Reuse Angular Document Editor Instances in Bootstrap Tabs
The initialization time of document editor instances is time-consuming and requires resources on both the server side and the client side. To reuse instances, they can be moved within the DOM. This example shows how to reuse instances in bootstrap tabs.

The TX Text Control document editor available Angular, is initialized as a singleton instance on an HTML page. Similar to routes in Angular, the editor typically needs to be removed from the DOM and recreated at the new location. However, some layouts require a fast initialization process and fluid switching between instances, such as tab views:
Bootstrap Tab Pages
For these cases, the fully created editor can be moved within the DOM to a new active tab. Consider the following bootstrap layout:
<ul class="nav nav-tabs" id="myTab" role="tablist">
<li class="nav-item" role="presentation">
<button class="nav-link active" id="doc1-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#doc1" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="doc1" aria-selected="true">Document 1</button>
</li>
<li class="nav-item" role="presentation">
<button class="nav-link" id="doc2-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#doc2" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="doc2" aria-selected="false">Document 2</button>
</li>
<li class="nav-item" role="presentation">
<button class="nav-link" id="doc3-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#doc3" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="doc3" aria-selected="false">Document 3</button>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="tab-content" id="myTabContent">
<div style="height: 800px" class="tab-pane fade show active" id="doc1" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="doc1-tab">
<!-- Document Editor DIV - this DIV will be moved within DOM -->
<div style="height: 100%" id="tx-editor">
<tx-document-editor
width="1000px"
height="500px"
webSocketURL="wss://backend.textcontrol.com?access-token=mytoken">
</tx-document-editor>
</div>
<!-- *** Document Editor DIV *** -->
</div>
<div style="height: 800px" class="tab-pane fade" id="doc2" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="doc2-tab"></div>
<div style="height: 800px" class="tab-pane fade" id="doc3" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="doc3-tab"></div>
</div>
The editor is encapsulated in an additional DIV element with the id tx-editor. When the active tab is switched, this complete element is moved to the new active tab. Additionally, the content of the current instance is saved to local storage and restored when switching back. The following JavaScript (jQuery) code attaches two events to the tab list view:
- hide.bs.tab: Occurs when the previous tab is about to be hidden.
- show.bs.tab: Occurs when the newly active tab is about to be shown.
function attachEvents() {
// event for previous tab
$(".nav-tabs button").on("hide.bs.tab", function(){
// previous tab name
var oldTab = $(this).attr("aria-controls");
// save the document to local storage
TXTextControl.saveDocument(TXTextControl.StreamType.InternalUnicodeFormat,
function (e) {
localStorage.setItem('tx-document_' + oldTab, e.data);
});
});
// event for current tab
$(".nav-tabs button").on("show.bs.tab", function(){
// current tab name
var newTab = $(this).attr("aria-controls");
// get the previously stored document from local storage
const document = localStorage.getItem('tx-document_' + newTab);
// if document is not null, load the document
// and move the editor in DOM to new tab location
if (document !== null) {
TXTextControl.loadDocument(TXTextControl.StreamType.InternalUnicodeFormat,
document, function() {
$("#tx-editor").appendTo("#" + newTab);
});
}
// if document is null, clear the Text Control and move in DOM
else {
TXTextControl.resetContents(function() {
$("#tx-editor").appendTo("#" + newTab);
});
}
})
}
Saving the Document
For the previous tab, the document is saved using the save
TXTextControl.saveDocument(TXTextControl.StreamType.InternalUnicodeFormat, function (e) {
localStorage.setItem('tx-document_' + oldTab, e.data);
});
Loading the Document
For the current tab, the local storage is checked for a previously saved document. If a document is found, it is loaded into the document editor using the load
TXTextControl.loadDocument(TXTextControl.StreamType.InternalUnicodeFormat,
document, function() {
$("#tx-editor").appendTo("#" + newTab);
});
If no document is saved for the currently active tab, the contents are reset and the item is moved:
TXTextControl.resetContents(function() {
$("#tx-editor").appendTo("#" + newTab);
});
Download and Fork This Sample on GitHub
We proudly host our sample code on github.com/TextControl.
Please fork and contribute.
Requirements for this sample
- TX Text Control Angular Trial Token
ASP.NET
Integrate document processing into your applications to create documents such as PDFs and MS Word documents, including client-side document editing, viewing, and electronic signatures.
- Angular
- Blazor
- React
- JavaScript
- ASP.NET MVC, ASP.NET Core, and WebForms
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