Javascript replace several character including '/'

Question

Im using this snippet to replace several characters in a string.

var badwords = eval("/foo|bar|baz/ig");
var text="foo the bar!";
document.write(text.replace(badwords, "***"));

But one of the characters I want to replace is '/'. I assume it's not working because it's a reserved character in regular expressions, but how can I get it done then?

Thanks!

As asked by Álvaro, seeing what you're really trying to do would help us avoid making up random examples and get you on your way quicker. — JAAulde
– JAAulde, Commented Jun 14, 2011 at 19:28

JAAulde · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-14 19:24:17Z

4

You simply escape the "reserved" char in your RegExp:

var re = /abc\/def/;

You are probably having trouble with that because you are, for some reason, using a string as your RegExp and then evaling it...so odd.

var badwords = /foo|bar|baz/ig;

is all you need.

If you INISIST on using a string, then you have to escape your escape:

var badwords = eval( "/foo|ba\\/r|baz/ig" );

This gets a backslash through the JS interpreter to make it to the RegExp engine.

answered Jun 14, 2011 at 19:24

JAAulde

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3 Comments

Robert Koritnik Over a year ago

I'd give you +2 if I could. Because you didn't just answer the question but also provided some improvement to OP code.

Álvaro González Over a year ago

For completeness: you can also new RegExp("foo|bar|baz", "ig") - developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript/Guide/Regular_Expressions

JAAulde Over a year ago

You can, but I don't know why people do something like that unless they need to concat a string together to make a dynamic pattern. I never understand the use of constructor functions where a literal would work. Note to the OP, however, if you use the RegExp constructor, you're back to using a string so you need to double escape the backslash.

ratchet freak · Accepted Answer · 2011-06-14 19:28:59Z

1

first of DON'T USE EVAL it's the most evil function ever and fully unnecessary here

var badwords = /foo|bar|baz/ig;

works just as well (or use the new RegExp("foo|bar|baz","ig"); constructor)

and when you want to have a / in the regex and a \ before the character you want to escape

var badwords = /\/foo|bar|baz/ig;
//or
var badwords = new RegExp("\\/foo|bar|baz","ig");//double escape to escape the backslash in the string like one has to do in java

answered Jun 14, 2011 at 19:28

ratchet freak

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1 Comment

subharb Over a year ago

Gerat, that's what I wanted to know to escape a character I have to put backslashes. Also thanks for the advidce of not using eval

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