JavaScript Regular Expressions and RegExpObject
A regular expression is an object that describes a pattern of characters.
The JavaScript RegExp class represents regular expressions, and both String and RegExp define methods that use regular expressions to perform powerful pattern-matching and search-and-replace functions on text.
Syntax:
A regular expression could be defined with theRegExp( ) constructor like this:
var pattern = new RegExp(pattern, attributes);
or simply
var pattern = /pattern/attributes;
Here is the description of the parameters:
pattern: A string that specifies the pattern of the regular expression or another regular expression.
attributes: An optional string containing any of the "g", "i", and "m" attributes that specify global, case-insensitive, and multiline matches, respectively.
Brackets:
Brackets ([]) have a special meaning when used in the context of regular expressions. They are used to find a range of characters.
Expression
Description
[...]
Any one character between the brackets.
[^...]
Any one character not between the brackets.
[0-9]
It matches any decimal digit from 0 through 9.
[a-z]
It matches any character from lowercase a through lowercase z.
[A-Z]
It matches any character from uppercase A through uppercase Z.
[a-Z]
It matches any character from lowercase a through uppercase Z.
The ranges shown above are general; you could also use the range [0-3] to match any decimal digit ranging from 0 through 3, or the range [b-v] to match any lowercase character ranging from b through v.
Quantifiers:
The frequency or position of bracketed character sequences and single characters can be denoted by a special character. Each pecialcharacter having a specific connotation. The +, *, ?, and $ flags all follow a character sequence.
Expression
Description
p+
It matches any string containing at least one p.
p*
It matches any string containing zero or more p's.
p?
It matches any string containing one or more p's.
p{N}
It matches any string containing a sequence of N p's
p{2,3}
It matches any string containing a sequence of two or three p's.
p{2, }
It matches any string containing a sequence of at least two p's.
p$
It matches any string with p at the end of it.
^p
It matches any string with p at the beginning of it.
Examples:
Following examples will clear your concepts about matching chracters.
Expression
Description
[^a-zA-Z]
It matches any string not containing any of the characters ranging from a through z and A through Z.
p.p
It matches any string containing p, followed by any character, in turn followed by another p.
^.{2}$
It matches any string containing exactly two characters.
<b>(.*)</b>
It matches any string enclosed within <b> and </b>.
p(hp)*
It matches any string containing a p followed by zero or more instances of the sequence hp.
Literal characters:
Character
Description
Alphanumeric
Itself
\0
The NUL character (\u0000)
\t
Tab (\u0009)
\n
Newline (\u000A)
\v
Vertical tab (\u000B)
\f
Form feed (\u000C)
\r
Carriage return (\u000D)
\xnn
The Latin character specified by the hexadecimal numbernn; for example, \x0A is the same as \n
\uxxxx
The Unicode character specified by the hexadecimal number xxxx; for example, \u0009 is the same as \t
\cX
The control character ^X; for example, \cJ is equivalent to the newline character \n
Metacharacters
A metacharacter is simply an alphabetical character preceded by a backslash that acts to give the combination a special meaning.
For instance, you can search for large money sums using the '\d' metacharacter: /([\d]+)000/, Here \d will search for any string of numerical character.
Following is the list of metacharacters which can be used in PERL Style Regular Expressions.
Character Description
. a single character
\s a whitespace character (space, tab, newline)
\S non-whitespace character
\d a digit (0-9)
\D a non-digit
\w a word character (a-z, A-Z, 0-9, _)
\W a non-word character
[\b] a literal backspace (special case).
[aeiou] matches a single character in the given set
[^aeiou] matches a single character outside the given set
(foo|bar|baz) matches any of the alternatives specified
Modifiers
Several modifiers are available that can make your work with regexps much easier, like case sensitivity, searching in multiple lines etc.
Modifier
Description
i
Perform case-insensitive matching.
m
Specifies that if the string has newline or carriage return characters, the ^ and $ operators will now match against a newline boundary, instead of a string boundary
g
Perform a global matchthat is, find all matches rather than stopping after the first match.
RegExp Properties:
Here is a list of each property and their description.
Property
Description
constructor
Specifies the function that creates an object's prototype.
global
Specifies if the "g" modifier is set.
ignoreCase
Specifies if the "i" modifier is set.
lastIndex
The index at which to start the next match.
multiline
Specifies if the "m" modifier is set.
source
The text of the pattern.
RegExp Methods:
Here is a list of each method and its description.
Method
Description
exec()
Executes a search for a match in its string parameter.
test()
Tests for a match in its string parameter.
toSource()
Returns an object literal representing the specified object; you can use this value to create a new object.
toString()
Returns a string representing the specified object.
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