How to Seamlessly Switch Between Short and Long Text Versions in JavaScript

Описание: Learn how to implement a dynamic text toggle feature in your web applications using JavaScript and CSS. Discover simpler, more efficient ways to manage text display with clear, organized coding techniques.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/63328081/ asked by the user 'Rash J' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/13222128/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/63328263/ provided by the user 'Sascha' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/5324511/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Displaying Short and Full Versions of Text in Web Applications

When developing web applications, it is often necessary to present text information in a user-friendly way. Sometimes, you need to show only a snippet of content, while allowing your users to expand to see the entire text. This can enhance the usability and aesthetics of a webpage. Let's tackle how to achieve this using JavaScript and CSS.

The Problem Statement

By default, we want to show a short version of the text (usually one line with ... indicating more content). However, we need to implement functionality that allows users to switch seamlessly between the short and full versions of the text without disrupting the layout of other items.

Key Scenarios

Short Version Active: On clicking a short text, the entire text should expand, and all text boxes should align to the height of the tallest one.

Long Version Active: Clicking any text should collapse them back to the short version while ensuring consistent height once again.

Identifying the Issue

The initial implementation worked well when the click events occurred on the same element. However, it failed to manage correctly when switching between different elements. In particular, dynamic height changes caused inconsistencies in displaying the text.

Solution Approach

To solve this issue, we need to adopt a more robust approach that ensures height adjustments take place smoothly and consistently across all text elements.

Key Adjustments

Manage Heights Dynamically: Instead of setting the height of each text based on the individual clicks, we will determine the maximum height across all elements and apply this height uniformly.

Use CSS for Visual Styling: Implement CSS carefully to ensure that the text is properly truncated and displays the ellipsis.

Updated HTML Structure

Here’s the basic structure using HTML and CSS to lay out our text items:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

JavaScript Implementation

Here’s the JavaScript code tailored to manage the toggling of text versions effectively:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Explanation of the Code

Global Variable long: This variable manages the state of the text display, keeping track of whether the long version is active or not.

Click Event Handling:

If the text version is currently short, switch to long by setting the -webkit-line-clamp to 99 (indicating a full view), calculate and set the maximum height for consistent display.

If the long version is active, revert the text back to a short version by resetting the -webkit-line-clamp to 1 and height to auto.

Conclusion

By implementing the above approach, web developers can create a smoother, user-friendly text toggle feature in their applications. This method not only ensures consistent text display but also maintains layout integrity, regardless of user interactions.

Feel free to implement this solution in your own projects and watch your text presentation improve significantly!