events - Is there a way to detect find on the page searches in javascript

Question

each browser has find on page functionality (ctrl+F). Is there a way to detect user searches in javascript so that I could attach additional actions.

Answer 1

Here is a solution which can account for alternative page find situations (ex. Command+F, '/' on Firefox). It checks for any of these keypresses and sets a timer when they occur. If the window is blurred soon after, then it is assumed that the Find dialog is showing.

Disadvantages: does not account for the "Find" dialog being launched via the menu. I don't see any way to be sure about this part, since (as far as I know, at least) browser UI is off-limits to Javascript running inside the DOM.

var keydown = null;

$(window).keydown(function(e) {
    if ( ( e.keyCode == 70 && ( e.ctrlKey || e.metaKey ) ) ||
         ( e.keyCode == 191 ) ) {
        keydown = new Date().getTime();
    }

    return true;
}).blur(function() {
    if ( keydown !== null ) {
        var delta = new Date().getTime() - keydown;
        if ( delta >= 0 && delta < 1000 )
            console.log('finding');

        keydown = null;
    }
});

jsFiddle, tested in Chrome, Safari and Firefox