javascript gurus - text box focus state

Using javascript it is possible to give a text input box focus or to make it lose focus.

I can also detect when a text box gains focus or loses focus.

What I want to know, is it possible to know what the current focus state is without storing a flag somewhere.

I'm dynamically updating the contents of a text box every second but I also want to be to type into that box to change the value. Obviously, I need to switch off the update process when the box gets focus as otherwise the new text will be overwritten.

I'm sure this is simple but I can't find it anywhere.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 8:58 am Post subject:

The focus and blur methods will give/remove focus to/from a form input element which I believe should provide you with what you need.

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 9:13 pm Post subject:

If you are still working on this, then the thread here

contains a couple of suggested approaches to the second - somewhat trickier - part of your question.

Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 2:27 pm Post subject:

jQuery is the answer to all your JavaScript woes!

Or, in this case, a jQuery plugin:
http://www.softwareunity.com/jquery/JQueryMoreSelectors/

With it, you can use $j('input:focus') to get the currently focused element.

So, for example:

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