Handle keyboard events with slate js
In this lesson we'll learn how event handling in slate js works. We'll cover the arguments passed to every event handler, how to detect a keyboard shortcut and display the currently selected text in a browser dialog.
Instructor: [00:00] We start by importing the editor component from Slate React here, initializing the value here, passing that through use state hook to manage state, and rendering the Slate editor component here.
[00:15] The editor component has many event handler props. We will use the onKeyDown prop, which is called every time the user presses a key. The onKeyDown prop is called with three arguments -- event, editor, and next.
[00:36] Always return next in your onKeyDown handler. This ensures that Slate works as expected. If event.key = C and event.metaKey is true, we know that the user has pressed the hot key for copying.
[00:59] We'll use the alert method to display a message in the browser. Pressing Command-C will display an alert. Change the single quotes of the string to backticks so we can insert a variable.
[01:13] Insert the variable editor.value.fragments.text. This will give you the currently selected text. Now, you will see the selected text in your alert.
[01:28] To summarize, all event handlers have three arguments -- event, editor, and next. Don't forget Slate expects you to return next.