Is it possible to create a custom format/blot with complex substructure?

Question

I\'m investigating the use of Quill for a project, and I need to know if it\'s possible to create a custom format/blot with more complexity than a single element and a single pa

Answer 1

So, I figured out how to do this in the end with minimal effort. It involves defining a new blot type for Quill 1.3 or greater, the same code should work on older versions however is untested.

See the code snippet for a working example. The crux is to extend the existing Embed blot 'blots/embed' and define your own toolbar handler to inject arbitrary DOM node instances.

// utility function used to inherit non prototypical methods/properties
function extend(target, base) {
  for (var prop in base) {
    target[prop] = base[prop];
  }
}

// definition of a custom Blot.
(function(Embed) {
  'use strict';

  function Span() {
    Object.getPrototypeOf(Embed).apply(this, arguments);
  }

  Span.prototype = Object.create(Embed && Embed.prototype);
  Span.prototype.constructor = Span;
  extend(Span, Embed);

  Span.create = function create(value) {
    return value; // expects a domNode as value
  };

  Span.value = function value(domNode) {
    return domNode;
  };

  Span.blotName = 'span';
  Span.tagName = 'SPAN';
  Span.className = 'complex';

  Quill.register(Span, true);
})(Quill.import('blots/embed')); // import the embed blot. This is important as this is being extended

// custom handler for the toolbar button
var handler = function() {
  var complexSpan = document.getElementById('complextype').firstElementChild.cloneNode(true);
  var selection = quill.getSelection();

  quill.insertEmbed(selection.index, 'span', complexSpan);
}

// instantiate quill. Note that modules.toolbar.handlers has a 'span' handler. Quill parses this from // the class on the button in the toolbar markup: 'ql-span' this is 'ql-' + blotName
var quill = new Quill('#editor', {
  modules: {
    toolbar: {
      container: '.toolbar',
      handlers: {
        'span': handler
      }
    }
  },
  theme: 'snow'
});

:root {
  --complex-bgcolor: #767676;
  --font-color: #FFFFFF;
}

html {
  font-size: 10px;
}

button.ql-span {
  width: 15rem !important;
}

.complex {
  border-radius: 1rem;
  border: 0.2rem solid black;
  margin: 0.3rem;
}

.inner {
  border-radius: 1rem;
  background: var(--complex-bgcolor);
  color: var(--font-color);
  padding-left: 0.6rem;
  padding-right: 0.6rem;
}

.formatting {
  font-weight: bold;
  font-style: italic;
  text-decoration: underline;
}

.nested {
  margin-left: 0.3rem;
  margin-right: 0.3rem;
}

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/quill/1.3.1/quill.min.js"></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/quill/1.3.1/quill.snow.css" />
<div id="wrapper">
  <div id="toolbar" class="toolbar">
    <span class="ql-formats">
      <button class="ql-bold"></button>
      <button class="ql-italic"></button>
      <button class="ql-underline"></button>
    </span>
    <span class="ql-formats">
      <button class="ql-span">Complex Span Type</button>
    </span>
  </div>

  <div id="editor">Lorem Ipsum 
    <span contenteditable="false">
      <span class="complex" spellcheck="false">
        <span class="inner">Format applied</span>
        <span class="nested">More text</span>
        <span class="formatting">with formatting</span>
        <span class="nested">dolor</span>
      </span>
    </span> sit amet
  </div>
</div>

<div id="complextype" style="display:none;">
<span contenteditable="false"><span class="complex" spellcheck="false"><span class="inner">Format applied</span><span class="nested">More text</span><span class="formatting">with formatting</span><span class="nested">dolor</span></span></span>
</div>

Answer 2

Documentation and guides are still being written but a good place to look is how existing custom formats are implemented. The formula format in particular seems very similar to your use case.