Replace text with JavaScript

Question

I need to replace text using Javascript. It's a little different than the other ones I've seen on S.O. because the text that needs to be added in is an incrementing integer.

For example: Replace the string: "John Mary Ellen Josh Adam" with "John1 Mary2 Ellen3 Josh4 Adam5"

So what precisely do you want to do? Append a number to each word, where "word" is defined as consecutive alphabetical characters, separated by white spaces? — Felix Kling
– Felix Kling, Commented Mar 21, 2012 at 14:24
how you know you have to add the integer.. if there is a space can you add it. What is the condition tocheck — zod
– zod, Commented Mar 21, 2012 at 14:25

Niet the Dark Absol · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-21 15:00:04Z

6

Use a callback replacer:

var str = "John Mary Ellen Josh Adam", i=0;
str = str.replace(/ /g,function(m) {i++; return i+" ";});

EDIT: Noticed that won't add a number after "Adam". That can be fixed just by adding:

i++; str += i;

at the end of the code.

EDIT2: Or all-in-one:

str = str.replace(/ |$/g,function(m) {i++; return i+m[0];});

edited Mar 21, 2012 at 15:00

answered Mar 21, 2012 at 14:24

Niet the Dark Absol

326k85 gold badges478 silver badges603 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

4 Comments

robmisio Over a year ago

About adding a number after "Adam": you could also adjust the regex to match the end of the string, e.g. str.replace(/ |$/g, ....

Niet the Dark Absol Over a year ago

That would add an extra space on the end, though, because of what the function returns.

user739866 Over a year ago

I liked this - especially the elegance of it - but felt it better to use the jsfiddle option rather than adding in an extra line of code. Perhaps that's just my inexperience.

Patrick Oscity Over a year ago

you could also match the words instead of the spaces, see my answer. That way John Mary (two spaces) yields John1 Mary2, not John1 2 Mary3

score 2 · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-21 15:51:58Z

2

You can do it this way:

var array = string.split(" "), i, j;

for(i=0,j=array.length,string="";i<j;string+=array[i]+(++i)+" ");

edited Mar 21, 2012 at 15:51

answered Mar 21, 2012 at 14:26

user1150525

Comments

Patrick Oscity · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-21 15:02:52Z

1

var input = "John Mary Ellen Josh Adam";

var i = 0;
var output = input.replace(/\w+/g, function(m){ return m + ++i });

output is:

"John1 Mary2 Ellen3 Josh4 Adam5"

edited Mar 21, 2012 at 15:02

answered Mar 21, 2012 at 14:31

Patrick Oscity

54.9k19 gold badges149 silver badges173 bronze badges

1 Comment

gen_Eric Over a year ago

Couldn't RegExp.lastMatch be replaced with the 1st parameter passed to the callback? Which is more efficient?

gen_Eric · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-21 14:29:46Z

0

I quickly hacked this up. Not sure how efficient it is, but it works.

var x = 1, str = "John Mary Ellen Josh Adam",
newStr = str.replace(/\b([^\s]*)\b/g, function(i){
    return i && (i + (x++));
});

answered Mar 21, 2012 at 14:29

gen_Eric

228k42 gold badges303 silver badges343 bronze badges

Comments

Patrick Oscity · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-21 15:13:11Z

0

I put together this jsfiddle for you.

This is the code:

var originalStr = "John Mary Ellen Josh Adam";
var splitStr = originalStr.split(' ');
var newStr = "";
for (var i = 0; i < splitStr.length; i++)
    newStr += splitStr[i] + (i+1) + ' ';

alert(newStr);

edited Mar 21, 2012 at 15:13

Patrick Oscity

54.9k19 gold badges149 silver badges173 bronze badges

answered Mar 21, 2012 at 14:27

Ben

7644 silver badges19 bronze badges

3 Comments

Felix Kling Over a year ago

Please include the code in your answer as well as some explanation.

robmisio Over a year ago

This results in a trailing space on the string.

Patrick Oscity Over a year ago

i agree @robmisio, that shouldn't be happening

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Replace text with JavaScript

5 Answers 5

4 Comments

Comments

1 Comment

Comments

3 Comments

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

5 Answers 5

4 Comments

Comments

1 Comment

Comments

3 Comments

Related