Text

⚠️ DEPRECATED: Use Data Binding instead of direct text run manipulation at runtime

DEPRECATION NOTICE: This entire page documents the legacy Text manipulation system. For new projects: Use Data Binding instead. For existing projects: Plan to migrate from direct text run manipulation to Data Binding as soon as possible.

For more information on designing and animating Text, please refer to the editor’s text section:

Text

Information on designing and animating Text

Read/Update Text Runs at Runtime

⚠️ LEGACY CONTENT WARNING: The following sections document the deprecated Text manipulation system. This content is provided for legacy support only. New implementations should use Data Binding.

If you intend to update a text run at runtime it’s important to manually enter a unique name for the run in the editor:

And then export the name: right-click and select Export name

You can identify an exported component if it’s surrounded by square brackets. This makes it possible for the run to be “discoverable” at runtime by its name. For more information, see Exporting for Runtime.

If the name is not set manually in the editor the name will not be part of the exported .riv (to reduce file size).

Text runs can also be updated on components at runtime, see Read/Update Nested Text Runs at Runtime below.

Examples

• Updating Text at Runtime - Localization example

High-level API usage

Reading Text

To read a given text run text value at any given time, reference the .getTextRunValue() API on the Rive instance:

public getTextRunValue(textRunName: string): string | undefined

Supply the text run name, and you’ll have the Rive text run value returned, or undefined if the text run could not be queried.

Setting Text

To set a given text run value at any given time, reference the .setTextRunValue() API on the Rive instance:

public setTextRunValue(textRunName: string, textRunValue: string): void

Supply the text run name and a second parameter, textValue, with a String value that you want to set the new text value for if the text run can be successfully queried on the active artboard.

Example Usage

import {Rive} from '@rive-app/canvas'

const r = new Rive({
src: "my-rive-file.riv"
artboard: "my-artboard-name",
autoplay: true,
stateMachines: "State Machine 1",
onLoad: () => {
    console.log("My design-time text is, ", r.getTextRunValue("MyRun"));
    r.setTextRunValue("MyRun", "New text value");
},
})

Low-level API usage

Get a reference to the Rive Artboard, find a text run by a given name, and get/update the text value property.

import RiveCanvas from '@rive-app/canvas-advanced';


const bytes = await (
await fetch(new Request('./my-rive-file.riv'))
).arrayBuffer();
const myRiveFile = await rive.load(new Uint8Array(bytes));

const artboard = myRiveFile.defaultArtboard();
const textRun = artboard.textRun("MyRun"); // Query by the text run name
console.log(`My design-time text is ${textRun.text}`);
textRun.text = "Hello JS Runtime!";

...

Read/Update Nested Text Runs at Runtime

⚠️ DEPRECATED FEATURE: Nested Text Runs are part of the legacy Text manipulation system. Use Data Binding instead for controlling component text properties at runtime.

It’s possible to set nested text runs at runtime—text that is not on the main artboard but on a Component. To set a nested text run, you’ll need to take note of the path where the input exists at an artboard level.

For example, to get/set the text run named button_text on the Button artboard, you need to provide the correct path.

Setting Nested Text Runs

The artboard names here are:

• Main -> NestedArtboard -> Button

However, the path is determined based on the names set in the hierarchy:

• ArtboardWithUniqueName -> ButtonWithUniqueName

The path is then: ArtboardWithUniqueName/ButtonWithUniqueName

Be sure to mark the components and text runs as exported.

Export component name

Do not use ”/” in the name for your components, as that will break the search functionality at runtime.

Examples

• Updating Nested Text at Runtime - Localization example

High-level API usage

Reading Text

To read a given text run text value at a specific path, reference the .getTextRunValueAtPath() API on the Rive instance:

public getTextRunValueAtPath(textRunName: string, path: string): string | undefined

Supply the text run name and the path where it is located, and you’ll have the Rive text run value returned, or undefined if the text run could not be queried.

Setting Text

To set a given text run value at a specific path, reference the .setTextRunValueAtPath() API on the Rive instance:

public setTextRunValueAtPath(textRunName: string, textRunValue: string, path: string): void

Supply the textRunName, the new textValue, and the path where the run is located at a component instance level.

Example Usage

import {Rive} from '@rive-app/canvas'

const r = new Rive({
src: "my-rive-file.riv"
artboard: "my-artboard-name",
autoplay: true,
stateMachines: "State Machine 1",
onLoad: () => {
    console.log("My design-time text is, ", r.getTextRunValueAtPath("MyRun", "path/to/run"));
    r.setTextRunValueAtPath("MyRun", "New text value", "path/to/run");
},
})

Semantics for Accessibility

Rive now supports screen readers through semantics.

See the Semantics documentation for current guidance.

Additional Resources:

• Accessible web animations: ARIA live regions