Here are a few selection helpers I use when working with TextAreas. They are implemented as jQuery extension functions.

selectRange

The first method selectRange allows you to select a range in an input. It is an adaptation of code found on StackOverflow: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/499126/jquery-set-cursor-position-in-text-area

$.fn.extend({
    // selects a range in a text area
    selectRange: function (start, end) {
        if (!end) end = start;
        return this.each(function () {
            if (this.setSelectionRange) {
                this.focus();
                this.setSelectionRange(start, end);
            } else if (this.createTextRange) {
                var range = this.createTextRange();
                range.collapse(true);
                range.moveEnd('character', end);
                range.moveStart('character', start);
                range.select();
            }
        });
    }
});

It can be used by doing:

$("#mytextarea").selectRange(5,10);

getSelectedRange

This helper will retrieve the currently selected range of an input and will return an object with { start: #num, end: #num }. It will return the same start and end values if the cursor is positioned on a single character.

Note: it only works for browsers that support selectionStart and selectionEnd.

$.fn.extend({
    // gets the selected range in the first text area found
    // returns hash of { start, end }
    getSelectedRange: function() {
        var el = this.get(0),
            start = 0,
            end = 0;
        if (el.selectionStart) {
            start = el.selectionStart;
            end = el.selectionEnd;
        }
        return {
            start: start,
            end: end
        }
    }
});

Usage looks like:

$("#myinput").getSelectedRange();

Which returns something like:

{ start: 5, end: 10 }

getSelectedValue

This helper will retrieve the text of the value that is currently selected. This is useful for getting what the user has highlighted inside the input.

Note: it only works for browsers that support selectionStart and selectionEnd.

$.fn.extend({
    // gets the selected value for the first text area found
    // return the value in the selection
    getSelectedValue: function () {
        var range = this.getSelectedRange();
        var val = this.val();
        return val.slice(range.start, range.end);
    }
});

Usage looks like:

$("#myinput").getSelectedValue()

replaceSelectedRange

This helper replaces the currently selected range with a supplied content. If a range is not selected, it will insert the content at the current cursor location.

Note: it only works for browsers that support selectionStart and selectionEnd.

$.fn.extend({
    // replaces the selected range in each text area
    // returns an array of affected elements
    replaceSelectedRange: function (content) {
        return this.each(function () {
            var $this = $(this),
                range = $this.getSelectedRange(),
                start = range.start,
                end = range.end,
                val = $this.val(),
                startText = val.slice(0, start),
                endText = "",
                replacementLength = content.length;
            if (end) {
                endText = val.slice(end);
            }
            $this.val(startText + content + endText);
            $this.selectRange(start + replacementLength, start + replacementLength);
        });
    }
});

Usage looks like:

$("#myinput").replaceSelectedRange('newtext');