REGULAR EXPRESSIONS AND REGEXP OBJECT

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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 the RegExp constructor, as follows −

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 special character has 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 explain more about matching characters.

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>. ∗ It matches any string enclosed within <b> and </b>.

</b>

php* 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 number nn; 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 a large sum of money using the '\d' metacharacter: /[\d] + 000/,
Here \d will search for any string of numerical character.

The following table lists a set 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 specialcase.

[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 simplify the way you work with regexps, 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 Performs a global matchthat is, find all matches rather than stopping after the first
match.

RegExp Properties
Here is a list of the properties associated with RegExp 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.

In the following sections, we will have a few examples to demonstrate the usage of RegExp
properties.

RegExp Methods
Here is a list of the methods associated with RegExp along with their 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.

In the following sections, we will have a few examples to demonstrate the usage of RegExp
methods.
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