Add RichEdit to a Vue Application

• Jul 07, 2023
• 4 minutes to read

This topic describes how to add the client-side RichEdit control to a Vue application.

View Example: RichEdit Vue Application

Tip

You can import RichEdit types from modules or access them from a global namespace.

Code samples in this documentation use the global namespace approach. RichEdit types are accessed via the following prefix:

[window.]DevExpress.RichEdit. (for instance, DevExpress.RichEdit.DocumentFormat)

To use the modular approach, do the following.

• Remove the DevExpress.RichEdit. prefix from type references.

• Import the types from the RichEdit npm package, for instance:

  import { DocumentFormat } from 'devexpress-richedit';

  Note, the public RichEdit API is contained in the devexpress-richedit module. The sub-modules contain the private API.

Prerequisites

• Make sure you have Node.js and npm installed on your machine.

• In the command prompt, install the Vue CLI globally.

  npm install -g @vue/cli
  

Requirements

• To use the RichEdit control in a Vue application, you need to have a Universal, DXperience, or ASP.NET subscription.
• Versions of the devexpress npm packages should be identical (their major and minor versions should be the same).

How to Create an Application with RichEdit

Create a Vue Application

In the command prompt, create a Vue application and navigate to the created folder as follows.

vue create rich-edit-vue -d
cd rich-edit-vue

Install RichEdit Package

The devexpress-richedit npm package references devextreme-dist as peerDependencies. The peerDependencies packages should be installed manually. This allows developers to control a version of the peerDependencies packages and guarantees that the package is installed once.

Install a RichEdit package with required peerDependencies:

1. If the package.json file does not exist, create an npm configuration file as follows: npm init -y

2. Install a RichEdit package with required peerDependencies:

   npm i devextreme devextreme-dist devexpress-richedit --save
   

You can find all the libraries in the node_modules folder after the installation is completed.

Add RichEdit Styles

Add styles to the src/main.js file.

main.js

...
import "../node_modules/devextreme-dist/css/dx.light.css";
import "../node_modules/devexpress-richedit/dist/dx.richedit.css";
...

Configure RichEdit

Replace the content of the src/App.vue file with the following code.

App.vue

<template>
  <div ref="richEdit"/>
</template>

<script>
import { create, createOptions, RichEdit, Interval, ViewType, RichEditUnit, DocumentFormat } from 'devexpress-richedit';

export default {
  name: 'App',
  rich: RichEdit,
  components: {
  },

  mounted(){
    // the createOptions() method creates an object that contains RichEdit options initialized with default values
    const options = createOptions();
    options.bookmarks.visibility = true;
    options.bookmarks.color = '#ff0000';
    options.confirmOnLosingChanges.enabled = true;
    options.confirmOnLosingChanges.message = 'Are you sure you want to perform the action? All unsaved document data will be lost.';
    options.fields.updateFieldsBeforePrint = true;
    options.fields.updateFieldsOnPaste = true;
    options.mailMerge.activeRecord = 2;
    options.mailMerge.viewMergedData = true;
    options.mailMerge.dataSource = [
        { Name: 'Indy', age: 32 },
        { Name: 'Andy', age: 28 },
    ];
    // events
    options.events.activeSubDocumentChanged = () => { };
    options.events.autoCorrect = () => { };
    options.events.calculateDocumentVariable = () => { };
    options.events.characterPropertiesChanged = () => { };
    options.events.contentInserted = () => { };
    options.events.contentRemoved = () => { };
    options.events.documentChanged = () => { };
    options.events.documentFormatted = () => { };
    options.events.documentLoaded = () => { };
    options.events.gotFocus = () => { };
    options.events.hyperlinkClick = () => { };
    options.events.keyDown = () => { };
    options.events.keyUp = () => { };
    options.events.paragraphPropertiesChanged = () => { };
    options.events.lostFocus = () => { };
    options.events.pointerDown = () => { };
    options.events.pointerUp = () => { };
    options.events.saving = () => { };
    options.events.saved = () => { };
    options.events.selectionChanged = () => { };    
    options.events.customCommandExecuted = (s, e) => {
        switch (e.commandName) {
        case 'insertEmailSignature':
            s.document.insertParagraph(s.document.length);
            s.document.insertText(s.document.length, '_________');
            s.document.insertParagraph(s.document.length);
            s.document.insertText(s.document.length, 'Best regards,');
            s.document.insertParagraph(s.document.length);
            s.document.insertText(s.document.length, 'John Smith');
            s.document.insertParagraph(s.document.length);
            s.document.insertText(s.document.length, '[e-mail]');
            s.document.insertParagraph(s.document.length);
            s.document.insertText(s.document.length, '[phone]');
            break;
        }
    };
    options.unit = RichEditUnit.Inch;
    options.view.viewType = ViewType.PrintLayout;
    options.view.simpleViewSettings.paddings = {
      left: 15,
      top: 15,
      right: 15,
      bottom: 15,
    };
    options.autoCorrect = {
        correctTwoInitialCapitals: true,
        detectUrls: true,
        enableAutomaticNumbering: true,
        replaceTextAsYouType: true,
        caseSensitiveReplacement: false,
        replaceInfoCollection: [
            { replace: "wnwd", with: "well-nourished, well-developed" },
            { replace: "(c)", with: "©" }
        ],
    };
    // capitalize the first letter at the beginning of a new sentence/line
    options.events.autoCorrect = function (s, e) {
        if (e.text.length == 1 && /\w/.test(e.text)) {
            var prevText = s.document.getText(new Interval(e.interval.start - 2, 2));
            if (prevText.length == 0 || /^([.]|[?]|[!] )$/.test(prevText) || prevText.charCodeAt(1) == 13) {
                var newText = e.text.toUpperCase();
                if (newText != e.text) {
                    s.beginUpdate();
                    s.history.beginTransaction();
                    s.document.deleteText(e.interval);
                    s.document.insertText(e.interval.start, newText);
                    s.history.endTransaction();
                    s.endUpdate();
                    e.handled = true;
                }
            }
        }
    };  
    options.exportUrl = 'https://siteurl.com/api/';
    options.readOnly = false;
    options.width = '1400px';
    options.height = '800px';
    this.rich = create(this.$refs.richEdit, options);

    var documentAsBase64 = "e1xydGYxXGRlZmYwe1xmb250dGJse1xmMCBDYWxpYnJpO319e1xjb2xvcnRibCA7XHJlZDB"
        + "cZ3JlZW4wXGJsdWUyNTUgO1xyZWQyNTVcZ3JlZW4yNTVcYmx1ZTI1NSA7fXtcKlxkZWZjaHAgXGZzMjJ9e1xzdHl"
        + "sZXNoZWV0IHtccWxcZnMyMiBOb3JtYWw7fXtcKlxjczFcZnMyMiBEZWZhdWx0IFBhcmFncmFwaCBGb250O317XCp"
        + "cY3MyXGZzMjJcY2YxIEh5cGVybGluazt9e1wqXHRzM1x0c3Jvd2RcZnMyMlxxbFx0c3ZlcnRhbHRcdHNjZWxsY2J"
        + "wYXQyXHRzY2VsbHBjdDBcY2x0eGxydGIgTm9ybWFsIFRhYmxlO319e1wqXGxpc3RvdmVycmlkZXRhYmxlfXtcaW5"
        + "mb31cbm91aWNvbXBhdFxzcGx5dHduaW5lXGh0bWF1dHNwXGV4cHNocnRuXHNwbHRwZ3BhclxkZWZ0YWI3MjBcc2V"
        + "jdGRcbWFyZ2xzeG4xNDQwXG1hcmdyc3huMTQ0MFxtYXJndHN4bjE0NDBcbWFyZ2JzeG4xNDQwXGhlYWRlcnk3MjB"
        + "cZm9vdGVyeTcyMFxwZ3dzeG4xMjI0MFxwZ2hzeG4xNTg0MFxjb2xzMVxjb2xzeDcyMFxwYXJkXHBsYWluXHFse1x"
        + "mczIyXGNmMFxjczEgRG9jdW1lbnQgdGV4dH1cZnMyMlxjZjBccGFyfQ==";
    this.rich.openDocument(documentAsBase64, 'DocumentName', DocumentFormat.Rtf);
  },
  beforeDestroy() {
    if (this.rich) {
      this.rich.dispose();
      this.rich = null;
    }
  }
}
</script>