When it comes to designing a user-friendly website, one of the most important factors to consider is the readability of the text. This is especially crucial for long blocks of text, such as those found in a TEXTAREA. Often, these text areas can contain whitespace, which can cause the text to overflow and become difficult to read. However, there is an elegant technique that can ensure proper line-wrapping for TEXTAREA, regardless of whitespace.
The first step in this technique is to use the HTML <pre> tag. This tag stands for "pre-formatted text" and is commonly used for displaying code or other types of text that require exact spacing and line breaks. By wrapping the content of the TEXTAREA in a <pre> tag, the browser will automatically preserve any whitespace, ensuring that the text is displayed exactly as it was entered.
However, using the <pre> tag alone may not be enough to guarantee proper line-wrapping. This is where the CSS white-space property comes into play. By setting the value of this property to "pre-wrap", the browser will ensure that any whitespace within the TEXTAREA is preserved, while also automatically wrapping the text to fit within the designated width.
For example, let's say we have a TEXTAREA with a width of 300px and the following text inside it:
<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap;">
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam euismod turpis eu leo vestibulum, at gravida velit interdum. Sed vel purus eget urna convallis pulvinar. Proin imperdiet lectus eu lectus tincidunt, vel aliquet erat hendrerit. Donec nec turpis a ex mattis varius. Maecenas id feugiat tellus. Sed luctus libero ut est bibendum, ut faucibus neque dapibus. Integer euismod felis et gravida commodo. Aliquam auctor nulla id nunc rhoncus, eget rhoncus justo mattis. Suspendisse potenti. Integer vel felis molestie, aliquet diam ac, viverra nisl. Suspendisse efficitur nulla eget sem egestas, a eleifend ipsum feugiat. Vestibulum luctus cursus sem, sed facilisis tortor consequat non. </pre>
Without the <pre> tag and the CSS white-space property, this text would overflow and become difficult to read. However, with these two elements in place, the browser will automatically wrap the text to fit within the designated width, resulting in a much more user-friendly display.
Additionally, this technique can be used in combination with other CSS properties, such as word-wrap and overflow, to further customize the line-wrapping behavior. For example, setting the value of the word-wrap property to "break-word" will allow the browser to break long words to fit within the designated width, while the overflow property can be used to add scrollbars if the text exceeds the designated width.
In conclusion, the use of the <pre> tag and the CSS white-space property is an elegant and effective technique to ensure proper line-wrapping for TEXTAREA, regardless of whitespace. By implementing this technique, web designers can greatly improve the readability and user experience of their websites. So next time you're faced with the challenge of displaying long blocks of text, remember to use this technique for a clean and professional result.
