Split variable-value in a regex

Question

I'm using Javascript regex functions to split expressions like:

var1=32
var2<var4
var1!=var3

I'm using this regex:

/^(.*)([=|!=|<|>])(.*)$/ig

It works pretty well except with the != (different) operator. What's the problem?

[] denotes a character class, meaning this part of your expression is essentially the same as [=|!<>]. — Felix Kling
– Felix Kling, Commented Sep 25, 2011 at 9:05

Mark Byers · Accepted Answer · 2011-09-25 09:09:08Z

6

The problem is you are using a character class instead of an alternation. The expression [=|!=|<|>] is equivalent to [<>=!|]. Remove the [ and ] to get what you want.

/^(.*?)(!=|=|<|>)(.*)$/ig

I've also changed the first (.*) to be non-greedy so that it doesn't consume the ! in !=. If you know that the left and right expressions will always contain (for example) only alphanumeric characters only, it would be better to specify that instead of matching with the dot.

edited Sep 25, 2011 at 9:09

answered Sep 25, 2011 at 9:03

Mark Byers

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