Editable Field

editable-field is a tiny Web Component that wraps a disabled <input> together with a pencil/save/cancel button set. The pencil button enables editing, and the save/cancel controls are revealed once the field is in edit mode. It keeps the host attributes (name, value, disabled) in sync with the internal input and emits lifecycle events that bubble up to any listener, including handlers that watch for namespaced event names.

See a live demo and check the example/ folder for a hands-on playbook.

• Install
• Quick start
• API
  • Attributes
  • Events
• Usage
  • JavaScript
  • HTML
• CSS
  • CSS variables
• Pre-built files
• Notes

Install

Install via npm, yarn, or pnpm and the package will register the <editable-field> custom element globally.

npm i -S @substrate-system/editable-field

Quick start

Import the element and its styles into your bundle entry. The JS import touches customElements.define so the tag is ready to use; the CSS import brings the default gap, outline, and button styles.

import '@substrate-system/editable-field'
import '@substrate-system/editable-field/css'

Now use <editable-field> in your markup.

API

Attributes

• name (string, default '') Mirrors the attribute to the inner <input>'s name and id via handleChange_name, so the field can participate in form submission.
• value (string, default '') Syncs to the input value. Updating the host attribute when the field is idle updates what appears when the next edit session starts.
• disabled (any truthy value, default true) Keeps the input disabled and adds aria-disabled="true". Remove the attribute (or set it to 'false') to re-enable typing. Example: `<editable-field name="email" value="[email protected]" disabled

  `

Events

• edit
  • Origin: host element via this.emit('edit') / this.dispatch('edit')
  • Bubbles: yes
  • Notes: Fires when the pencil button enables editing. The event is also available as editable-field:edit through field.on('edit', handler).
• save
  • Origin: internal <input>
  • Bubbles: yes
  • Notes: Fired when the save button is clicked. Because the event originates from the <input>, event.target.value gives the new value. A namespaced editable-field:save is emitted via field.on('save', …) as shown in example/index.ts.
• cancel
  • Origin: host element (this.emit('cancel'), this.dispatch('cancel'))
  • Bubbles: yes
  • Notes: Triggered by the cancel button. The component resets the cached _originalValue before the event bubbles.

The example/index.ts file also shows how to log the events, inspect their type, and listen for the wildcard field.addEventListener('*', handler) that surfaces every emitted event.

Usage

See `./example/index.ts.

JavaScript

import { type EditableField } from '@substrate-system/editable-field'

const field = document.querySelector<EditableField>('editable-field')
field?.addEventListener('save', ev => {
    const input = ev.target
    console.log('saved value:', input.value)
})

field?.on('save', ev => {
    console.log('namespaced event:', ev.type)
})

HTML

The component consumes the same attributes as the native <input>:

<form>
    <label for="email">Email</label>
    <editable-field
        id="email"
        name="email"
        value="[email protected]"
    ></editable-field>
</form>

When placed inside a form, the name attribute flows through to the inner input so form serialization (via FormData) works without extra wiring.

CSS

The package ships with default styles:

import '@substrate-system/editable-field/css'
// or for the minified output:
import '@substrate-system/editable-field/min/css'

Include these imports once in your CSS/JS entry point before you render the elements so the buttons and outlines behave as shipped.

CSS variables

• --editable-field-gap (0.5rem): Gap between the input and the button trio.
• --pencil-button-color (currentcolor): Stroke color for the pencil icon.
• --pencil-button-size (1.5rem): Width/height of the pencil icon.
• --save-button-color (currentcolor): Stroke color for the save checkmark.
• --save-button-size (1.5rem): Width/height of the save icon.
• --x-button-color (currentcolor): Stroke color for the cancel "x".
• --x-button-size (1.5rem): Width/height of the cancel icon.

Override any of these variables on the host to restyle the buttons or the spacing without touching the component internals.

editable-field {
    --editable-field-gap: 1rem;
    --save-button-color: #0b99ff;
    --x-button-color: #e66;
}

Pre-built files

If you prefer a drop-in script, copy the bundled JS/CSS from dist/ into your public folder.

cp ./node_modules/@substrate-system/editable-field/dist/index.min.js ./public/editable-field.min.js
cp ./node_modules/@substrate-system/editable-field/dist/style.min.css ./public/editable-field.css

<head>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="./editable-field.css">
</head>
<body>
    <script type="module" src="./editable-field.min.js"></script>
</body>

Notes

• The component keeps aria-disabled="true" on the host until the pencil button is clicked; input.focus() runs as soon as editing starts.
• Save/cancel buttons are hidden by default and shown via the .editing class when editing is active. The pencil button is hidden while in edit mode.
• The cancel flow restores the cached _originalValue before it emits cancel.
• To inspect live logging, set localStorage.DEBUG to editable-field and run example/index.ts during development.