/Regular Expressions/

.test("Patterns in JavaScript")

Vijayabharathi Balasubramanian

pineboat.in

Why?

  • Find and replace
  • Search Engine
  • grep
  • Checking for valid inputs

 

Syntax

let password="totally hidden";
/pattern/.test(password);
/pattern/.test("another");

//NO VARIABLES INSIDE PATTERN
/password/.test("xyz");

Match Strings

/a/.test('a');

/a/.test('b');
/a/.test('a'); //true

/a/.test('b'); //false

Match Anywhere

/a/.test('ab');

/a/.test('bc');

/a/.test('ca');
/a/.test('ab'); //true

/a/.test('bc'); //false

/a/.test('ca'); //true

More than one

/ab/.test('abc');

/bc/.test('abc');

/ac/.test('abc');
/ab/.test('abc'); //true

/bc/.test('abc'); //true

/ac/.test('abc'); //false

Numbers

/42/.test("42");

/42/.test("Answer: 42");

/42/.test("42"); //true

/42/.test("Answer: 42"); //true

OR Conditions

/4|2/.test("34");

/4|2/.test("23");

/4|2/.test("42");

/4|2/.test("35");
/4|2/.test("34"); //true

/4|2/.test("23"); //true

/4|2/.test("42"); //true

/4|2/.test("35"); //false

Character Sets

[set of possibilities for a single character]

Character Sets

/[42]/.test("2");

/[42]/.test("4");

/[42]/.test("42");

/[42]/.test("35");
/[42]/.test("2"); //true

/[42]/.test("4"); //true

/[42]/.test("42"); //true

/[42]/.test("35"); //false

Range of Characters

/[0-9]/.test("18");

/[0-9]/.test("90");

/[1-8]/.test("90");


/[0-9]/.test("18"); //true

/[0-9]/.test("90"); //true

/[1-8]/.test("90"); //false

Equivalent Expressions

/0|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9/ 

===

/[0123456789]/ 

===

[0-9]

Multiple Ranges

/[0-9a-fA-F]/.test("AF3333");

/[0-9a-fA-F]/.test("Storm");

/[0-9a-fA-F]/.test("Z3");

/[0-9a-fA-F]/.test("AF3333"); //true

/[0-9a-fA-F]/.test("Storm"); //false

/[0-9a-fA-F]/.test("Z3"); //true!!

Shocker Ranges!!

/[+-=]/.test("a");

/[+-=]/.test("9");

/[+-=]/.test(";");

/[+-=]/.test("_");


/[+-=]/.test("a"); //false

/[+-=]/.test("9"); //true!!

/[+-=]/.test(";"); //true

/[+-=]/.test("_"); //false

Shocker Ranges!!

/[ -~]/.test("");

/[ -~]/.test("a");

/[ -~]/.test("0");

/[ -~]/.test("A");

/[ -~]/.test(";");

/[ -~]/.test("_");

/[ -~]/.test(""); //false

/[ -~]/.test("a"); //true

/[ -~]/.test("0"); //true

/[ -~]/.test("A"); //true

/[ -~]/.test(";"); //true

/[ -~]/.test("_"); //true

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ASCII-Table-wide.svg

By ASCII-Table.svg: ZZT32derivative work: LanoxxthShaddow (ASCII-Table.svg) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

[+-=]

[ -~]

Negative Char Set with...

/[^a-z]/.test("cba");

/[^0-9]/.test("42");

/[^0-9a-zA-Z]/.test("Route42");

/[^0-9a-zA-Z]/.test("$#");
/[^a-z]/.test("cba"); //false

/[^0-9]/.test("42"); //false

/[^0-9a-zA-Z]/.test("Route42"); //false

/[^0-9a-zA-Z]/.test("$#"); //true

^

Starts with...

/^a/.test("abc");

/^a/.test("cba");

/^[a-z]/.test("cba");

/^[0-9]/.test("42");
/^a/.test("abc"); //true

/^a/.test("cba"); //false

/^[a-z]/.test("cba"); //true

/^[0-9]/.test("42"); //true

^

 - Overloaded

/^[^a-z]/.test("cba");

/^[^a-z]/.test("42");


/^[^0-9]/.test("cba");

/^[^0-9]/.test("42");
/^[^a-z]/.test("cba"); //false

/^[^a-z]/.test("42"); //true


/^[^0-9]/.test("cba"); //true

/^[^0-9]/.test("42"); //false

^

Ends with... $

/a$/.test("abc");

/a$/.test("cba");

/[a-z]$/.test("cba");

/[0-9]$/.test("42");
/a$/.test("abc"); //false

/a$/.test("cba"); //true

/[a-z]$/.test("cba"); //true

/[0-9]$/.test("42"); //true

Start|End to End

/^[a-z]$/.test("");

/^[a-z]$/.test("a");

/^[a-z]$/.test("z");

/^[a-z]$/.test("az");
/^[a-z]$/.test(""); //false

/^[a-z]$/.test("a"); //true

/^[a-z]$/.test("z"); //true

/^[a-z]$/.test("az"); //false

0 or 1 ?

/^[a-z]?$/.test("");

/^[a-z]?$/.test("z");

/^[a-z]?$/.test("az");
/^[a-z]?$/.test(""); //true

/^[a-z]?$/.test("z"); //true

/^[a-z]?$/.test("az"); //false

1 or more = +

/^[a-z]+$/.test(""); 

/^[a-z]+$/.test("z"); 

/^[a-z]+$/.test("az"); 

/^a+$/.test("ab");

/^[01]+$/.test("10010");
/^[a-z]+$/.test(""); //false

/^[a-z]+$/.test("z"); //true

/^[a-z]+$/.test("az"); //true

/^a+$/.test("ab"); //false

/^[01]+$/.test("10010"); //true

0 or more = *

/^[a-z]*$/.test(""); 

/^[a-z]*$/.test("z"); 

/^[a-z]*$/.test("az"); 
/^[a-z]*$/.test(""); //true

/^[a-z]*$/.test("z"); //true

/^[a-z]*$/.test("az"); //true

Escape with ... \

/\$/.test("abc");

/\$/.test("a$b");

/\^/.test("$^");

/\//.test("/");
/\$/.test("abc"); //false

/\$/.test("a$b"); //true

/\^/.test("$^"); //true

/\//.test("/"); //true

\ can do more than escape

\d

\D

 

\w

\W

 

\s

\S

.

a single numeric digit === [0-9]

any character other than numerals === [^0-9]

 

a single alpha-numeric char [A-Za-z0-9_]

any character other than alpha-numeric

 

a single white space, new line or tab

!\w - anything other than white space

 

match any single character

Number of Occurrences

{n}

{n,}

{min,max}

Match exactly n consecutive occurrences

Minimum n, maximum ∞

>=min && <=max

{n} - Exact Match

/a{3}/.test(""); 

/a{3}/.test("a"); 

/a{3}/.test("aaa");

/a{3}/.test("baaac");  

/^a{3}$/.test("baaac");
/a{3}/.test(""); //false

/a{3}/.test("a"); //false

/a{3}/.test("aaa"); //true

/a{3}/.test("baaac"); //true 

/^a{3}$/.test("baaac"); //false

{n,} - Minimum Match

/a{3,}/.test("aa"); 

/a{3,}/.test("aaaa");

/a{3,}/.test("baaac");  

/^a{3,}$/.test("baaac");

/^a{3,}$/.test("aaaaa");
/a{3,}/.test("aa"); //false

/a{3,}/.test("aaaa"); //true

/a{3,}/.test("baaac"); //true

/^a{3,}$/.test("baaac"); //false

/^a{3,}$/.test("aaaaa"); //true

{n,m} - MinMaxMatch

/a{1,3}/.test(""); 

/a{1,3}/.test("ba"); 

/a{1,3}/.test("aaab"); 

/^a{1,3}$/.test("aaab"); 

/^a{1,3}$/.test("aaa"); 
/a{1,3}/.test(""); //false

/a{1,3}/.test("ba"); //true

/a{1,3}/.test("aaab"); //true

/^a{1,3}$/.test("aaab"); //false

/^a{1,3}$/.test("aaa"); //true

Food for thought

/^abc{3}$/.test("abccc");

/^abc{3}$/.test("abcabcabc");
/^abc{3}$/.test("abccc"); //true

/^abc{3}$/.test("abcabcabc"); //false?

Strong password

let pwd="password123";
let atLeast8Chars=/.{8,}/.test(pwd);
let oneLowerCase=/[a-z]/.test(pwd);
let oneUpperCase=/[A-Z]/.test(pwd);
let oneNumber=/\d/.test(pwd);
let oneSymbol=/[^ a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(pwd);
let isValidPassword= atLeast8Chars 
                    && oneLowerCase
                    && oneUpperCase
                    && oneNumber
                    && oneSymbol;
console.log(isValidPassword);

Just unreadable code!

new RegExp(pattern)

let pattern="[a-z]";

/pattern/.test("zurich");

/pattern/.test("some pattern here");

let reg=new RegExp(pattern);

reg.test("zurich");

reg.test("some pattern here");
let pattern="[a-z]";

/pattern/.test("zurich"); //false

/pattern/.test("some pattern here"); //true

let reg=new RegExp(pattern);

reg.test("zurich"); //true

reg.test("some pattern here"); //true

Password

const isPasswordValid = pwd => {
	let rules=[
    	".{8,}", 	// minimum 8 characters
    	"[a-z]", 	// at least one lowercase
    	"[A-Z]", 	// at least one uppercase
    	"\\d",		// at least one digit
    	"[^ a-zA-Z0-9]" //at least one symbol
	];

	let validate = rule => new RegExp(rule).test(pwd);
	return rules.every(validate);
}

let pwd="Pa$$w0rd";
isPassswordValid(pwd); //true

pwd="Pasword";
isPasswordValid(pwd); //false

Remembered Matches

(x)

(?:x)

x(?=y)

x(?!y)

Remember the match and recall by \1 , \2 ...

Do not remember the match. Just for grouping

Positive lookahead - match x followed by y

Negative lookahead - match x not followed by y

MDN

(x) - Remember and recall

/(a)\1/.test("ba");

/(a)\1/.test("baa");

/(\w)\1/.test("bob");

/(\w)\1/.test("matt");

/^(\w)\1$/.test("yy");
/(a)\1/.test("ba"); false

/(a)\1/.test("baa"); true

/(\w)\1/.test("bob"); false

/(\w)\1/.test("matt"); true

/^(\w)\1$/.test("yy"); true

Duplicates

(x) - Remember and recall

/(\d)(\d)\2\1/.test("1212");

/(\d)(\d)\2\1/.test("1221");

/(\d)(\d)\2\1/.test("1111");
/(\d)(\d)\2\1/.test("1212"); //false

/(\d)(\d)\2\1/.test("1221"); //true

/(\d)(\d)\2\1/.test("1111"); //true

Reversed

(?:x) - Just forget it

/^abc{3}$/.test("abccc");

/(?:ab){2}/.test("abab");

/(?:ab){2}\1/.test("ababab");
/^abc{3}$/.test("abccc"); //true

/(?:ab){2}/.test("abab"); //true

/(?:ab){2}\1/.test("ababab"); //false

General grouping

(?=) look who's next!

/x(?=y)/.test("wxyz"); 

/(?=.{3})/.test("ab");

/(?=.{2})/.test("ab");

/^(?=.{2})$/.test("ab");

/^(?=.{2}).*$/.test("abc");

/^.{2}$/.test("abc");
/x(?=y)/.test("wxyz"); true

/(?=.{3})/.test("ab"); false

/(?=.{2})/.test("ab"); true

/^(?=.{2})$/.test("ab"); false

/^(?=.{2}).*$/.test("abc"); true

/^.{2}$/.test("abc"); false

Positive look ahead

(?=) look who's next!

/^(?=.{8,})(?=.*[A-Z]+)(?=.*\d+).*$/.test("passw0rd"); 

/^(?=.{8,})(?=.*[A-Z]+)(?=.*\d+).*$/.test("Passw0rd");

/^(?=.{8,})(?=.*[A-Z]+)(?=.*\d+).*$/.test("Passw0r");
/^(?=.{8,})(?=.*[A-Z]+)(?=.*\d+).*$/.test("passw0rd"); false 

/^(?=.{8,})(?=.*[A-Z]+)(?=.*\d+).*$/.test("Passw0rd"); true

/^(?=.{8,})(?=.*[A-Z]+)(?=.*\d+).*$/.test("Passw0r"); false

Positive look ahead

(?!) can't stand next!

/x(?!y)/.test("wxyz"); 

/x(?!y)/.test("zyxw"); 


/x(?!y)/.test("wxyz"); false

/x(?!y)/.test("zyxw"); true

Negative look ahead

Email Validation!

  • Send a confirmation email!

RegExp Methods

  • test  - true / false
  • exec - result in an array & can be called multiple times

String Methods

  • match
  • search
  • replace
  • split

String.Match

let str="FF3H3G3";

str.match(/[G-Z]/i);


str.match(/[G-Z]/ig);
let str="FF3H3G3";

str.match(/[G-Z]/i); 
//["H", index: 3, input: "FF3H3G3"]

str.match(/[G-Z]/ig); //["G", "H"]

Returns Array

String.Search

let str="csv,file";

str.search(/,/);

str.search(/;/);

let str="csv,file";

str.search(/,/); //3

str.search(/;/); //-1

Returns index of match

String.Replace

str="csv,file,with,comma"

str.replace(",",";");

str.replace(/,/g,";");

str="csv,file,with,comma";//"csv,file,with,comma"

str.replace(",",";"); //"csv;file,with,comma"

str.replace(/,/g,";"); //"csv;file;with;comma"

Replace matches with new substring

String.Replace

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

Replace with Matches

Example from MDN

String.Split

Returns array

Final Test

//.test("code");

//.test("");

References

Thank you

You are all awesome!

Regular Expressins in JavaScript - Pattern matching fundamentals

By Vijayabharathi Balasubramanian

Made with Slides.com

Regular Expressins in JavaScript - Pattern matching fundamentals

Basics of pattern matching in JavaScript using Regular Expression and its syntax.

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