empty() or window.getSelection().removeAllRanges(), then only addRange and go for the copy command.
function copyAll(copyEl){
var textToCopy = $(copyEl)[0];
var range = document.createRange();
if(range.rangeCount > 0){
range.removeAllRanges();
}
range.selectNode(textToCopy);
window.getSelection().addRange(range);
try {
// Now that text is selected, execute the copy command
var copyRet = document.execCommand('copy');
var msg = copyRet ? 'successful' : 'unsuccessful';
$('#copyResult').stop(true, true).fadeOut(0).html('Copied to clipboard').fadeIn(500).fadeOut(3000);
// Remove the selections
window.getSelection().removeAllRanges();
console.log('Copy command was ' + msg);
}
catch(err) {
$('#copyResult').stop(true, true).fadeOut(0).html('Oops, unable to copy').fadeIn(500).fadeOut(3000);
console.log('Oops, unable to copy');
}
}
Sorry for newbie question but it's related to WebKit issue. I have the next JS code:
var Module = {
preRun: [],
postRun: [],
print: (function() {
var element = document.getElementById('output');
if (element) element.value = ''; // clear browser cache
return function(text) {
text = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments).join(' ');
// These replacements are necessary if you render to raw HTML
//text = text.replace(/&/g, "&");
//text = text.replace(/</g, "<");
//text = text.replace(/>/g, ">");
//text = text.replace('\n', '<br>', 'g');
console.log(text);
if (element) {
element.value += text + "\n";
console.log('updated element.value');
element.scrollTop = element.scrollHeight; // focus on bottom
}
};
})
element is textarea element:
<textarea id="output" rows="8"></textarea>
I have code that printf using that function and then shows prompt to type user name.
So i expect to see 'updated element.value' in browser console and printed text in textarea before prompt dialog is shown.
How can i force textarea to refresh after it's changed (element.value += text + "\n")?
It works as expected in chrome/firefox but fails in Safari(WebKit) - i can't see output at the moment prompt dialog is shown.
To me it sounds like something that can't be done, but there might be Webkit specific hacks I'm not aware about. Maybe all browsers do both updates during the same render cycle which you'd expect, but Safari displays the prompt first and somehow pauses the remaining updates until the prompt is dismissed.
The most obvious workaround is something like
print('lorem ipsum');
setTimeout(function(){
var response = prompt('my question here');
//handle the response
}, 10);
which is likely to guarantee that the textarea update happens before the prompt locks things.