TextEditor

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TextEditor

TextEditor control

A multi-line text editing view, similar to an HTML <textarea>. TextEditor is suited for editing longer content such as notes, descriptions, or code. The text property is reactive. Assigning a new value triggers an immediate UI update.

Constructor

nib.TextEditor(
    value="",
    placeholder=None,
    on_change=None,
    style=None,
    font=None,
    foreground_color=None,
    line_limit=None,
    scrolls_disabled=False,
    content_background=None,
    **modifiers,
)

Parameters

Parameter Type Default Description
value str "" Initial text. text= is a deprecated alias.
placeholder str None Placeholder text displayed when the editor is empty (macOS 14+).
on_change Callable[[str], None] None Callback called when text changes. Receives the new text as a string argument.
style TextEditorStyle None Comprehensive style configuration including font, colors, line spacing, alignment, and editor appearance.
font Font None Text font. Overridden by style.font if both are provided.
foreground_color Color | str None Text color. Overridden by style.foreground_color if both are provided.
line_limit int None Maximum number of visible lines. style takes precedence.
scrolls_disabled bool False Disable scrolling. style takes precedence.
content_background Color | str | False None Editor background colour. False hides it. style takes precedence.
**modifiers Common view modifiers: padding, background, opacity, width, height, etc.

Mutable Properties

Property Type Description
value str Get or set the text. Setting triggers a UI update. text is a deprecated alias.
placeholder str Get or set the placeholder text. Setting triggers a UI update.
style TextEditorStyle Get or set the style configuration. Setting triggers a UI update.

Methods

Method Description
focus() Make the editor first responder.
blur() Resign first responder.
select_all() Select all text. The field must be focused.

Examples

Simple note editor

texteditor_simple_note_editor

import nib


def main(app: nib.App):
    app.title = "Note"
    app.icon = nib.SFSymbol("note.text")
    app.width = 340
    app.height = 240

    app.build(
        nib.VStack(
            controls=[
                nib.Text("Quick note", font=nib.Font.HEADLINE),
                nib.TextEditor(
                    value="Buy coffee beans\nCall the dentist\nShip nib 1.0",
                    width=300,
                    height=160,
                ),
            ],
            spacing=8,
            padding=20,
            alignment=nib.Alignment.LEADING,
        )
    )


nib.run(main)

Editor with change tracking

texteditor_editor_change_tracking

import nib


def main(app: nib.App):
    app.title = "Draft"
    app.icon = nib.SFSymbol("pencil.line")
    app.width = 340
    app.height = 200

    draft = "Nib renders your interface with SwiftUI through a small Swift runtime."
    counter = nib.Text("", font=nib.Font.CAPTION, foreground_color=nib.Color.SECONDARY)

    def update(text):
        counter.content = f"{len(text.split())} words, {len(text)} characters"

    update(draft)

    app.build(
        nib.VStack(
            controls=[
                nib.TextEditor(value=draft, on_change=update, width=300, height=120),
                counter,
            ],
            spacing=6,
            padding=20,
            alignment=nib.Alignment.TRAILING,
        )
    )


nib.run(main)
SecureField Toggle