Add character counter in simple_form in Ruby on Rails - ruby-on-rails

Question

I use the simple_form gem and I want a simple character counter on a text field. I was told, this might work:
add this to the form:
<%= f.input :body, id: "body-field" %>
<span id="body-count">0 characters</span>
and javascript:
$("#body-field").on("keyup", function(){
length = $(this).val().length;
$("#body-count").html(length);
});
I got this information from here (Attention: It is full of advertisement): http://www.sohua.xyz/questions-full/4320915/how-do-i-implement-a-basic-character-counter-in-a-simple-form
I did this, but nothing happens. Here is my actual code chapters/new.html.erb:
<%= simple_form_for([#book, #book.chapters.build]) do |f| %>
<%= f.input :chaptertitle %>
Mininmum amount of characters: <%= #book.min_length %> Maximum amount of characters: <%= #book.max_length %>
<%= f.input :chaptercontent, id: "body-field" %>
<span id="body-count">0 characters</span>
<%= f.input :author %>
<%= f.button :submit %>
<% end %>
<script>
$("#body-field").on("keyup", function(){
length = $(this).val().length;
$("#body-count").html(length);
});
</script>
Can you give me any advice, how to get it work?

Answer 1

You need to wrap your code in jquery document ready function:
$(function() {
$("#body-field").on("keyup", function(){
var length = $(this).val().length;
$("#body-count").html(length);
});
});
Why don't you use an existing library instead?
https://github.com/dtisgodsson/jquery-character-counter

Answer 2

You might want to use either js or coffee-script, I am providing a coffee script example below:
Add this piece of code to your chapters.coffee file:
ready = ->
totalChars = 100
#Total characters allowed
countTextBox = $('#body-field')
# Remaining chars count will be displayed here
charsCountEl = $('#countchars')
#initial value of countchars element
charsCountEl.text totalChars
#user releases a key on the keyboard
countTextBox.keyup ->
#get chars count in Text field
thisChars = #value.replace(/{.*}/g, '').length
if thisChars > totalChars
# total extra chars to delete
CharsToDel = thisChars - totalChars
#remove excess chars from text field
#value = #value.substring(0, #value.length - CharsToDel)
else
#count remaining chars
charsCountEl.text totalChars - thisChars
return
return
$(document).ready ready
$(document).on 'page:load', ready
# Loads javascript while loading page
Add this line to your form right below to the Text input field.
var ready;
var charsCountEl, countTextBox, totalChars;
totalChars = 100;
countTextBox = $('#body-field');
charsCountEl = $('#countchars');
charsCountEl.text(totalChars);
countTextBox.keyup(function() {
var CharsToDel, thisChars;
thisChars = this.value.replace(/{.*}/g, '').length;
if (thisChars > totalChars) {
CharsToDel = thisChars - totalChars;
this.value = this.value.substring(0, this.value.length - CharsToDel);
} else {
charsCountEl.text(totalChars - thisChars);
}
});
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.11.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<input type="text" id="body-field" />
<span id="countchars"></span>
If your file under javascript/ folder doesn't have extestion .coffee the please rename it to chapters.coffee if it does then thats it.
PS: here is the javascript version of the same http://pastebin.com/LZb1DAC4.
Reference: https://stackoverflow.com/a/24629105/2545197

Answer 3

This solution won't be as good as Abhinay's solution, but it works for me:
(Please note, I'm an amateur, this code may be horrendous)
Javascript code:
<script>
$(document).ready(function(){
var choosingbar = function( event ){
$(event.target).parents(".counting").children(".count").text($(event.target).val().length);
};
$(".counting textarea").keyup(choosingbar);
});
</script>
new.html.erb code:
<%= simple_form_for([#book, #book.chapters.build]) do |f| %>
<%= f.input :chaptertitle %>
Mininmum amount of characters: <%= #book.min_length %> Maximum amount of characters: <%= #book.max_length %>
<div class="counting" ><%= f.input :chaptercontent %>Characters: <span class="count"></span></div><br>
<%= f.input :author %>
<%= f.button :submit %>
<% end %>