This documents details the ZeroClipboard.Core API, including various types of properties, methods, and events. ZeroClipboard.Core is primarily intended for use in wrapping ZeroClipboard in 3rd party plugins, e.g. jquery.zeroclipboard.
Any entry that does not include an annotation similar to "Added in v2.x.y" should be assumed to have been available since v2.0.0.
[String] The version of the ZeroClipboard library being used, e.g. "2.0.0".
var config = ZeroClipboard.config();[Object] Get a copy of the active configuration for ZeroClipboard.
var swfPath = ZeroClipboard.config("swfPath");[*] Get a copy of the actively configured value for this configuration property for ZeroClipboard.
var config = ZeroClipboard.config({
forceHandCursor: true
});[Object] Set the active configuration for ZeroClipboard. Returns a copy of the updated active configuration. For complete details about what can be configured, see Configuration Options below.
[undefined] Create the Flash bridge SWF object.
[undefined] Emit the "destroy" event, remove all event handlers, and destroy the Flash bridge.
ZeroClipboard.setData("text/plain", "Blah");[undefined] Set the pending data of type format for clipboard injection.
ZeroClipboard.setData({
"text/plain": "Blah",
"text/html": "<b>Blah</b>"
});[undefined] Set the pending data of various formats for clipboard injection.
ZeroClipboard.clearData("text/plain");[undefined] Clear the pending data of type format for clipboard injection.
ZeroClipboard.clearData();[undefined] Clear the pending data of ALL formats for clipboard injection.
Added in v2.1.0.
var text = ZeroClipboard.getData("text/plain");[String] Get the pending data of type format for clipboard injection.
var dataObj = ZeroClipboard.getData();[Object] Get a copy of the pending data of ALL formats for clipboard injection.
The preferred alias ZeroClipboard.focus(...) was added in v2.1.0.
ZeroClipboard.focus(document.getElementById("d_clip_button"));[undefined] Focus/"activate" the provided element by moving the Flash SWF object in front of it. NOTE: The preferred method to use is focus but the alias activate is available for backward compatibility's sake.
The preferred alias ZeroClipboard.blur() was added in v2.1.0.
[undefined] Blur/"deactivate" the currently focused/"activated" element, moving the Flash SWF object off the screen. NOTE: The preferred method to use is blur but the alias deactivate is available for backward compatibility's sake.
Added in v2.1.0.
var el = document.getElementById("d_clip_button");
ZeroClipboard.focus(el);
var activeEl = ZeroClipboard.activeElement(); // activeEl === el[HTMLElement or null] Return the currently "activated" element that the Flash SWF object is in front of it.
[Object] Diagnostic method that describes the state of the browser, Flash Player, and ZeroClipboard.
[Boolean] Indicates if Flash Player is definitely unusable (disabled, outdated, unavailable, or deactivated). IMPORTANT: This method should be considered private.
var listenerFn = function(e) { var ZeroClipboard = this; /* ... */ };
ZeroClipboard.on("ready", listenerFn);
var listenerObj = {
handleEvent: function(e) { var listenerObj = this; /* ... */ }
};
ZeroClipboard.on("error", listenerObj);[undefined] Add a listener function/object for an eventType.
ZeroClipboard.on("ready error", function(e) { /* ... */ });[undefined] Add a listener function/object for multiple eventTypes.
ZeroClipboard.on({
"ready": function(e) { /* ... */ },
"error": function(e) { /* ... */ }
});[undefined] Add a set of eventType to listener function/object mappings.
ZeroClipboard.off("ready", listenerFn);
ZeroClipboard.off("error", listenerObj);[undefined] Remove a listener function/object for an eventType.
ZeroClipboard.off("ready error", listenerFn);[undefined] Remove a listener function/object for multiple eventTypes.
ZeroClipboard.off({
"ready": readyListenerFn,
"error": errorListenerFn
});[undefined] Remove a set of eventType to listener function/object mappings.
ZeroClipboard.off("ready");[undefined] Remove ALL listener functions/objects for an eventType.
ZeroClipboard.off();[undefined] Remove ALL listener functions/objects for ALL registered event types.
ZeroClipboard.emit("ready");
ZeroClipboard.emit({
type: "error",
name: "flash-disabled"
});
var pendingCopyData = ZeroClipboard.emit("copy");[undefined, or a Flash-friendly data Object for the "copy" event] Dispatch an event to all
registered listeners. The emission of some types of events will result in side effects.
var listeners = ZeroClipboard.handlers("ready");[Array] Retrieves a copy of the registered listener functions/objects for the given eventType.
var listeners = ZeroClipboard.handlers();[Object] Retrieves a copy of the map of registered listener functions/objects for ALL event types.
The ready event is fired when the Flash SWF completes loading and is ready for action. Please
note that you need to set most configuration options [with ZeroClipboard.config(...)]
before ZeroClipboard.create() is invoked.
ZeroClipboard.on("ready", function(e) {
/*
e = {
type: "ready",
message: "Flash communication is established",
target: null,
relatedTarget: null,
currentTarget: flashSwfObjectRef,
version: "11.2.202",
timeStamp: Date.now()
};
*/
});On click, the Flash object will fire off a beforecopy event. This event is generally only
used for "UI prepartion" if you want to alter anything before the copy event fires.
IMPORTANT: Handlers of this event are expected to operate synchronously if they intend to be finished before the "copy" event is triggered.
ZeroClipboard.on("beforecopy", function(e) {
/*
e = {
type: "beforecopy",
target: currentlyActivatedElementOrNull,
relatedTarget: dataClipboardElementTargetOfCurrentlyActivatedElementOrNull,
currentTarget: flashSwfObjectRef,
timeStamp: Date.now()
};
*/
});On click (and after the beforecopy event), the Flash object will fire off a copy event. If
the HTML object has data-clipboard-text or data-clipboard-target, then ZeroClipboard will take
care of getting an initial set of data. It will then invoke any copy event handlers, in which you
can call event.clipboardData.setData to set the text, which will complete the loop.
IMPORTANT: If a handler of this event intends to modify the pending data for clipboard
injection, it MUST operate synchronously in order to maintain the temporarily elevated
permissions granted by the user's click event. The most common "gotcha" for this restriction is
if someone wants to make an asynchronous XMLHttpRequest in response to the copy event to get the
data to inject — this won't work; make it a synchronous XMLHttpRequest instead, or do the
work in advance before the copy event is fired.
ZeroClipboard.on("copy", function(e) {
/*
e = {
type: "copy",
target: currentlyActivatedElementOrNull,
relatedTarget: dataClipboardElementTargetOfCurrentlyActivatedElementOrNull,
currentTarget: flashSwfObjectRef,
timeStamp: Date.now(),
clipboardData: {
setData: ZeroClipboard.setData,
clearData: ZeroClipboard.clearData
}
};
*/
});The aftercopy event is fired when the text is copied [or failed to copy] to the clipboard.
ZeroClipboard.on("aftercopy", function(e) {
/*
e = {
type: "aftercopy",
target: currentlyActivatedElementOrNull,
relatedTarget: dataClipboardElementTargetOfCurrentlyActivatedElementOrNull,
currentTarget: flashSwfObjectRef,
timeStamp: Date.now(),
success: {
"text/plain": true,
"text/html": true,
"application/rtf": false
},
data: {
"text/plain": "Blah",
"text/html": "<b>Blah</b>",
"application/rtf": "{\\rtf1\\ansi\n{\\b Blah}}"
},
errors: [
{
name: "SecurityError",
message: "Clipboard security error OMG",
errorID: 7320,
stack: null,
format: "application/rtf",
clipboard: "desktop"
}
]
};
*/
});The destroy event is fired when ZeroClipboard.destroy() is invoked.
IMPORTANT: Handlers of this event are expected to operate synchronously if they intend to be finished before the destruction is complete.
ZeroClipboard.on("destroy", function(e) {
/*
e = {
type: "destroy",
target: null,
relatedTarget: null,
currentTarget: flashSwfObjectRef,
timeStamp: Date.now(),
success: {
"text/plain": true,
"text/html": true,
"application/rtf": false
},
data: {
"text/plain": "Blah",
"text/html": "<b>Blah</b>",
"application/rtf": "{\\rtf1\\ansi\n{\\b Blah}}"
}
};
*/
});The error event is fired under a number of conditions, which will be detailed as sub-sections below.
Some consumers may not consider all error types to be critical, and thus ZeroClipboard does not take it upon
itself to implode by calling ZeroClipboard.destroy() under error conditions. However, many consumers may
want to do just that.
This type of error event fires when Flash Player is either not installed or not enabled in the browser.
ZeroClipboard.on("error", function(e) {
/*
e = {
type: "error",
name: "flash-disabled",
messsage: "Flash is disabled or not installed. May also be attempting to run Flash in a sandboxed iframe, which is impossible.",
target: null,
relatedTarget: null,
currentTarget: flashSwfObjectRef,
timeStamp: Date.now(),
minimumVersion: "11.0.0"
};
*/
});This type of error event fires when Flash Player is installed in the browser but the version is too old
for ZeroClipboard. ZeroClipboard requires Flash Player 11.0.0 or above.
ZeroClipboard.on("error", function(e) {
/*
e = {
type: "error",
name: "flash-outdated",
messsage: "Flash is too outdated to support ZeroClipboard",
target: null,
relatedTarget: null,
currentTarget: flashSwfObjectRef,
timeStamp: Date.now(),
minimumVersion: "11.0.0",
version: "10.3.183"
};
*/
});This type of error event fires when the page is within a sandboxed iframe element. It is impossible for Flash Player to run in such a sandbox.
ZeroClipboard.on("error", function(e) {
/*
e = {
type: "error",
name: "flash-sandboxed",
messsage: "Attempting to run Flash in a sandboxed iframe, which is impossible",
target: null,
relatedTarget: null,
currentTarget: flashSwfObjectRef,
timeStamp: Date.now(),
minimumVersion: "11.0.0",
version: "11.2.202"
};
*/
});This type of error event fires when the browser's installation of Flash Player cannot communicate bidirectionally with JavaScript.
ZeroClipboard.on("error", function(e) {
/*
e = {
type: "error",
name: "flash-unavailable",
messsage: "Flash is unable to communicate bidirectionally with JavaScript",
target: null,
relatedTarget: null,
currentTarget: flashSwfObjectRef,
timeStamp: Date.now(),
minimumVersion: "11.0.0",
version: "11.2.202"
};
*/
});This type of error event fires when the browser's installation of Flash Player cannot communicate bidirectionally with JavaScript without losing data fidelity.
ZeroClipboard.on("error", function(e) {
/*
e = {
type: "error",
name: "flash-degraded",
messsage: "Flash is unable to preserve data fidelity when communicating with JavaScript",
target: null,
relatedTarget: null,
currentTarget: flashSwfObjectRef,
timeStamp: Date.now(),
minimumVersion: "11.0.0",
version: "11.2.202"
};
*/
});This type of error event fires when the browser's installation of Flash Player is either too old
for the browser [but not too old for ZeroClipboard] or if Flash objects are configured as
click-to-play and the user does not authorize it within _globalConfig.flashLoadTimeout
milliseconds or does not authorize it at all.
This event may also be fired in some browsers if the ZeroClipboard SWF object cannot be loaded at all. See error\[name = "swf-not-found"\] for more information.
ZeroClipboard.on("error", function(e) {
/*
e = {
type: "error",
name: "flash-deactivated",
messsage: "Flash is too outdated for your browser and/or is configured as click-to-activate. This may also mean that the ZeroClipboard SWF object could not be loaded, so please check your `swfPath` configuration and/or network connectivity. May also be attempting to run Flash in a sandboxed iframe, which is impossible.",
target: null,
relatedTarget: null,
currentTarget: flashSwfObjectRef,
timeStamp: Date.now(),
minimumVersion: "11.0.0",
version: "11.2.202"
};
*/
});This type of error event fires when the SWF loads successfully but takes longer than
_globalConfig.flashLoadTimeout milliseconds to do so. This would likely be caused by
one of the following situations:
- Too short of a
_globalConfig.flashLoadTimeoutduration configured - Network latency
- The user's installation of Flash is configured as click-to-play but then authorized by the user too late such that the SWF does not finish loading before the timeout period has expired (or it may have expired before they authorized it at all).
The appropriate response to this event is left up to the consumer. For instance, if they
chose to invoke ZeroClipboard.destroy() in response to the earlier
error[name = "flash-deactivated"] event but then receive this error[name = "flash-overdue"]
event, they may choose to "restart" their process and construct new ZeroClipboard client instances,
or they may choose to just log the error to their server so they can consider increasing the
allowed timeout duration in the future.
This may be especially important for SPA or PJAX-based applications to consider as their users may remain on a single page for an extended period of time during which they possibly could have enjoyed an improved experience if ZeroClipboard had been "restarted" after an initial hiccup.
ZeroClipboard.on("error", function(e) {
/*
e = {
type: "error",
name: "flash-overdue",
messsage: "Flash communication was established but NOT within the acceptable time limit",
target: null,
relatedTarget: null,
currentTarget: flashSwfObjectRef,
timeStamp: Date.now(),
minimumVersion: "11.0.0",
version: "11.2.202"
};
*/
});Added in v2.2.0.
This type of error event fires when the JavaScript side's ZeroClipboard.version property value
does not exactly match the ZeroClipboard.VERSION property value that was compiled into the SWF.
While this is stricter than usually necessary, it helps avoid weird problems if you accidentally
forget to copy all of the assets when updating your ZeroClipboard installation, or if you run into
any weird caching issues afterward. In those situations, this error event should save you a lot of
time and confusion when you run into the occasional bidirectional API change that will fail to work
unless both the JS and SWF assets are appropriate updated.
ZeroClipboard.on("error", function(e) {
/*
e = {
type: "error",
name: "version-mismatch",
messsage: "ZeroClipboard JS version number does not match ZeroClipboard SWF version number",
target: null,
relatedTarget: null,
currentTarget: flashSwfObjectRef,
timeStamp: Date.now(),
jsVersion: "2.2.1",
swfVersion: "2.2.0"
};
*/
});Added in v2.2.0.
This type of error event fires when any error occurs while the Flash layer is attempting to inject the pending clipboard data into the clipboard. This event is fired only if the injection of at least 1 data format into the clipboard threw an error but does not necessarily mean that the injection failed for every data format.
If it is fired at all, it is fired after the aftercopy event and before the bubbled click event.
ZeroClipboard.on("error", function(e) {
/*
e = {
type: "error",
name: "clipboard-error",
messsage: "At least one error was thrown while ZeroClipboard was attempting to inject your data into the clipboard",
target: currentlyActivatedElementOrNull,
relatedTarget: dataClipboardElementTargetOfCurrentlyActivatedElementOrNull,
currentTarget: flashSwfObjectRef,
timeStamp: Date.now(),
data: {
"text/plain": "Blah",
"text/html": "<b>Blah</b>",
"application/rtf": "{\\rtf1\\ansi\n{\\b Blah}}"
},
errors: [
{
name: "SecurityError",
message: "Clipboard security error OMG",
errorID: 7320,
stack: null,
format: "application/rtf",
clipboard: "desktop"
}
]
};
*/
});Added in v2.2.0.
This type of error event fires when the certain properties within the
ZeroClipboard.config configured values do not match real values within
Flash. For example, if the specified swfObjectId config property does
not match the SWF's implicitly known element ID for the SWF object. This
should be extremely rare unless the swfPath URL integrity is being
compromised by attempted cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.
ZeroClipboard.on("error", function(e) {
/*
e = {
type: "error",
name: "config-mismatch",
messsage: "ZeroClipboard configuration does not match Flash's reality",
target: null,
relatedTarget: null,
currentTarget: flashSwfObjectRef,
timeStamp: Date.now(),
property: "swfObjectId",
configuredValue: "my-zeroclipboard-object",
actualValue: "global-zeroclipboard-flash-bridge"
};
*/
});
##### `error[name = "swf-not-found"]`
_Added in `v2.2.0`._
This type of `error` event fires when the ZeroClipboard SWF object cannot be loaded, which typically means one of the following:
1. Your `swfPath` configuration is incorrect
2. The server/domain hosting your SWF is down
3. Your network connectivity has been lost
Unfortunately, this event can only be supported in a limited sub-set of browsers at this time:
- Firefox
- IE10 (_specifically_; not IE9, not IE11)
```js
ZeroClipboard.on("error", function(e) {
/*
e = {
type: "error",
name: "swf-not-found",
messsage: "The ZeroClipboard SWF object could not be loaded, so please check your `swfPath` configuration and/or network connectivity",
target: null,
relatedTarget: null,
currentTarget: flashSwfObjectRef,
timeStamp: Date.now()
};
*/
});These are default values for the global configurations options. You should generally update these before you create your clients.
var _globalConfig = {
// SWF URL, relative to the page. Default value will be "ZeroClipboard.swf"
// under the same path as the ZeroClipboard JS file.
swfPath: _swfPath,
// SWF inbound scripting policy: page domains that the SWF should trust.
// (single string, or array of strings)
trustedDomains: window.location.host ? [window.location.host] : [],
// Include a "noCache" query parameter on requests for the SWF.
cacheBust: true,
// Enable use of the fancy "Desktop" clipboard, even on Linux where it is
// known to suck.
forceEnhancedClipboard: false,
// How many milliseconds to wait for the Flash SWF to load and respond before assuming that
// Flash is deactivated (e.g. click-to-play) in the user's browser. If you don't care about
// how long it takes to load the SWF, you can set this to `null`.
flashLoadTimeout: 30000,
// Setting this to `false` would allow users to handle calling `ZeroClipboard.focus(...);`
// themselves instead of relying on our per-element `mouseover` handler.
autoActivate: true,
// Bubble synthetic events in JavaScript after they are received by the Flash object.
bubbleEvents: true,
// Sets the ID of the `div` encapsulating the Flash object.
// Value is validated against the [HTML4 spec for `ID` tokens][valid_ids].
containerId: "global-zeroclipboard-html-bridge",
// Sets the class of the `div` encapsulating the Flash object.
containerClass: "global-zeroclipboard-container",
// Sets the ID and name of the Flash `object` element.
// Value is validated against the [HTML4 spec for `ID` and `Name` tokens][valid_ids].
swfObjectId: "global-zeroclipboard-flash-bridge",
// The class used to indicate that a clipped element is being hovered over.
hoverClass: "zeroclipboard-is-hover",
// The class used to indicate that a clipped element is active (is being clicked).
activeClass: "zeroclipboard-is-active",
// Forcibly set the hand cursor ("pointer") for all clipped elements.
// IMPORTANT: This configuration value CAN be modified while a SWF is actively embedded.
forceHandCursor: false,
// Sets the title of the `div` encapsulating the Flash object.
// IMPORTANT: This configuration value CAN be modified while a SWF is actively embedded.
title: null,
// The z-index used by the Flash object.
// Max value (32-bit): 2147483647.
// IMPORTANT: This configuration value CAN be modified while a SWF is actively embedded.
zIndex: 999999999
};You can override the defaults by making calls like ZeroClipboard.config({ swfPath: "new/path" });
before you create any clients.
This allows other SWF files and HTML pages from the allowed domains to access/call publicly
exposed ActionScript code, e.g. functions shared via ExternalInterface.addCallback. In other
words, it controls the SWF inbound scripting access.
If your ZeroClipboard SWF is served from a different origin/domain than your page, you need to tell
the SWF that it's OK to trust your page. The default value of [window.location.host] is almost
always what you will want unless you specifically want the SWF to communicate with pages from
other domains (e.g. in iframes or child windows).
For more information about trusted domains, consult the official Flash documentation for flash.system.Security.allowDomain(...).
The allowScriptAccess parameter (for Flash embedding markup) allows the SWF file to access/call
JavaScript/HTML functionality of HTML pages on allowed domains, e.g. invoking functions via
ExternalInterface.call. In other words, it controls the SWF outbound scripting access.
As of version v2.0.0, the allowScriptAccess configuration option no longer exists. The
appropriate value will be determined immediately before the Flash object is embedded on the page.
The value is based on a relationship between the current domain (window.location.host) and the
value of the trustedDomains configuration option.
For more information about allowScriptAccess, consult the official Flash documentation.
The sandbox attribute of the iframe element (new in HTML5, supported in IE10+ and all other evergreen browsers) provides web developers with a way to instruct the browser to load a specific frame's content in a low-privilege environment, starting with the least privilege possible and then whitelisting the necessary subset of capabilities. However, that the sandbox attribute takes away some privileges from the framed content that CANNOT be whitelisted "back in", including the ability to run native plugins (e.g. Flash), ergo causing ZeroClipboard to be completely unusable. See ../instructions.md#sandboxed-iframe-limitations for an in-depth explanation of this limitation and "naughty" workarounds.
ZeroClipboard was intentionally configured to not allow the SWF to be served from a secure domain (HTTPS) but scripted by an insecure domain (HTTP). If you find yourself in this situation (as in Issue #170), see ../instructions.md#cross-protocol-limitations for an in-depth explanation of this limitation and how to proceed.
If you want to either use ZeroClipboard on a page hosted via the file:// protocol or serve ZeroClipboard's assets via the file:// protocol, you are almost guaranteed to run into some roadblocks due to Flash Player security restrictions. See ../instructions.md#file-protocol-limitations for an in-depth explanation of this limitation and potential workarounds.
For developers who want to wrap ZeroClipboard into a 3rd party plugin (e.g. jquery.zeroclipboard), here are the important extension points:
Although the root ZeroClipboard function itself is actually a constructor, it also contains a
particular hook that checks for the existence of a ZeroClipboard._createClient static function
and invokes it with this (the freshly created ZeroClipboard instance) as the context and passes
along all provided arguments to the constructor function, e.g.:
var counterId = 0;
ZeroClipboard._createClient = function(elements, otherStuff, etc) {
this.id = "" + (counterId++);
/* ... */
};
var $elementsToOperateOn = $(".clip_button");
var client = new ZeroClipboard($elementsToOperateOn);Using the ZeroClipboard constructor will allow you to also extend the underlying prototype with
new instance-based methods, e.g.:
ZeroClipboard.prototype.clientEmitOrSomeOtherOperationToInvoke = function(e) {
e.client = this;
};Most clients will want to listen for some or all of the ZeroClipboard.Core events, and some
clients will even want to regurgitate the same events to their own client-based listeners. To
make the latter easier, ZeroClipboard.Core will also allow you to add a listener to an
eventType of "*", e.g.:
ZeroClipboard._createClient = function() {
var client = this;
ZeroClipboard.on("*", function(e) {
client.clientEmitOrSomeOtherOperationToInvoke(e);
});
};The ZeroClipboard.Core API is composed of static methods stored as properties of the
root ZeroClipboard function. As such, additional static methods can be added as desired, if there
is any actual benefit to doing so, e.g.:
ZeroClipboard.log = function() {
if (typeof console !== "undefined" && console.log) {
console.log.apply(console, Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments, 0));
}
};