How to paste values only and paste format only

Introduction

GridJs adds a Paste Special submenu to the context menu. That submenu contains Paste values only and Paste format only, and the sheet component routes them to paste('text') and paste('format'). Both actions stop immediately when the sheet is in read mode or the current sheet is locked.

How to use

  1. Select the source cell or range in GridJs.

  2. Copy or cut the selection inside GridJs.

  3. Select the target cell or range.

  4. Right-click the selection and open Paste Special.

  5. Click Paste values only when you want the handler to use the text paste branch.

  6. Click Paste format only when you want the handler to use the format paste branch.

  1. If the current sheet is read-only or locked, GridJs does not run the paste action.

JavaScript API

const xs = x_spreadsheet('#gridjs-demo-uid', options);

// Paste only the internal GridJs clipboard text branch.
const valuesPasted = await xs.sheet.data.pasteFromInternal('text', msg => {
  console.log(msg);
});

// Paste only the internal GridJs clipboard format branch.
const formatsPasted = await xs.sheet.data.pasteFromInternal('format', msg => {
  console.log(msg);
});

// Paste plain text into the current selection.
xs.sheet.data.pasteFromText('A\tB\r\n1\t2', msg => {
  console.log(msg);
});

// Paste styled HTML cells into the current selection.
xs.sheet.data.pasteFromHTML(htmlString, msg => {
  console.log(msg);
});

Relevant functions

Function Description Parameters Returns
sheet.data.pasteFromInternal(what, error) Pastes from the internal GridJs copy/cut clipboard. what: 'all', 'text', or 'format'; error: callback for paste errors Promise<boolean>
sheet.data.pasteFromText(txt, error) Splits plain text by \r\n and \t, expands the target range, and writes text cells. txt: plain text; error: callback for paste errors void
sheet.data.pasteFromHTML(html, error) Parses styled cells from HTML and applies them to the current selection. html: HTML string; error: callback for paste errors void

For internal copy and paste, the row model uses what === 'text' to write destination text only, and what === 'format' to write destination style and copied merge metadata.

Common Questions

Q: What does Paste values only do in this code? A: The context menu action calls paste('text'), and the row model’s text branch writes only the destination cell text.

Q: What does Paste format only do in this code? A: The context menu action calls paste('format'), and the row model’s format branch writes the destination cell style. When the copied cell includes merge metadata, that merge metadata is copied in the same branch.

Q: Does the Paste Special menu have a separate external clipboard fallback for formats? A: No separate external format-only fallback was found in the menu handler. When internal copy/cut is unavailable, the code reads the browser clipboard and handles text/plain through pasteFromText, or image/png through image upload.

Q: What happens when the target intersects merged cells? A: Paste is allowed only when the target is exactly one complete merged area and the source is a single cell, or when the merged target size is an integer multiple of the source range. For a multi-cell source pasted into one complete merged area, the code unmerges the target area before applying the paste.

Q: Do Ctrl+Shift+V and Ctrl+Alt+V have dedicated keyboard handling? A: The submenu items display those labels, but in the inspected sheet.js code only Ctrl+V has a dedicated keyboard branch. No separate key handling branch was found for the two Paste Special combinations.

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