Capture groups with javascript regex

Question

I have a url string from which I want to capture all the words between the / delimiter:

So given this url:

"/way/items/add_items/sell_items":

I want to capture:

way
items
sell_items
add_items

If I do it like this:

'/way/items/sell_items/add_items'.match(/(\w+)/g)
=> [ 'way', 'items', 'sell_items', 'add_items' ]

It will give me an array back but with no capturing groups, why I do this instead:

new RegExp(/(\w+)/g).exec("/way/items/sell_items/add_items")
=> [ 'way', 'way', index: 1, input: '/way/items/sell_items/add_items' ]

But this only captures way .. I want it to capture all four words.

How do I do that?

Thanks

/.../ is already a RegExp object. You don't need to call the constructor. — SLaks
– SLaks, Commented Mar 31, 2011 at 3:41

SLaks · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-31 03:44:56Z

9

You should write

var parts = url.split("/");

The global flag is used to the replace method.
Also, it makes the exec method start from the last result (using the RegExp's lastIndex property)

edited Mar 31, 2011 at 3:44

answered Mar 31, 2011 at 3:39

SLaks

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1 Comment

ridgerunner Over a year ago

Yes, but be aware that the / at the start of the URL results in one empty array element.

Dmitrij Golubev · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-31 11:05:34Z

4

If you need by some reasons an exactly Regex, so use this, else use split() function.

Code:

var re = new RegExp(/\w+?(?=\/|$)/gi);  // added |$
alert(re);
var text = '/way/items/add_items/sell_items';
var aRes = text.match(re);

Result: [way, items, add_items, sell_items];

edited Mar 31, 2011 at 11:05

answered Mar 31, 2011 at 10:08

Dmitrij Golubev

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3 Comments

jensgram Over a year ago

This is PHP, while the question is concerned with JavaScript.

Dmitrij Golubev Over a year ago

@jensgram: Thank you!. I changed my post. Javascript supports lookahead operations, but does not support lookbehind.

ajsie Over a year ago

But match() doesn't give me captured groups ... just an array with the matches.

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