ActionScript: The Definitive Guide

Name

Selection.getBeginIndex( ) Method — retrieve the index of a text field’s first selected character

Availability

Flash 5

Synopsis

Selection.getBeginIndex( )

Returns

The index of the first character in the current selection (highlighted block of text). If no text field has keyboard focus, it returns -1. If a text field has focus but no characters are selected, it returns the value of Selection.getCaretIndex( ).

Description

The getBeginIndex( ) method identifies the beginning of a selection. To determine the span of characters currently selected, use both getBeginIndex( ) and getEndIndex( ).

Example

The following example creates a string representing the currently selected characters and then displays that string in the Output window:

var firstChar = Selection.getBeginIndex( );
var lastChar  = Selection.getEndIndex( );
var currentSelection = eval(Selection.getFocus( )).substring(firstChar, lastChar);

trace(currentSelection);

The following code extends the current selection by one character to the left:

Selection.setSelection(Selection.getBeginIndex() - 1, Selection.getEndIndex( ));

See Also

Selection.getCaretIndex( ), Selection.getEndIndex( )