RegExp

Конструктор RegExp створює об'єкт регулярного виразу для знаходження тексту по шаблону.

Для ознайомлення з регулярними виразами, можете проглянути розділ Regular Expressions в JavaScript Guide.

Синтаксис

Можливі позначення літералу та констуктору:

/pattern/flags
new RegExp(pattern[, flags])

Параметри

pattern
Шаблон регулярного виразу.
flags

Якщо об'явлені, можуть сторювати комбінації з цих значень:

g
глобальне співпадіння
i
ігнорування розкладки
m
співпадіння по кільком строкам; символи початку та кінця (^ й $) починають працювати по кільком строкам (тобто відбувається співпадіння с початком або кінцем кожної строки (строки відділяються символами \n й \r), а не тільки з початком та кінцем усієї строки, яку ввели)
u
юнікод
y
"липкий" пошук; починає шукати співпадіння з індексу, на який вказує властивість lastIndex даного RegExp

Опис

Існує 2 шляхи створити RegExp об'єкт: за допомогою літерального виразу або конструктора. Аби розрізняти текстовий рядок, параметри літерального виразу не містять лапок, але якщо створювати за допомогою конструктора, то лапки можно використовувати. У наступному прикладі створюються однакові регулярні вирази:

/ab+c/i;
new RegExp('ab+c', 'i');
new RegExp(/ab+c/, 'i');

Літеральна нотація виконує компіляцію виразу коли даний вираз обчислений. Викоритсовуйте літерали якщо регулярний вираз відомий до початку роботи програми. Наприклад, якщо використовувати літерал у циклі, регулярний вираз не буде наново компілюватись на кожній ітерації.

Конструктор об'єкту регулярного виразу, приміром, new RegExp('ab+c'), забезпечує компіляцію регулярного виразу під час виконання програми. Використовуйте функцію конструктора якщо шаблон регулярного виразу буде змінюватися або шаблон не відомий та надходить з іншого джерела, наприклад, від користувача.

Починаючи з ECMAScript 6, new RegExp(/ab+c/, 'i') більше не видає TypeError ("can't supply flags when constructing one RegExp from another") якщо перший аргумент RegExp та другий аргумент flags наявний. Натомість створюється новий RegExp з аргументів.

При використанні функції-конструктора необхідно дотримуватись правил текстових рядків (попередні спеціальні символи з \ якщо вони входять в рядок). Наприклад, наступні вирази еквівалентні:

var re = /\w+/;
var re = new RegExp('\\w+');

Special characters meaning in regular expressions

Character Classes
Character Meaning
.

(The dot, the decimal point) matches any single character except line terminators: \n, \r, \u2028 or \u2029.

Inside a character class, the dot loses its special meaning and matches a literal dot.

Note that the m multiline flag doesn't change the dot behavior. So to match a pattern across multiple lines, the character set [^] can be used (if you don't mean an old version of IE, of course), it will match any character including newlines.

For example, /.y/ matches "my" and "ay", but not "yes", in "yes make my day".
\d

Matches a digit character in the basic Latin alphabet. Equivalent to [0-9].

For example, /\d/ or /[0-9]/ matches "2" in "B2 is the suite number".
\D

Matches any character that is not a digit in the basic Latin alphabet. Equivalent to [^0-9].

For example, /\D/ or /[^0-9]/ matches "B" in "B2 is the suite number".
\w

Matches any alphanumeric character from the basic Latin alphabet, including the underscore. Equivalent to [A-Za-z0-9_].

For example, /\w/ matches "a" in "apple", "5" in "$5.28", and "3" in "3D".
\W

Matches any character that is not a word character from the basic Latin alphabet. Equivalent to [^A-Za-z0-9_].

For example, /\W/ or /[^A-Za-z0-9_]/ matches "%" in "50%".
\s

Matches a single white space character, including space, tab, form feed, line feed and other Unicode spaces. Equivalent to [ \f\n\r\t\v​\u00a0\u1680​\u180e\u2000​-\u200a​\u2028\u2029\u202f\u205f​\u3000\ufeff].

For example, /\s\w*/ matches " bar" in "foo bar".
\S

Matches a single character other than white space. Equivalent to [^ \f\n\r\t\v​\u00a0\u1680​\u180e\u2000​-\u200a​\u2028\u2029\u202f\u205f​\u3000\ufeff].

For example, /\S\w*/ matches "foo" in "foo bar".
\t Matches a horizontal tab.
\r Matches a carriage return.
\n Matches a linefeed.
\v Matches a vertical tab.
\f Matches a form-feed.
[\b] Matches a backspace. (Not to be confused with \b)
\0 Matches a NUL character. Do not follow this with another digit.
\cX

Where X is a letter from A - Z. Matches a control character in a string.

For example, /\cM/ matches control-M in a string.
\xhh Matches the character with the code hh (two hexadecimal digits).
\uhhhh Matches a UTF-16 code-unit with the value hhhh (four hexadecimal digits).
\u{hhhh} or \u{hhhhh} (only when u flag is set) Matches the character with the Unicode value U+hhhh or U+hhhhh (hexadecimal digits).
\

For characters that are usually treated literally, indicates that the next character is special and not to be interpreted literally.

For example, /b/ matches the character "b". By placing a backslash in front of "b", that is by using /\b/, the character becomes special to mean match a word boundary.

or

For characters that are usually treated specially, indicates that the next character is not special and should be interpreted literally.

For example, "*" is a special character that means 0 or more occurrences of the preceding character should be matched; for example, /a*/ means match 0 or more "a"s. To match * literally, precede it with a backslash; for example, /a\*/ matches "a*".
Character Sets
Character Meaning
[xyz]
[a-c]

A character set. Matches any one of the enclosed characters. You can specify a range of characters by using a hyphen, but if the hyphen appears as the first or last character enclosed in the square brackets it is taken as a literal hyphen to be included in the character set as a normal character.

For example, [abcd] is the same as [a-d]. They match the "b" in "brisket" and the "c" in "chop".

[^xyz]
[^a-c]

A negated or complemented character set. That is, it matches anything that is not enclosed in the brackets. You can specify a range of characters by using a hyphen, but if the hyphen appears as the first or last character enclosed in the square brackets it is taken as a literal hyphen to be included in the character set as a normal character.

For example, [^abc] is the same as [^a-c]. They initially match "o" in "bacon" and "h" in "chop".
Alternation
Character Meaning
x|y

Matches either x or y.

For example, /green|red/ matches "green" in "green apple" and "red" in "red apple".
Boundaries
Character Meaning
^

Matches beginning of input. If the multiline flag is set to true, also matches immediately after a line break character.

For example, /^A/ does not match the "A" in "an A", but does match the first "A" in "An A".
$

Matches end of input. If the multiline flag is set to true, also matches immediately before a line break character.

For example, /t$/ does not match the "t" in "eater", but does match it in "eat".
\b

Matches a zero-width word boundary, such as between a letter and a space. (Not to be confused with [\b])

For example, /\bno/ matches the "no" in "at noon"; /ly\b/ matches the "ly" in "possibly yesterday".
\B

Matches a zero-width non-word boundary, such as between two letters or between two spaces.

For example, /\Bon/ matches "on" in "at noon", and /ye\B/ matches "ye" in "possibly yesterday".
Grouping and back references
Character Meaning
(x)

Matches x and remembers the match. These are called capturing groups.

For example, /(foo)/ matches and remembers "foo" in "foo bar". 

The capturing groups are numbered according to the order of left parentheses of capturing groups, starting from 1. The matched substring can be recalled from the resulting array's elements [1], ..., [n] or from the predefined RegExp object's properties $1, ..., $9.

Capturing groups have a performance penalty. If you don't need the matched substring to be recalled, prefer non-capturing parentheses (see below).
\n

Where n is a positive integer. A back reference to the last substring matching the n parenthetical in the regular expression (counting left parentheses).

For example, /apple(,)\sorange\1/ matches "apple, orange," in "apple, orange, cherry, peach". A more complete example follows this table.
(?:x) Matches x but does not remember the match. These are called non-capturing groups. The matched substring can not be recalled from the resulting array's elements [1], ..., [n] or from the predefined RegExp object's properties $1, ..., $9.
Quantifiers
Character Meaning
x*

Matches the preceding item x 0 or more times.

For example, /bo*/ matches "boooo" in "A ghost booooed" and "b" in "A bird warbled", but nothing in "A goat grunted".
x+

Matches the preceding item x 1 or more times. Equivalent to {1,}.

For example, /a+/ matches the "a" in "candy" and all the "a"'s in "caaaaaaandy".
x?

Matches the preceding item x 0 or 1 time.

For example, /e?le?/ matches the "el" in "angel" and the "le" in "angle."

If used immediately after any of the quantifiers *, +, ?, or {}, makes the quantifier non-greedy (matching the minimum number of times), as opposed to the default, which is greedy (matching the maximum number of times).
x{n}

Where n is a positive integer. Matches exactly n occurrences of the preceding item x.

For example, /a{2}/ doesn't match the "a" in "candy", but it matches all of the "a"'s in "caandy", and the first two "a"'s in "caaandy".
x{n,}

Where n is a positive integer. Matches at least n occurrences of the preceding item x.

For example, /a{2,}/ doesn't match the "a" in "candy", but matches all of the a's in "caandy" and in "caaaaaaandy".
x{n,m}

Where n and m are positive integers. Matches at least n and at most m occurrences of the preceding item x.

For example, /a{1,3}/ matches nothing in "cndy", the "a" in "candy", the two "a"'s in "caandy", and the first three "a"'s in "caaaaaaandy". Notice that when matching "caaaaaaandy", the match is "aaa", even though the original string had more "a"'s in it.

x*?
x+?
x??
x{n}?
x{n,}?
x{n,m}?

Matches the preceding item x like *, +, ?, and {...} from above, however the match is the smallest possible match.

For example, /<.*?>/ matches "<foo>" in "<foo> <bar>", whereas /<.*>/ matches "<foo> <bar>".

Quantifiers without ? are said to be greedy. Those with ? are called "non-greedy".
Assertions
Character Meaning
x(?=y)

Matches x only if x is followed by y.

For example, /Jack(?=Sprat)/ matches "Jack" only if it is followed by "Sprat".
/Jack(?=Sprat|Frost)/ matches "Jack" only if it is followed by "Sprat" or "Frost". However, neither "Sprat" nor "Frost" is part of the match results.
x(?!y)

Matches x only if x is not followed by y.

For example, /\d+(?!\.)/ matches a number only if it is not followed by a decimal point.
/\d+(?!\.)/.exec('3.141') matches "141" but not "3.141".

Properties

RegExp.prototype (en-US)
Allows the addition of properties to all objects.
RegExp.length
The value of RegExp.length is 2.
get RegExp[@@species] (en-US)
The constructor function that is used to create derived objects.
RegExp.lastIndex (en-US)
The index at which to start the next match.

Methods

The global RegExp object has no methods of its own, however, it does inherit some methods through the prototype chain.

RegExp prototype objects and instances

Properties

{{page('/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/RegExp/prototype', 'Properties')}}

Methods

{{page('/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/RegExp/prototype', 'Methods')}}

Examples

Using a regular expression to change data format

The following script uses the replace() method of the String instance to match a name in the format first last and output it in the format last, first. In the replacement text, the script uses $1 and $2 to indicate the results of the corresponding matching parentheses in the regular expression pattern.

var re = /(\w+)\s(\w+)/;
var str = 'John Smith';
var newstr = str.replace(re, '$2, $1');
console.log(newstr);

This displays "Smith, John".

Using regular expression to split lines with different line endings/ends of line/line breaks

The default line ending varies depending on the platform (Unix, Windows, etc.). The line splitting provided in this example works on all platforms.

var text = 'Some text\nAnd some more\r\nAnd yet\rThis is the end';
var lines = text.split(/\r\n|\r|\n/);
console.log(lines); // logs [ 'Some text', 'And some more', 'And yet', 'This is the end' ]

Note that the order of the patterns in the regular expression matters.

Using regular expression on multiple lines

var s = 'Please yes\nmake my day!';
s.match(/yes.*day/);
// Returns null
s.match(/yes[^]*day/);
// Returns 'yes\nmake my day'

Using a regular expression with the sticky flag

The sticky flag indicates that the regular expression performs sticky matching in the target string by attempting to match starting at RegExp.prototype.lastIndex (en-US).

var str = '#foo#';
var regex = /foo/y;

regex.lastIndex; // 0
regex.test(str); // true
regex.lastIndex = 5;
regex.test(str); // false (lastIndex is taken into account with sticky flag)
regex.lastIndex; // 0 (reset after match failure)

Regular expression and Unicode characters

As mentioned above, \w or \W only matches ASCII based characters; for example, "a" to "z", "A" to "Z", "0" to "9" and "_". To match characters from other languages such as Cyrillic or Hebrew, use \uhhhh, where "hhhh" is the character's Unicode value in hexadecimal. This example demonstrates how one can separate out Unicode characters from a word.

var text = 'Образец text на русском языке';
var regex = /[\u0400-\u04FF]+/g;

var match = regex.exec(text);
console.log(match[0]);        // logs 'Образец'
console.log(regex.lastIndex); // logs '7'

var match2 = regex.exec(text);
console.log(match2[0]);       // logs 'на' [did not log 'text']
console.log(regex.lastIndex); // logs '15'

// and so on

Here's an external resource for getting the complete Unicode block range for different scripts: Regexp-unicode-block.

Extracting sub-domain name from URL

var url = 'http://xxx.domain.com';
console.log(/[^.]+/.exec(url)[0].substr(7)); // logs 'xxx'

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
ECMAScript 3rd Edition (ECMA-262) Standard Initial definition. Implemented in JavaScript 1.1.
ECMAScript 5.1 (ECMA-262)
The definition of 'RegExp' in that specification.		 Standard
ECMAScript 2015 (6th Edition, ECMA-262)
The definition of 'RegExp' in that specification.		 Standard The RegExp constructor no longer throws when the first argument is a RegExp and the second argument is present. Introduces Unicode and sticky flags.
ECMAScript (ECMA-262)
The definition of 'RegExp' in that specification.		 Living Standard

Browser compatibility

We're converting our compatibility data into a machine-readable JSON format. This compatibility table still uses the old format, because we haven't yet converted the data it contains. Find out how you can help! (en-US)
Feature Chrome Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support (Yes) (Yes) (Yes) (Yes) (Yes)
Sticky flag ("y") 39 [1] 3.0 (1.9) No support No support No support
Unicode flag ("u") 50 46 (46) ? ? ?
RegExp(RegExp object, flags) no longer throws No support 39 (39) No support No support No support
Feature Android Chrome for Android Firefox Mobile (Gecko) IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support (Yes) (Yes) (Yes) (Yes) (Yes) (Yes)
Sticky flag ("y") No support No support 1.0 (1.9) No support No support No support
Unicode flag ("u") ? 46.0 (46) ? ? ?
RegExp(RegExp object, flags) no longer throws No support No support 39.0 (39) No support No support No support

[1] Behind a flag.

Gecko-specific notes

Starting with Gecko 34 (Firefox 34 / Thunderbird 34 / SeaMonkey 2.31), in the case of a capturing group with quantifiers preventing its exercise, the matched text for a capturing group is now undefined instead of an empty string:

// Firefox 33 or older
'x'.replace(/x(.)?/g, function(m, group) {
  console.log("'group:" + group + "'");
}); // 'group:'

// Firefox 34 or newer
'x'.replace(/x(.)?/g, function(m, group) {
  console.log("'group:" + group + "'");
}); // 'group:undefined'

Note that due to web compatibility, RegExp.$N will still return an empty string instead of undefined (bug 1053944).

See also