I tried creating a list of buttons for adding symbols to a text area in a form.

loop in blade.php file:

Here $symbols is an array of symbol obejects from the math_symbols table which has the attributes (id,exp,description)

code:

			{!! Form::label('Q_desc','description') !!}<br>
			{!! Form::textarea('Q_desc','',array('rows'=>'10','cols'=>'70','required'=>'required')) !!}

                            <ul style="list-style-type:none;">
                            @foreach($symbols as $symbol)
                            <li style="display:inline-block;">
                            {!! Form::button($symbol->exp,array('onclick'=>'addTextAtCaret(Q_desc,$symbol->exp)') !!}
                            </li>
                            @endforeach
                            </ul>

javascript function:

<script type="text/javascript"> function addTextAtCaret(textAreaId,text) { var textArea = document.getElementById(textAreaId); var cursorPosition = textArea.selectionStart; addTextAtCursorPosition(textArea, cursorPosition, text); updateCursorPosition(cursorPosition, text, textArea); } function addTextAtCursorPosition(textArea, cursorPosition, text) { var front = (textArea.value).substring(0, cursorPosition); var back = (textArea.value).substring(cursorPosition, textArea.value.length); textArea.value = front + text + back; } function updateCursorPosition(cursorPosition, text, textArea) { cursorPosition = cursorPosition + text.length; textArea.selectionStart = cursorPosition; textArea.selectionEnd = cursorPosition; textArea.focus(); } </script>