Select multiple HTML table rows with Ctrl+click and Shift+click

I made it work with all the Windows 7 explorer behaviors and jquery mouse events.

http://jsfiddle.net/ubershmekel/nUV23/6/

Note that:

• When you just click, you set a pivot for the next shift-click
• Use Ctrl-Shift to expand your current selection and not pivot like Shift-alone does.
• Use Ctrl-click to add a pivot, you can use Ctrl-Shift to then expand that selection around the new pivot.

The js:

var selectionPivot;
// 1 for left button, 2 for middle, and 3 for right.
var LEFT_MOUSE_BUTTON = 1;
var trs = document.getElementById('tableStudent').tBodies[0].getElementsByTagName('tr');
var idTds = $('td:first-child');
idTds.each(function(idx, val) {
    // onselectstart because IE doesn't respect the css `user-select: none;`
    val.onselectstart = function() { return false; };
    $(val).mousedown(function(event) {
        if(event.which != LEFT_MOUSE_BUTTON) {
            return;
        }
        var row = trs[idx];
        if (!event.ctrlKey && !event.shiftKey) {
            clearAll();
            toggleRow(row);
            selectionPivot = row;
            return;
        }
        if (event.ctrlKey && event.shiftKey) {
            selectRowsBetweenIndexes(selectionPivot.rowIndex, row.rowIndex);
            return;
        }
        if (event.ctrlKey) {
            toggleRow(row);
            selectionPivot = row;
        }
        if (event.shiftKey) {
            clearAll();
            selectRowsBetweenIndexes(selectionPivot.rowIndex, row.rowIndex);
        }
    });
});

function toggleRow(row) {
    row.className = row.className == 'selected' ? '' : 'selected';
}

function selectRowsBetweenIndexes(ia, ib) {
    var bot = Math.min(ia, ib);
    var top = Math.max(ia, ib);

    for (var i = bot; i <= top; i++) {
        trs[i-1].className = 'selected';
    }
}

function clearAll() {
    for (var i = 0; i < trs.length; i++) {
        trs[i].className = '';
    }
}

And the CSS:

.selected {
    background: #bdf;
}

td:first-child {
    -webkit-user-select: none;
    -khtml-user-select: none;
    -moz-user-select: none;
    -o-user-select: none;
    user-select: none;
}

td,th {
    padding: 3px;
    border: 2px solid #aaa;
}

table {
    border-collapse: collapse;
}

Here's a jQuery plugin I wrote recently for a project. Thought sharing...

Works exactly like you're used to, + it's extremely fast cause it operates over an Array without the need to check for attributes, classes etc, and the add/removeClass triggers only on the selected elements:

// Use like:
// $("table").selekt();
//
// Available options:
$("table").selekt({
  children: "tr",           // Elements to target (default: "tbody tr")
  className: "selected",    // Desired CSS class  (default: "selected")
  onSelect: function(sel) { // Useful callback
    $("span").text(sel.length + ' in ' + this.id);
  }
});

.selected { background: #0bf; }
table {border: 1px solid #555;display: inline-block; vertical-align: top;}

<p>Seleceted: <span id="info">0</span></p>

<table id="table_1">
  <tr><td>1 SELECT ME</td></tr>
  <tr><td>2 SELECT ME</td></tr>
  <tr><td>3 SELECT ME</td></tr>
  <tr><td>4 SELECT ME</td></tr>
  <tr><td>5 SELECT ME</td></tr>
  <tr><td>6 SELECT ME</td></tr>
</table>

<table id="table_2">
  <tr><td>1 SELECT ME</td></tr>
  <tr><td>2 SELECT ME</td></tr>
  <tr><td>3 SELECT ME</td></tr>
  <tr><td>4 SELECT ME</td></tr>
</table>

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script>
;(function($) {
  // selekt jQuery plugin // http://stackoverflow.com/a/35813513/383904
  $.fn.selekt = function() {

    var settings = $.extend({
      children: "tbody tr",
      className: "selected",
      onSelect: function() {}
    }, arguments[0] || {});

    return this.each(function(_, that) {
      var $ch = $(this).find(settings.children),
        sel = [],
        last;

      $ch.on("mousedown", function(ev) {
        var isCtrl = (ev.ctrlKey || ev.metaKey),
          isShift = ev.shiftKey,
          ti = $ch.index(this),
          li = $ch.index(last),
          ai = $.inArray(this, sel);

        if (isShift || isCtrl) ev.preventDefault();

        $(sel).removeClass(settings.className);

        if (isCtrl) {
          if (ai > -1) sel.splice(ai, 1);
          else sel.push(this);
        } else if (isShift && sel.length > 0) {
          if (ti > li) ti = [li, li = ti][0];
          sel = $ch.slice(ti, li + 1);
        } else {
          sel = ai < 0 || sel.length > 1 ? [this] : [];
        }

        last = this;
        $(sel).addClass(settings.className);
        settings.onSelect.call(that, sel);
      });
    });
  };
}(jQuery));
</script>

Check this example:

JSFiddle: Highlight list with shift and ctrl

Part of the code:

switch(e.type) {
    case "keydown" :
        console.log('k_down');
        keysPressed.push(e.keyCode);
        break;
    case "keyup" :
        console.log('k_up');
        var idx = keysPressed.indexOf(e.keyCode);
        if (idx >= 0)
            keysPressed.splice(idx, 1);
        break;
}

Sources could be found here: Source files github

I know this question is already answered and it's pretty old, but I found the answer by andyb to be super helpful. Perhaps it was because andyb's answer might be outdated now, but I ended up having to change his solution a bit to work with my project, so I figured I'd share my updated version. Here is what I ended up with, using a sprinkling of jQuery.

$(document).ready(function(){
    //put all the table rows in a variable after page load to pass in to RowClick
    var trs = $('#tableStudent tr')
    //bind the click handler to all the table rows
    $('tr').on('click', function(){
        //call the RowClick function on click event
        RowClick($(this),false,trs)
    })
})

//declare variable to store the most recently clicked row
var lastSelectedRow;

// disable text selection
document.onselectstart = function() {
    return false;
}

function RowClick(currentrow, lock, rows) {
    //if control is held down, toggle the row
    if (window.event.ctrlKey) {
        toggleRow(currentrow);
    }

    //if there are no buttons held down...
    if (window.event.button === 0) {

        //if neither control or shift are held down...
        if (!window.event.ctrlKey && !window.event.shiftKey) {
            //clear selection
            clearAll(rows);
            //toggle clicked row
            toggleRow(currentrow);
        }

        //if shift is held down...
        if (window.event.shiftKey) {
            //pass the indexes of the last selected row and currently selected row along with all rows
            selectRowsBetweenIndexes([lastSelectedRow.index(), currentrow.index()], rows)
        }
    }
}

function toggleRow(row) {
    //if the row is not the header row...
    if (!row.hasClass('header-row')){
        //if the row is selected...
        if (row.hasClass('selected')){
            //deselect it
            row.removeClass('selected')
        }
        else{
            //otherwise, select it
            row.addClass('selected')
        }
        //reassign the most recently selected row
        lastSelectedRow = row;
    }
}

function selectRowsBetweenIndexes(indexes,rows) {
    //sort the indexes in ascending order
    indexes.sort(function(a, b) {
        return a - b;
    });

    //for every row starting at the first index, until the second index...
    for (var i = indexes[0]; i <= indexes[1]; i++) {
        //select the row
        $(rows[i+1]).addClass('selected');
    }
}

function clearAll(rows) {
    //for all rows...
    for (var i = 0; i < rows.length; i++) {
        //deselect each row
        $(rows[i]).removeClass("selected");
    }
}

Following code is modification from Robo C Buljan, since i wanted to multiselect using checkboxes and shift key

<includeScript value="/jquery-3.2.0.min.js" />
<script>
	;(function($) {
	// selekt jQuery plugin // http://stackoverflow.com/a/35813513/383904
	$.fn.selekt = function() {
	  var settings = $.extend({
	      children: "td input[type='checkbox'][name='ids']",
	      onSelect: function(){
	      }
	  }, arguments[0] || {});
	  return this.each(function(_, that){
	    var $ch = $(this).find(settings.children),
	    sel = [],
	    last;
	    $ch.on("mouseup", function(ev) {
	    	/* Note 1: Remember this code is run when a checkbox is clicked and is run before checbox's state changes because of click 
	    	i.e. to say if the checkbox was checked and we clicked it to uncheck, then this event handler (mouse up)code is called before the unchecing happens */
	      if(ev.shiftKey || ev.ctrlKey){
	        ev.preventDefault();
	        ev.stopPropagation();
	      }
	      var self = this;
	      var ti = $ch.index(this), // index of current element in the matching elements
	          li = $ch.index(last), // index of last element in the matching elements
	          ai = $.inArray(this, sel); // index of this in the sel array
	      if(ev.ctrlKey) {
	        if(ai > -1) sel.splice(ai, 1);
	        else sel.push(this);
	      }
	      else if(ev.shiftKey && sel.length > 0) {
	        if(ti > li) ti = [li, li=ti][0];
	        sel = $ch.slice(ti, li+1);
	      }
	      else {
	        sel = ai < 0 || sel.length > 1 ? [this] : [];
	      }
	      last = this;
	      /* purpose 2 
	      code to check checkboxes inside the array*/
	      $(sel).each(function(index, checkbox){
	      	/* see/search Note 1 in comments, if the checkbox is already checked/unchecked then uncheck/check all the elements straight from the last element correspondingly */
	      	if(self.checked) { 
	      		if( checkbox != self){
			        checkbox.checked = false;
	      		}
	      	} else {	
		      	if( checkbox != self){
			        checkbox.checked = true;
		      	}
	      	}
	      })
	      /*end of purpose 2*/

	      // settings.onSelect.call(that, sel); // this is defined just in case we want to call some function  after the select/deselect operation
	    });
	  });
	};
	}(jQuery));
	setTimeout(function(){
		$("table.list").selekt();  
	},500)
	
</script>