Question

I am working on how to show guides when moving boxes like it is in Google Docs Drawing. I would prefer an open-source code or any type of guide before starting writing my own.

1. I do not need drag-n-drop across multiple browser windows so i don’t need HTML5 Drag-n-Drop.
2. Also i am using jquery-ui-draggable for boxes.

Answer 1

jquery ui has this already built in, see this demo:
http://jqueryui.com/demos/draggable/#snap-to

if you insist on the guidlines you would maybe have to fork jqueryui or look at the source and see if you can extend it.

---

alternatively you could just add your own snapping-functions on top of jQuery ui, i’ve played with it for a bit,
and while it doesn’t seem like fun at least it also doesn’t seem to be very hard.

you can view the example on jsfiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/x7uMh/103/
update: this works ~ jQuery 1.9 + jQueryUI 1.9. it breaks in newest jquery+ui. couldn’t be bothered to see what exactly the problem is, typically its only minor problems though.
just in case that site ever goes down, here’s the code:

css

body{
    font-family: courier new, courier; 
    font-size: 12px; 
}

.draggable{
    border: 1px solid #ccc; 
    display: inline-block; 
    cursor: move;
    position: absolute;         
}

.guide{
    display: none; 
    position: absolute; 
    left: 0; 
    top: 0; 
}

#guide-h{
    border-top: 1px dashed #55f; 
    width: 100%; 
}

#guide-v{
    border-left: 1px dashed #55f; 
    height: 100%; 
}
​

html

<div class="draggable">drag me!</div>
<div class="draggable">you can drag me too, if you like</div>
<div class="draggable">hep hep</div>

<div id="guide-h" class="guide"></div>
<div id="guide-v" class="guide"></div>
​

javascript (make sure to include jquery + jquery ui)

var MIN_DISTANCE = 10; // minimum distance to "snap" to a guide
var guides = []; // no guides available ... 
var innerOffsetX, innerOffsetY; // we'll use those during drag ... 

$( ".draggable" ).draggable({
    start: function( event, ui ) {
        guides = $.map( $( ".draggable" ).not( this ), computeGuidesForElement );
        innerOffsetX = event.originalEvent.offsetX;
        innerOffsetY = event.originalEvent.offsetY;
    }, 
    drag: function( event, ui ){
        // iterate all guides, remember the closest h and v guides
        var guideV, guideH, distV = MIN_DISTANCE+1, distH = MIN_DISTANCE+1, offsetV, offsetH; 
        var chosenGuides = { top: { dist: MIN_DISTANCE+1 }, left: { dist: MIN_DISTANCE+1 } }; 
        var $t = $(this); 
        var pos = { top: event.originalEvent.pageY - innerOffsetY, left: event.originalEvent.pageX - innerOffsetX }; 
        var w = $t.outerWidth() - 1; 
        var h = $t.outerHeight() - 1; 
        var elemGuides = computeGuidesForElement( null, pos, w, h ); 
        $.each( guides, function( i, guide ){
            $.each( elemGuides, function( i, elemGuide ){
                if( guide.type == elemGuide.type ){
                    var prop = guide.type == "h"? "top":"left"; 
                    var d = Math.abs( elemGuide[prop] - guide[prop] ); 
                    if( d < chosenGuides[prop].dist ){
                        chosenGuides[prop].dist = d; 
                        chosenGuides[prop].offset = elemGuide[prop] - pos[prop]; 
                        chosenGuides[prop].guide = guide; 
                    }
                }
            } ); 
        } );

        if( chosenGuides.top.dist <= MIN_DISTANCE ){
            $( "#guide-h" ).css( "top", chosenGuides.top.guide.top ).show(); 
            ui.position.top = chosenGuides.top.guide.top - chosenGuides.top.offset;
        }
        else{
            $( "#guide-h" ).hide(); 
            ui.position.top = pos.top; 
        }

        if( chosenGuides.left.dist <= MIN_DISTANCE ){
            $( "#guide-v" ).css( "left", chosenGuides.left.guide.left ).show(); 
            ui.position.left = chosenGuides.left.guide.left - chosenGuides.left.offset; 
        }
        else{
            $( "#guide-v" ).hide(); 
            ui.position.left = pos.left; 
        }
    }, 
    stop: function( event, ui ){
        $( "#guide-v, #guide-h" ).hide(); 
    }
});


function computeGuidesForElement( elem, pos, w, h ){
    if( elem != null ){
        var $t = $(elem); 
        pos = $t.offset(); 
        w = $t.outerWidth() - 1; 
        h = $t.outerHeight() - 1; 
    }

    return [
        { type: "h", left: pos.left, top: pos.top }, 
        { type: "h", left: pos.left, top: pos.top + h }, 
        { type: "v", left: pos.left, top: pos.top }, 
        { type: "v", left: pos.left + w, top: pos.top },
        // you can add _any_ other guides here as well (e.g. a guide 10 pixels to the left of an element)
        { type: "h", left: pos.left, top: pos.top + h/2 },
        { type: "v", left: pos.left + w/2, top: pos.top } 
    ]; 
}

​

hope that helps,
best, hansi.