Commands

Editor42 includes a command system for programmatically controlling the editor. Commands cover formatting, clipboard operations, content manipulation, undo/redo, and more.

There are three types of command calls:

• execCommand(name, showUI?, value?) — executes a command
• queryCommandState(name) — returns true if a toggle command is currently active
• queryCommandValue(name) — returns the current value for a command

// Execute a command
editor42.activeEditor.execCommand('Bold');

// Execute a command with a value
editor42.activeEditor.execCommand('ForeColor', false, '#ff0000');

// Query whether bold is active at the caret position
const isBold = editor42.activeEditor.queryCommandState('Bold');

// Query the current font name at the caret position
const font = editor42.activeEditor.queryCommandValue('FontName');

Exec commands

Alignment

Command	Description	Value
JustifyLeft	Aligns content to the left	—
JustifyCenter	Aligns content to the center	—
JustifyRight	Aligns content to the right	—
JustifyFull	Justifies content (full width)	—
JustifyNone	Removes alignment	—

Clipboard

Command	Description	Value
Cut	Cuts selected content to clipboard	—
Copy	Copies selected content to clipboard	—
Paste	Pastes clipboard content	—

Content

Command	Description	Value
editor42Cleanup	Cleans up the editor content (re-serializes)	—
insertImage	Inserts an image element	URL string
insertHorizontalRule	Inserts a horizontal rule (<hr>)	—
insertText	Inserts plain text at caret position	text string
insertHTML	Inserts HTML at caret position	HTML string
editor42InsertContent	Inserts content at caret position	HTML string
editor42SetContent	Sets the entire editor content	HTML string
editor42ReplaceContent	Replaces content ({$selection} placeholder for current selection text)	HTML string
editor42NewDocument	Resets editor to new document (empty content or configured new_document_content)	—

Formatting

Command	Description	Value
Bold	Toggles bold formatting	—
Italic	Toggles italic formatting	—
Underline	Toggles underline formatting	—
Strikethrough	Toggles strikethrough formatting	—
Superscript	Toggles superscript formatting	—
Subscript	Toggles subscript formatting	—
ForeColor	Sets text foreground color	color string
HiliteColor	Sets text highlight/background color	color string
BackColor	Sets text background color (alias for HiliteColor)	color string
FontName	Sets font family	font name string
FontSize	Sets font size	font size string
LineHeight	Sets line height	line height string
Lang	Sets language	{ code: string, customCode?: string }
RemoveFormat	Removes formatting from selection	—
editor42BlockQuote	Toggles blockquote	—
FormatBlock	Sets block format	block tag name (e.g. 'p', 'h1')
editor42ToggleFormat	Toggles a named format	format name string

History

Command	Description	Value
editor42AddUndoLevel	Adds an undo level	—
editor42EndUndoLevel	Same as editor42AddUndoLevel	—
Undo	Undoes the last action	—
Redo	Redoes the last undone action	—

Indentation

Command	Description	Value
Indent	Indents content	—
Outdent	Outdents content	—

Links

Command	Description	Value
unlink	Removes link from selection	—
editor42InsertLink	Inserts or updates a link	URL string or { href: string, ... }
createLink	Same as editor42InsertLink	URL string or { href: string, ... }

Lists

Command	Description	Value
InsertUnorderedList	Toggles unordered list	—
InsertOrderedList	Toggles ordered list	—

Block insertion

Command	Description	Value
InsertNewBlockBefore	Inserts a new block before current block	—
InsertNewBlockAfter	Inserts a new block after current block	—

Newline

Command	Description	Value
insertParagraph	Inserts a new paragraph (Enter key behavior)	—
editor42InsertNewLine	Inserts a new line	—
InsertLineBreak	Inserts a line break (<br>)	—

Selection

Command	Description	Value
editor42SelectNodeDepth	Selects parent node at specified depth	depth number
editor42SelectNode	Selects a specific DOM node	DOM node
selectAll	Selects all content in the editor	—

General

Command	Description	Value
editor42RemoveNode	Removes a node from the DOM (preserving children)	optional DOM node
editor42Print	Opens browser print dialog	—
editor42Focus	Focuses the editor	optional boolean (true = skip DOM focus)
editor42ToggleVisualAid	Toggles visual aids (table borders, anchors, etc.)	—

Query state commands

These commands can be used with queryCommandState() to check whether a format or state is currently active. Returns true when active.

Command	Returns true when
JustifyLeft	Content is left-aligned
JustifyCenter	Content is center-aligned
JustifyRight	Content is right-aligned
JustifyFull	Content is justified
Bold	Bold format is active
Italic	Italic format is active
Underline	Underline format is active
Strikethrough	Strikethrough format is active
Superscript	Superscript format is active
Subscript	Subscript format is active
editor42BlockQuote	Blockquote format is active
Outdent	Outdent is possible

Query value commands

These commands can be used with queryCommandValue() to retrieve the current value of a format at the caret position.

Command	Returns
FontName	Current font name
FontSize	Current font size
LineHeight	Current line height

Usage examples

Toggling formatting

// Toggle bold on the current selection
editor42.activeEditor.execCommand('Bold');

// Toggle italic
editor42.activeEditor.execCommand('Italic');

Setting text color

editor42.activeEditor.execCommand('ForeColor', false, '#e03e2d');
editor42.activeEditor.execCommand('HiliteColor', false, '#fbeeb8');

Inserting content

// Insert HTML at the caret
editor42.activeEditor.execCommand('editor42InsertContent', false, '<strong>Hello</strong>');

// Replace the entire editor content
editor42.activeEditor.execCommand('editor42SetContent', false, '<p>New content</p>');

Working with links

// Insert a link
editor42.activeEditor.execCommand('editor42InsertLink', false, 'https://example.com');

// Insert a link with attributes
editor42.activeEditor.execCommand('editor42InsertLink', false, {
  href: 'https://example.com',
  target: '_blank',
  title: 'Example'
});

// Remove a link
editor42.activeEditor.execCommand('unlink');

Checking format state

if (editor42.activeEditor.queryCommandState('Bold')) {
  console.log('Bold is active');
}

const currentFont = editor42.activeEditor.queryCommandValue('FontName');
console.log('Current font:', currentFont);