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Html Area

<et2-htmlarea> | Et2HtmlArea
Since 23.1

Rich text editor widget built on TinyMCE’s web component. Et2HtmlArea provides both rich text and plain text editing modes, integrates with EGroupware upload and language preferences, and exposes a small extension surface for editor-specific integrations such as custom toolbar buttons.

Examples

Toolbar Mode vs Preference

The mode property controls whether the editor uses one of the built-in toolbar presets or the user’s rte_toolbar preference.

  • mode="simple" uses the simple preset
  • mode="extended" uses the extended preset
  • mode="advanced" uses the advanced preset
  • mode="ascii" renders a plain textarea
  • empty mode uses the rte_toolbar preference

If you want the editor to follow the user’s selected toolbar features, leave mode empty.

<et2-htmlarea label="Preference-driven toolbar"></et2-htmlarea>

If you need a fixed toolbar regardless of the user preference, set mode explicitly.

<et2-htmlarea label="Simple preset" mode="simple"></et2-htmlarea>

To hide the toolbar entirely, use noToolbar.

<et2-htmlarea label="No toolbar" noToolbar></et2-htmlarea>

Plain Text Mode

mode="ascii" renders a textarea instead of TinyMCE when editable, while preserving the same value, disabled, placeholder, focus, input, and change contracts as rich text mode.

<et2-htmlarea label="Plain text" mode="ascii" placeholder="Enter plain text"></et2-htmlarea>

Readonly Rendering

Readonly htmlareas render their value directly instead of initializing TinyMCE or a textarea. Rich text values are rendered as HTML; mode="ascii" values are rendered as literal text.

The lightweight et2-htmlarea_ro element is registered for readonly widget substitution, including nextmatch detached row updates.

File Selection And Uploads

Dropped and pasted images upload through EGroupware’s HTMLArea upload endpoint by default. Set image-upload to a VFS target widget id, content path, absolute path, or external URL when the upload destination needs to be explicit.

TinyMCE’s image, media, and file dialogs use the EGroupware VFS picker unless a custom filePickerCallback property is assigned.

Submit-time Formatting

Set apply-default-font when saved markup needs to carry the user’s preferred font and size inline, such as mail compose content that may be read by clients that strip editor CSS. The normalization happens during getValue(true), so it affects submitted rich-text content rather than the live editor appearance.

Custom Toolbar Buttons

Integrations can extend the TinyMCE toolbar without reaching through the legacy editor property. Add the toolbar item name with addToolbarItem(), then register the TinyMCE UI in registerEditorSetupHook(). TinyMCE documents the available toolbar button APIs in its custom toolbar buttons documentation.

The hook must be registered before TinyMCE finishes initializing. If an integration wraps or creates the htmlarea, call these methods as soon as the Et2HtmlArea instance is available.

import type {Et2HtmlArea} from "./Et2HtmlArea";

function addInsertGreetingButton(htmlarea : Et2HtmlArea)
{
	htmlarea.addToolbarItem("insertGreeting");
	htmlarea.registerEditorSetupHook("example-greeting-button", editor =>
	{
		editor.ui.registry.addButton("insertGreeting", {
			text: "Greeting",
			tooltip: "Insert greeting",
			onAction: () =>
			{
				editor.insertContent("<p>Hello</p>");
			}
		});
	});
}

Use a stable, integration-specific key for registerEditorSetupHook() so it can be replaced or removed later with unregisterEditorSetupHook(). The toolbar item name passed to addToolbarItem() must match the TinyMCE control name registered with editor.ui.registry.

Legacy Compatibility

The component keeps a small compatibility bridge while older integrations move off direct TinyMCE access:

  • tinymce resolves with the TinyMCE editor array
  • editor exposes the active TinyMCE editor
  • file_picker_callback, images_upload_handler, valid_children, and toolbar_mode map to their modern camelCase properties

New integrations should prefer the component properties plus addToolbarItem() and registerEditorSetupHook() for editor UI extensions.

Slots

Name Description
label The editor’s label. Alternatively, use the label attribute.
help-text Text that describes how to use the editor. Alternatively, use the statustext attribute.

Learn more about using slots.

Properties

Name Description Reflects Type Default
accesskey Accesskey provides a hint for generating a keyboard shortcut for the current element. The attribute value must consist of a single printable character. string -
actions Set Actions on the widget Each action is defined as an object: move: { type: “drop”, acceptedTypes: “mail”, icon: “move”, caption: “Move to” onExecute: javascript:mail_move” } This will turn the widget into a drop target for “mail” drag types. When “mail” drag types are dropped, the global function mail_move(egwAction action, egwActionObject sender) will be called. The ID of the dragged “mail” will be in sender.id, some information about the sender will be in sender.context. The etemplate2 widget involved can typically be found in action.parent.data.widget, so your handler can operate in the widget context easily. The location varies depending on your action though. It might be action.parent.parent.data.widget To customise how the actions are handled for a particular widget, override _link_actions(). It handles the more widget-specific parts. object -
align Used by Et2Box to determine alignment. Allowed values are left, right string -
applyDefaultFont
apply-default-font
Force default font and size as style attribute into the markup. Also ensures all non-block elements are wrapped in p. Use this when users really want the font & size (email). boolean false
autofocus Have browser focus this input on load. Overrides etemplate2.focusOnFirstInput(), use only once per page https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/input#attributes boolean -
class CSS Class. This class is applied to the outside, on the web component itself. Due to how WebComponents work, this might not change anything inside the component. string -
data Set the dataset from a CSV string -
deferredProperties
Any attribute that refers to row content cannot be resolved immediately, but some like booleans cannot stay a string because it’s a boolean attribute. We store them for later, and parse when they’re fully in their row. If you are creating a widget that can go in a nextmatch row, and it has boolean attributes that can change for each row, add those attributes into deferredProperties - -
disabled Defines whether this widget is visibly disabled. The widget is still visible, but clearly cannot be interacted with. Widgets disabled in the template will not return a value to the application code, even if re-enabled via javascript before submitting. To allow a disabled widget to be re-enabled and return a value, disable via javascript in the app’s et2_ready() instead of an attribute in the template file. boolean false
dom_id
Get the actual DOM ID, which has been prefixed to make sure it’s unique. string -
filePickerCallback
Callback function to get called when file picker is clicked. TinyMceFilePickerCallback | null null
hasFeedbackFor
Get a list of feedback types string[] -
height Height. Applied to the widget host by Et2Widget; the editor fills the host and does not mirror this into TinyMCE’s own sizing config. string ""
hidden The widget is not visible. As far as the user is concerned, the widget does not exist. Widgets hidden with an attribute in the template may not be created in the DOM, and will not return a value. Widgets can be hidden after creation, and they may return a value if hidden this way. boolean -
id
Get the ID of the widget string -
imagesUploadHandler
Callback function for handling image upload. TinyMceUploadHandler | null null
imageUpload
image-upload
URL to upload dragged or pasted images, or the id of a link_to-style widget whose VFS path should receive the upload. string ""
label The label of the widget Legacy support for labels with %s that get wrapped around the widget Not the best way go with webComponents - shouldn’t modify their DOM like this string -
mode One of {ascii|simple|extended|advanced}. simple, extended, and advanced force built-in toolbar presets and do not use the rte_toolbar preference. Leave mode empty to use the user preference-driven toolbar. HtmlAreaMode | string ""
noLang Disable any translations for the widget boolean -
noMenubar
no-menubar
Disables the menubar at the top of the editor. boolean false
noStatusbar
no-statusbar
Disables the status bar on the bottom of the editor. The status bar is off by default. Set no-statusbar="false" in modern usage, or statusbar="true" in legacy templates, to enable it. boolean true
noToolbar
no-toolbar
Disables the toolbar at the top of the editor. boolean false
parentId Parent is different than what is specified in the template / hierarchy. Widget ID of another node to insert this node into instead of the normal location string -
placeholder Placeholder text shown when the editor is empty. string ""
statustext Tooltip which is shown for this element on hover string -
styles
WebComponent * - -
toolbarMode
toolbar-mode
Controls how toolbar items are shown when space is limited. "floating" | "sliding" | "scrolling" | "wrap" "sliding"
translate
List of properties that get translated Done separately to not interfere with properties - if we re-define label property, labels go missing. - -
validChildren
valid-children
Enables to control what child tag is allowed or not allowed of the present tag. For instance: +body[style], makes style tag allowed inside body. string "+body[style]"
value The value of the widget. string ""
width Width. Applied to the widget host by Et2Widget; the editor fills the host and does not mirror this into TinyMCE’s own sizing config. string ""
_menubar
Menubar visibility is still subject to the legacy user preference. The TinyMCE web component parses menubar as false | string, not a boolean. When enabled, provide the default menu list explicitly instead of the string "true", which TinyMCE interprets as a menu named true. string | false -
_requestedToolbarSetting
Toolbar selection comes from the user preference when mode is not fixed. The modern component API only supports explicit disable via noToolbar. string -
editor
Compatibility bridge: legacy callers expect direct access to the editor instance.
New integrations should add explicit component APIs instead.
TinyMceEditor | null -
file_picker_callback
Compatibility bridge: TinyMCE callback surface retained for migration.
Replace with explicit component APIs where possible.
TinyMceFilePickerCallback | null -
images_upload_handler
Compatibility bridge: legacy TinyMCE callback surface retained for migration.
Replace with explicit component APIs where possible.
TinyMceUploadHandler | null -
needed
Compatibility for deprecated name “needed”
use required instead
- -
options
Get property-values as object
use widget methods
object -
supportedWidgetClasses
et2_widget compatability
Legacy compatability. Some legacy widgets check their parent to see whats allowed
array []
tinymce
Compatibility bridge: legacy integrations still expect a tinymce promise resolving like tinymce.init().
New integrations should use the component instance directly.
Promise new Promise(resolve => { this._resolveTinymce = resolve; })
toolbar_mode
Compatibility bridge for legacy snake_case property naming.
Use toolbarMode.
string -
valid_children
Compatibility bridge for legacy snake_case property naming.
Use validChildren.
string -
updateComplete A read-only promise that resolves when the component has finished updating.

Learn more about attributes and properties.

Events

Name React Event Description Event Detail
focus Emitted when the editor receives focus. FocusEvent
blur Emitted when focus leaves the editor, including TinyMCE chrome and dialogs. FocusEvent
input Emitted when user input changes the editor value. Event
change Emitted when the user commits an editor value change. Event

Learn more about events.

Methods

Name Description Arguments
addToolbarItem() Append a toolbar item to the computed toolbar for integrations that extend the editor UI before TinyMCE initializes. item: string
checkCreateNamespace() Checks whether a namespace exists for this element in the content array. If yes, an own perspective of the content array is created. If not, the parent content manager is used. Constructor attributes are passed in case a child needs to make decisions -
clone() Creates a copy of this widget. _parent: et2_widget
createElementFromNode() Create a et2_widget from an XML node. First the type and attributes are read from the node. Then the readonly & modifications arrays are checked for changes specific to the loaded data. Then the appropriate constructor is called. After the constructor returns, the widget has a chance to further initialize itself from the XML node when the widget’s loadFromXML() method is called with the node. _node: , _name:
et2HandleBlur() If the value is unchanged, put any held validation messages back Named et2HandleBlur to avoid overwriting handleBlur() in Shoelace components event: FocusEvent
et2HandleFocus() When input receives focus, clear any validation errors. If the value is the same on blur, we’ll put them back The ones from the server (ManualMessage) can interfere with submitting. Named et2HandleFocus to avoid overwriting handleFocus() in Shoelace components _ev: FocusEvent
getArrayMgr() Returns the array manager object for the given part managed_array_type: string
getArrayMgrs() Returns an associative array containing the top-most array managers. _mgrs: object
getChildren() Get child widgets Use .children to get web component children -
getInputNode() Get input to e.g. set aria-attributes -
getInstanceManager() Returns the instance manager -
getPath() Returns the path into the data array. By default, array manager takes care of this, but some extensions need to override this -
getRoot() Returns the base widget Usually this is the same as getInstanceManager().widgetContainer -
getValue() Serialize the widget value, optionally normalizing rich-text content for submit. Mail clients often strip editor-level CSS, so users expect their preferred font and size to survive in the markup itself. This is not ideal, but it is easier to do here before submit than to do it server-side. submit_value: boolean
handleSlChange() Handle sl-change event from Shoelace components and dispatch a change event so anything listening for change events can react to it instead of having to listen for both sl-change and change. event:
isValid() Used by etemplate2 to determine if we can submit or not messages:
loadFromXML() Loads the widget tree from an XML node _node:
loadingFinished() Needed for legacy compatability. promises: Promise[]
parseXMLAttrs() The parseXMLAttrs function takes an XML DOM attributes object and adds the given attributes to the _target associative array. This function also parses the legacyOptions. N.B. This is only used for legacy widgets. WebComponents use transformAttributes() and do their own handling of attributes. _attrsObj: , _target: object, _proto: et2_widget
registerEditorSetupHook() Register a TinyMCE setup hook for integrations that need to add custom UI such as toolbar buttons before the editor finishes initializing. key: string, hook: TinyMceSetupHook
set_label() NOT the setter, since we cannot add to the DOM before connectedCallback() TODO: This is not best practice. Should just set property, DOM modification should be done in render https://lit-element.polymer-project.org/guide/templates#design-a-performant-template value: string
setArrayMgr() Sets the array manager for the given part _part: string, _mgr: object
setArrayMgrs() Sets all array manager objects - this function can be used to set the root array managers of the container object. _mgrs: object
setInstanceManager() Set the instance manager Normally this is not needed as it’s set on the top-level container, and we just return that reference manager: etemplate2
submit() Called whenever the template gets submitted. We return false if the widget is not valid, which cancels the submission. _values:
unregisterEditorSetupHook() Remove a previously registered TinyMCE setup hook. key: string
validate() Massively simplified validate, as compared to what ValidatorMixin gives us, since ValidatorMixin extends FormControlMixin which breaks SlSelect’s render() We take all validators for the widget, and if there’s a value (or field is required) we check the value with each validator. For array values we check each element with each validator. If the value does not pass the validator, we collect the message and display feedback to the user. We handle validation errors from the server with ManualMessages, which always “fail”. If the value is empty, we only validate if the field is required. skipManual:
_applyDefaultFontToContent() Inline the preferred font and size on saved content for mail workflows. -
_ensurePopupSinkStyles() TinyMCE’s web component renders the popup sink inside its own shadow root. In split mode that sink still participates in tab-panel scrolling unless we force it out of layout flow. -
_filePickerMeta() Provide TinyMCE with the metadata it expects for the selected VFS file. file: FileInfo | undefined, meta: Parameters<TinyMceFilePickerCallback>[2]
_get_action_links() Get all action-links / id’s of 1.-level actions from a given action object This can be overwritten to not allow all actions, by not returning them here. actions:
_getImageUploadUrl() Resolve the TinyMCE image upload URL. When imageUpload points at a link_to-style widget or content-path value, the upload endpoint needs the current request id and widget id so the server can store the file in the right VFS location. Without imageUpload, use the plain endpoint so TinyMCE can still upload dropped or pasted images. -
_getTinyMceConfig() Build the TinyMCE config from the component’s current state. Keep this bridge limited to TinyMCE options that the web component cannot reliably express as simple HTML attributes. Attribute-supported options are rendered directly in _renderEditor() so there is a single source of truth for the visible editor chrome. -
_handleAsciiChange() Re-emit textarea change events through the widget host. -
_handleAsciiInput() Keep textarea mode aligned with the widget value contract. event: Event
_handleClick() Click handler calling custom handler set via onclick attribute to this.onclick _ev: MouseEvent
_handleFilePickerCallback() Route TinyMCE’s file picker through a custom override when provided, or through the default EGroupware VFS picker otherwise. callback: Parameters<TinyMceFilePickerCallback>[0], value: Parameters<TinyMceFilePickerCallback>[1], meta: Parameters<TinyMceFilePickerCallback>[2]
_handleTinyMceSetup() Attach TinyMCE event handlers and bridge them onto the host widget API. editor: TinyMceEditor
_hasInternalFocus() Check whether focus is still logically inside the widget, including TinyMCE’s iframe, menus, and shadow-host transitions. -
_labelTemplate() Common sub-template to add a label. This goes inside the form control wrapper div, before and at the same depth as the input controls. -
_link_actions() Link the actions to the DOM nodes / widget bits. actions: object
_oldChange() Change handler calling custom handler set via onchange attribute _ev: Event
_openDefaultFilePicker() Open EGroupware’s VFS picker for TinyMCE’s image, media, and generic file dialogs. This restores the legacy browse workflow while keeping the callback override available as an explicit escape hatch. callback: Parameters<TinyMceFilePickerCallback>[0], meta: Parameters<TinyMceFilePickerCallback>[2]
_publishCallbacks() Publish callback paths for TinyMCE web-component options that are supported as global-path attributes, such as setup and images_upload_handler. -
_publishConfig() Publish the current editor config through the global bridge required by TinyMCE’s web component. Why this exists: The installed @tinymce/tinymce-webcomponent reads config from an HTML attribute and interprets its value as a global object path. It does not expose a property-based config API we can bind directly from Lit. Lifecycle: - on every render, we overwrite this instance’s entry with the latest computed config - the returned string is passed to <tinymce-editor config="..."> - on disconnect, _removePublishedConfig() removes the stale entry Scope: The bridge is intentionally isolated to this one helper so the rest of the component can continue to work with normal local config objects. -
_queueHostBlur() Delay host blur long enough to ignore TinyMCE’s internal focus transitions. -
_raiseDialogAboveTinyMce() TinyMCE dialogs stack above Shoelace’s default dialog z-index. Raise only this transient VFS picker instance so it can sit above the active Insert/edit image/media/file dialog without changing global dialog layering. dialog: Et2VfsSelectDialog
_removePublishedCallbacks() Remove this instance’s published callback bridge on disconnect. -
_removePublishedConfig() Remove this instance’s published config when the component disconnects. TinyMCE resolves the config lazily from the global path string, so stale entries would otherwise accumulate across component lifecycles. -
_renderEditor() Render the active editor implementation for the current mode. -
_set_label() Do some fancy stuff on the label, splitting it up if there’s a %s in it Normally called from updated(), the “normal” setter stuff has already been run before this is called. We only override our special cases (%s) because the normal label has been set by the parent value: string
_setAriaAttributes() Set aria-attributes on our input node -
_syncValueFromEditor() Mirror editor content into the widget value and emit host input/change events. dispatchChange: boolean
_syncValueToEditor() Push the current widget value into the active editor implementation. -
_wrapTextNodes() Wrap loose text and inline nodes in paragraphs so default block styling can be written into the saved markup. -
destroy() et2_widget compatability
true
-
set_class() Set the widget class
Use this.class or this.classList instead
new_class: string
set_disabled() Wrapper on this.disabled because legacy had it.
Use widget.disabled for visually disabled, widget.hidden for visually hidden. Disabled vs Readonly vs Hidden
value: boolean
set_statustext() supports legacy set_statustext
use this.statustext
value: string

Learn more about methods.

Parts

Name Description
form-control The form control wrapper containing label, editor, and help text.
form-control-input The editor wrapper.
readonly-content The readonly value container when readonly is set.

Learn more about customizing CSS parts.