This jQuery plugin provides the object $.clipboard for unified copy & paste functionality in browsers.

Internet Explorer allows access to the system clipboard via the object window.clipboard in both directions, reading and writing. The way you can read the content of the clipboard differs slightly for other browsers, but is also an easy task, at least if you are within a paste handler. Writing to the clipboard is more or less impossible with pure JavaScript in other browsers.

ClipboardApplet

jquery-clipboard provides an applet called ClipboardApplet to get full access to the clipboard for browsers other than internet explorer.

The usage of the applet is optional. You can read more about the consequences of using it or not using it, in the API section for getData and setData.

The following steps are needed to use the ClipboardApplet:

1. Sign ClipboardApplet.jar with a trusted certificate.

More about the Why and How is explained here: Java Applet & Web Start - Code Signing

Before signing the applet, it is recommended to modify the values of the arributes Codebase, Application-Library-Allowable-Codebase and Caller-Allowable-Codebase in the MANIFEST.MF file inside of the ClipboardApplet.jar file for your needs, to further increase the security (see JAR File Manifest Attributes for Security).

2. Load deployJava.js file

<script src="http://java.com/js/deployJava.js"></script>

3. Initialize ClipboardApplet

$.clipboard.initApplet("../../ClipboardApplet.jar");

Why is the Flash solution not supported?

First of all, the applet solution is now safer than the Flash version. Thanks to the detected vulnerabilities in Java in the last time, the security requirements for applets were increased. That means, applets have to be signed with a trusted certificate now. That's why the applet solution should be the preferred solution for business applications.

API

Initialize the ClipboardApplet - initApplet(file)

Initializes the ClipboardApplet. You can specify the path of the file via file parameter. If you omit the parameter, "ClipboardApplet.jar" is used.

$.clipboard.initApplet("../../ClipboardApplet.jar");

Get the content of the clipboard - getData([event])

Reads the content of the clipboard, using...

1. window.clipboard.getData for internet explorer
2. event.originalEvent.clipboardData.getData if called from within a paste handler and if event object is passed as param
3. applet ClipboardApplet if configured

If the used browser is an internet explorer, jquery-clipboard just uses window.clipboard.getData to read the content of the clipboard. If the browser is not an internet explorer and you use the method within a paste handler and you pass the event object as param, event.originalEvent.clipboardData.getData is used. If you don't pass the event object as param and the ClipboardApplet is configured, it is used. If the ClipboardApplet is not configured, or is not working for some reason, an error is thrown.

Write to the clipboard - setData(data)

Writes the specified data to the clipboard, using...

1. window.clipboard.setData for internet explorer
2. applet ClipboardApplet if configured
3. a textarea with the content to be copied and user copy action (CTRL+C) as fallback

If the used browser is an internet explorer, jquery-clipboard just uses window.clipboard.setData to write the data to the clipboard. If the browser is not an internet explorer and you have configured the ClipboardApplet, it is used. If you haven't configured the ClipboardApplet, or it is not working for some reason, a textarea is displayed with the data, which shall to be written to the clipboard, already selected. The user can now press CTRL+C, or use copy from the menu or popup menu, to write the data to the clipboard. The textarea will disappear in the moment it looses the focus. The displayed textarea represents a fallback solution, which should work for all browsers.

Example

Copy & Paste Matrix