Vue : Limit characters in text area input, truncate filter?

Sorry to break in. Was looking for a solution. Looked at all of them. For me they look too complicated. I'm always looking for symplicity. Therefor I like the answer of @Даниил Пронин. But it has the by @J. Rambo noted potential problem.

To stay as close as possible to the native html textelement. The solution I came up with is:

Vue Template

<textarea v-model="value" @input="assertMaxChars()">

JavaScript

let app = new Vue({
  el: '#app',
  data: {
    value: 'Vue is working!',
    maxLengthInCars: 25
  },

  methods: {
    assertMaxChars: function () {
        if (this.value.length >= this.maxLengthInCars) {
            this.value = this.value.substring(0,this.maxLengthInCars);
        }
    }
  }
})

Here is a REPL link: https://repl.it/@tsboh/LimitedCharsInTextarea

The upside I see is:

• the element is as close as possible to the native element
• simple code
• textarea keeps focus
• delete still works
• works with pasting text as well

Anyway happy coding

While I agree with the selected answer. You can also easily prevent the length using a keydown event handler.

Vue Template

<input type="text" @keydown="limit( $event, 'myModel', 3)" v-model="myModel" />

JavaScript

export default {
    name: 'SomeComponent',

    data () {
        return {
            myModel: ''
        };
    },

    methods: {

        limit( event, dataProp, limit ) {
            if ( this[dataProp].length >= limit ) {
               event.preventDefault();
            }
        }
    }
}

Doing this way, you can also use regular expression to event prevent the type of keys accepted. For instance, if you only wanted to accept numeric values you can do the following.

methods: {
   numeric( event, dataProp, limit ) {
       if ( !/[0-9]/.test( event.key ) ) {
           event.preventDefault();
       }
   }
} 

This is one of those cases, where you really want to use a component.

Here is an example component that renders a textarea and limits the amount of text.

Please note: this is not a production ready, handle all the corner cases component. It is intended as an example.

Vue.component("limited-textarea", {
  props:{
    value:{ type: String, default: ""},
    max:{type: Number, default: 250}
  },
  template: `
    <textarea v-model="internalValue" @keydown="onKeyDown"></textarea>
  `,
  computed:{
    internalValue: {
      get() {return this.value},
      set(v){ this.$emit("input", v)}
    }
  },
  methods:{
    onKeyDown(evt){
      if (this.value.length >= this.max) {
        if (evt.keyCode >= 48 && evt.keyCode <= 90) {
          evt.preventDefault()
          return
        }
      }
    }
  }
})

This component implements v-model and only emits a change to the data if the length of the text is less than the specified max. It does this by listening to keydown and preventing the default action (typing a character) if the length of the text is equal to or more than the allowed max.

console.clear()

Vue.component("limited-textarea", {
  props:{
    value:{ type: String, default: ""},
    max:{type: Number, default: 250}
  },
  template: `
    <textarea v-model="internalValue" @keydown="onKeyDown"></textarea>
  `,
  computed:{
    internalValue: {
      get() {return this.value},
      set(v){ this.$emit("input", v)}
    }
  },
  methods:{
    onKeyDown(evt){
      if (this.value.length >= this.max) {
        if (evt.keyCode >= 48 && evt.keyCode <= 90) {
          evt.preventDefault()
          return
        }
      }
    }
  }
})

new Vue({
  el: "#app",
  data:{
    text: ""
  }
})

<script src="https://unpkg.com/[email protected]"></script>
<div id="app">
  <limited-textarea v-model="text" 
                    :max="10"
                    cols="30"
                    rows="10">
  </limited-textarea>
</div>

Another issue with the code in the question is Vuex will not allow you set a state value directly; you have to do it through a mutation. That said, there should be a Vuex mutation that accepts the new value and sets it, and the code should commit the mutation.

mutations: {
  setGiftMessage(state, message) {
    state.user.giftMessage = message
  }
}

And in your Vue:

computed:{
  giftMessage:{
    get(){return this.$store.state.user.giftMessage},
    set(v) {this.$store.commit("setGiftMessage", v)}
  }
}

Technically the code should be using a getter to get the user (and it's giftMessage), but this should work. In the template you would use:

<limited-textarea cols="30" rows="10" v-model="giftMessage"></limited-textarea>

Here is a complete example using Vuex.

console.clear()

const store = new Vuex.Store({
  state:{
    user:{
      giftMessage: "test"
    }
  },
  getters:{
    giftMessage(state){
      return state.user.giftMessage
    }
  },
  mutations:{
    setGiftMessage(state, message){
      state.user.giftMessage = message
    }
  }
})



Vue.component("limited-textarea", {
  props:{
    value:{ type: String, default: ""},
    max:{type: Number, default: 250}
  },
  template: `
    <textarea v-model="internalValue" @keydown="onKeyDown"></textarea>
  `,
  computed:{
    internalValue: {
      get() {return this.value},
      set(v){ this.$emit("input", v)}
    }
  },
  methods:{
    onKeyDown(evt){
      if (this.value.length >= this.max) {
        if (evt.keyCode >= 48 && evt.keyCode <= 90) {
          evt.preventDefault()
          return
        }
      }
    }
  }
})

new Vue({
  el: "#app",
  store,
  computed:{
    giftMessage:{
      get(){ return this.$store.getters.giftMessage},
      set(v){ this.$store.commit("setGiftMessage", v)}
    }
  }
})

<script src="https://unpkg.com/[email protected]"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/vuex/2.4.0/vuex.js"></script>
<div id="app">
  <limited-textarea v-model="giftMessage" 
                    :max="10"
                    cols="30"
                    rows="10">
  </limited-textarea>
  Message: {{giftMessage}}
</div>