Question

http://jsfiddle.net/tYXTX/

In Firefox, with the above script (included inline below), you can edit the textarea’s contents at any point either by clicking in the middle of the string and typing, or using the keyboard back keys (and ctrl+left arrow).

In IE, the cursor always jumps to the end. Why is this, and how can I prevent it?

---

HTML:

<textarea id="bob" name="bob">Some textarea content</textarea>
<div id="debug"></div>

JS:

$(document).ready(function(){
    $("#bob").keyup(function(){
        $("#bob").val($("#bob").val().substring(0,160));
        $("#debug").append("\n+");
    }); 
});

Answer 1

Instead of truncating $(“#bob”) using substring() every time, do it only when the text length is greater than 160:

$(document).ready(function(){
    var oldtext = $("#bob").val();

    $("#bob").keyup(function(){
        if( $("#bob").val().length > 160 )
            $("#bob").val(oldtext);
        else
            oldtext = $("#bob").val();

        $("#debug").append("\n+");
    });
});

In IE, whenever the <textarea> gets modified, the cursor will jump to the end.