js-snip

Universal JavaScript library for clamping HTML text elements.

Key features:

• two snipping approaches (CSS / JavaScript)
• no need to specify line heights
• re-snipping on element resize
• no dependencies

To get a hands-on experience try the Interactive Demo.

Installation

# install with npm
npm install js-snip

# or with yarn
yarn add js-snip

Usage

import { snip, unsnip } from 'js-snip'

const options = {
  // your options
}

// snipping an element
snip(element, options)

// unsnipping the element
unsnip(element)

Options

export interface SnipOptions {
  method?: 'css' | 'js'
  lines?: number
  ellipsis?: string
  midWord?: boolean
}

How it works

• CSS approach is based on the -webkit-line-clamp.
• JavaScript approach is based on the progressive cutting of the element's textContent in a loop.

Note: CSS approach is faster (preferred), but does not work in older browsers / in all situations (f.e. does not work in IE11, when you need the text to flow around a floated element, or when you want a custom ellipsis).

Caveats

For the library to be able to determine the number of lines / hide the text-overflow properly, the height of the element should be the same as the height of the text. Be wary of any CSS steps that will affect the height of the element. Some of the common examples:

• vertical paddings
• fixed height / fixed min-height
• making the element a flex-item (flex container's align-items defaults to stretch)
• making the element height grow with the flex-grow in the column flex layout.

Note: You can still use the directive with flexbox, just make sure to change the default align-items / align-self value to flex-start or whatever fits your case.

Change Log

All changes are documented in the change log.