How to copy text to clipboard via custom context menu (without flash / add-ons)

Question

My understanding is that there is no cross browser * solution for setting the text of system clipboard directly, instead, on a keyboard initiated copy event, setting text to the system clipboard can be accomplished by setting focus to a hidden text input on keypress just prior to the copy event.

With 'copy' from custom context menu, there is no user-initiated copy event to be directed towards the hidden input.

In Google docs, however, right click opens a custom context menu, where the user can copy the selected text to the system clipboard. How can this result be achieved?

• (Google Chrome (v28.x), Mozilla Firefox (v22.x) current versions as of this writing, Internet Explorer 10)

Answer 1

There is no cross browser way around for accessing system clipboard without flash. Clipboard is a security-relevant resource since it could contain sensitive data.

You can find more info in this blog post :

http://brooknovak.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/accessing-the-system-clipboard-with-javascript/