files/en-us/web/api/editcontext/characterbounds/index.md
{{APIRef("EditContext API")}}{{SeeCompatTable}}
The characterBounds() method of the {{domxref("EditContext")}} interface returns an {{jsxref("Array")}} containing the list of bounding rectangles for the characters in the EditContext object.
The position and size of the characters in an EditContext object is used by the operating system to correctly position platform-specific editing-related UI surfaces such as an {{glossary("Input Method Editor")}} (IME) window when needed. This is especially important in situations where the operating system can't automatically detect the position and size of the characters, such as when rendering text in a <canvas> element.
Web developers will most likely be interested in using the {{domxref("EditContext.characterboundsupdate_event", "characterboundsupdate")}} event together with the {{domxref("EditContext.updateCharacterBounds()")}} method to update the character bounds when the operating system indicates that it requires information about the position and size of the characters.
The characterBounds() method returns the list of character bounds that were last updated with updateCharacterBounds(). The list doesn't contain an item for every character in the EditContext object, only for the characters that were updated with updateCharacterBounds(). To know where the characters are located in the EditContext object, use the {{domxref("EditContext.characterBoundsRangeStart")}} property.
characterBounds()
None.
An {{jsxref("Array")}} containing {{domxref("DOMRect")}} objects.
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{{Compat}}