> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.apryse.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.apryse.com/web/extraction/selected-text.md).

# Extracting selected text for a document

Learn how to extract selected text from a document using DocumentViewer.getSelectedText and DocumentViewer.getSelectedTextQuads functions. Get insights on retrieving text quads for selected text effic

## Getting selected text

Text selected in a document can be extracted using the following functions:

* [`DocumentViewer.getSelectedText`](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.DocumentViewer.html#getSelectedText__anchor): Get the currently selected text as a string
* [`DocumentViewer.getSelectedTextQuads`](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.DocumentViewer.html#getSelectedTextQuads__anchor): Get an array of [Quad](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.Math.Quad.html) objects for the currently selected text.

`getSelectedTextQuads` will return an array for each line of selected text. The following is an example of it being used

![](https://3532544125-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FX9YnTSKIHvV7m0A36LbO%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-fb6da41e667559c99042c659945f9ec655605276%2F061ba1e2768d7abe8587a1621d37154f57adf8ad-410x174.png?alt=media)

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="JavaScript (SDK v8.0+)" %}
{% code lineNumbers="true" %}

```js
const quads = documentViewer.getSelectedTextQuads(documentViewer.getCurrentPage());
```

{% endcode %}
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="JavaScript (SDK v6.0+)" %}
{% code lineNumbers="true" %}

```js
const quads = docViewer.getSelectedTextQuads(docViewer.getCurrentPage());
```

{% endcode %}
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

In the above sample, `getSelectedTextQuads` will return an array of Quad objects. The array will contain three Quad objects, one for each rectangle of selected text.

It's possible for a user to select text across multiple pages so if `getSelectedTextQuads` is called without any parameters then Quads will be returned for every page with selected text. The result is an object with keys for each page number:

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="JavaScript" %}
{% code lineNumbers="true" %}

```js
{
  2: [{ /* quad1 */ }, { /* quad2 */ }, { /* quad3 */ }]
}
```

{% endcode %}
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

Where '2' is the page number where the selected text is found.

![](https://3532544125-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FX9YnTSKIHvV7m0A36LbO%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-47bbf2d0231ab0a4f138c9f03c6bada47ce99b76%2Ff572aa3bbcf99843aafeae45f8b13c07841bec52-597x285.png?alt=media)

For the image above there is text selected on pages 2 and 3 so the result of `getSelectedTextQuads` will look like this:

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="JavaScript" %}
{% code lineNumbers="true" %}

```js
{
  2: [{ /* quad1 */ }, { /* quad2 */ }],
  3: [{ /* quad3 */ }]
};
```

{% endcode %}
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

## Getting selected text from events

The main event of interest triggered by DocumentViewer when text is selected is the [`textSelected`](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.DocumentViewer.html#event:textSelected__anchor) event.

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="JavaScript (SDK v8.0+)" %}
{% code lineNumbers="true" %}

```js
WebViewer({ ... }, viewerElement).then(instance => {
  const { documentViewer } = instance.Core;

  documentViewer.addEventListener('textSelected', (quads, selectedText, pageNumber) => {
    // quads will be an array of 'Quad' objects
    // text is the selected text as a string
    if (selectedText.length > 0) {
      console.log(selectedText);
    }
  });
});
```

{% endcode %}

[WebViewerInstance](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/WebViewerInstance.html) [DocumentViewer#textSelected](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.DocumentViewer.html#event:textSelected__anchor) [Math.Quad](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.Math.Quad.html#main)
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="JavaScript (SDK v6.0+)" %}
{% code lineNumbers="true" %}

```js
WebViewer({ ... }, viewerElement).then(instance => {
  const { docViewer } = instance;

  docViewer.on('textSelected', (quads, selectedText, pageIndex) => {
    // quads will be an array of 'Quad' objects
    // text is the selected text as a string
    if (selectedText.length > 0) {
      console.log(selectedText);
    }
  });
});
```

{% endcode %}

[WebViewerInstance](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/WebViewerInstance.html) [DocumentViewer#textSelected](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.DocumentViewer.html#event:textSelected__anchor) [Math.Quad](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.Math.Quad.html#main)
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

The `textSelected` event gets fired whenever the selected text on the document changes. It is worth considering using debouncing if you are only looking to handle this event once the selection has stopped.

Also the `textSelected` event fires once for each page with selected text. So if text is selected on page A and B, and the selected text on page A changed, the `textSelected` event will fire once for each page even though there weren't any changes for page B.

## Getting selection from the TextSelect tool

You can also listen for the `selectionComplete` event on the `TextSelect` tool. This event does not return the selected text but we can still get the text from the DocumentViewer via [`getSelectedText`](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.DocumentViewer.html#getSelectedText).

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="JavaScript (SDK v8.0+)" %}
{% code lineNumbers="true" %}

```js
WebViewer({ ... }, viewerElement).then(instance => {
  const { documentViewer, Tools } = instance.Core;

  const tool = documentViewer.getTool(Tools.ToolNames.TEXT_SELECT);
  tool.addEventListener('selectionComplete', (startQuad, allQuads) => {
    let selectedText = '';
    Object.keys(allQuads).forEach(pageNum => {
      const text = documentViewer.getSelectedText(pageNum);
      selectedText += text;
    });
    // the startQuad and allQuads will have the X and Y values you want
  });
});
```

{% endcode %}

[DocumentViewer.getTool](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.DocumentViewer.html#getTool) [Tools.ToolNames](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.Tools.html#.ToolNames) [TextSelectTool#selectionComplete](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.Tools.TextSelectTool.html?q=selectionComplete#event:selectionComplete__anchor) [DocumentViewer.getSelectedText](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.DocumentViewer.html#getSelectedText)
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="JavaScript (SDK v6.0+)" %}
{% code lineNumbers="true" %}

```js
WebViewer({ ... }, viewerElement).then(instance => {
  const { docViewer, Tools } = instance;

  const tool = docViewer.getTool(Tools.ToolNames.TEXT_SELECT);
  tool.on('selectionComplete', (startQuad, allQuads) => {
    let selectedText = '';
    Object.keys(allQuads).forEach(pageNum => {
      const text = docViewer.getSelectedText(pageNum);
      selectedText += text;
    });
    // the startQuad and allQuads will have the X and Y values you want
  });
});
```

{% endcode %}

[DocumentViewer.getTool](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.DocumentViewer.html#getTool) [Tools.ToolNames](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.Tools.html#.ToolNames) [TextSelectTool#selectionComplete](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.Tools.TextSelectTool.html?q=selectionComplete#event:selectionComplete__anchor) [DocumentViewer.getSelectedText](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.DocumentViewer.html#getSelectedText)
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

## Getting selected text from browser events

Get selected text by listening for a keydown or clipboard copy event.

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="JavaScript (SDK v8.0+)" %}
{% code lineNumbers="true" %}

```js
WebViewer({ ... }, viewerElement).then(instance => {
  const { documentViewer } = instance.Core;
  const showSelectedText = () => {
    const page = documentViewer.getCurrentPage();
    const text = documentViewer.getSelectedText(page);

    if (!!text) {
        console.log(text);
    }
  }

  // Optionally use keyDown events
  documentViewer.addEventListener('keyDown', function (e) {
    if (e.keyCode == 67 && (e.ctrlKey || e.metaKey)) {
      showSelectedText();
      console.log('Ctrl+C pressed');
    }
  });

  // Otherwise use the copy event
  const iframeWindow = instance.UI.iframeWindow;
  iframeWindow.addEventListener('copy', function (e) {
      showSelectedText();
      console.log('Ctrl+C (copy) pressed');
  });
});
```

{% endcode %}

[DocumentViewer.getCurrentPage](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.DocumentViewer.html#getCurrentPage) [DocumentViewer.getSelectedText](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.DocumentViewer.html#getSelectedText)
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="JavaScript (SDK v6.0+)" %}
{% code lineNumbers="true" %}

```js
WebViewer({ ... }, viewerElement).then(instance => {
  const { docViewer } = instance;
  const showSelectedText = () => {
    const page = docViewer.getCurrentPage();
    const text = docViewer.getSelectedText(page);

    if (!!text) {
        console.log(text);
    }
  }

  // Optionally use keyDown events
  docViewer.on('keyDown', function (je, e) {
    if (e.keyCode == 67 && (e.ctrlKey || e.metaKey)) {
      showSelectedText();
      console.log('Ctrl+C pressed');
    }
  });

  // Otherwise use the copy event
  var iframeWindow = instance.iframeWindow;
  iframeWindow.addEventListener('copy', function (e) {
      showSelectedText();
      console.log('Ctrl+C (copy) pressed');
  });
});
```

{% endcode %}

[DocumentViewer.getCurrentPage](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.DocumentViewer.html#getCurrentPage) [DocumentViewer.getSelectedText](https://sdk.apryse.com/api/web/Core.DocumentViewer.html#getSelectedText)
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}


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