Use Jquery for text autoformatting: convert --> to →

Question

How can I get jquery/javascript to detect when --> is typed in a textfield and replace it with →?

Would something like the following be the best way of doing this:

$("input").on("keyup paste", function() {

  var content = $(this).html(),
  arrow =  "→";
  content = content.replace(regex, arrow);
  $(this).html(content);

});

Answer 1

You can use String#replace with regex to replace all occurrences of a string.

Note: input elements have value, use val() to get the value of it.

$("input").on("keyup paste", function () {
    $(this).val(function (i, val) {
        return val.replace(/-->/g, '→');
    });
});

$("input").on("keyup paste", function () {
    $(this).val(function (i, val) {
        return val.replace(/-->/g, '→');
    });
});

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<input type="text" />

I'll suggest to use change event instead of keyup.