jQuery: Match array items against text > delete item from array

Question

How can I match array items against text and work with the found items (format in text and remove from array list) ?

I don't know the array and I don't know the text. But when an array item is contained in the text then party!

var arrString = 'apple, banana, monkey, sugar',
    text = "This a nice  monkey  zoo with  banana  trees.";

var arr = arrString.split(", ");

var arrMatch = "";

for(var i=0;i<arr.length;i++){
    if(text.search(arr[i])!=-1){
        arrMatch = arr[i];

        //format found item in text
        var text = text.replace(arrMatch, '<b>'+arrMatch+'</b>');

        //Remove found item from array <<<<<< Needs a fix
        if ( i !== -1 ) arr.splice(i, 1);
    }
}

if(arrMatch !== "") {
    $("body").append(arrString + '<br><br>The text contains the array item(s) "'+ arrMatch +'".');
}

var arrLeft = arr.join(", ");

$("body").append("<br><br><hr /><br>" + text + "<br><br>These array items are left: " + arrLeft);

Test: http://jsfiddle.net/Hxdht/3/

Note: This is a follow up to jQuery: Find array items in text string

You know that index = arr.indexOf(arrMatch); is the same as just accessing i, right? — BenM
– BenM, Commented Jan 12, 2014 at 16:52
The if() serves no purpose. It'll never get executed because you explicitly start the loop off as i = 0... — BenM
– BenM, Commented Jan 12, 2014 at 16:58
Why do you want to remove the item from the array? That will only mess with the for loop and give you all kinds of headaches. — fiskeben
– fiskeben, Commented Jan 12, 2014 at 17:11
This is just a simplified example. The unused ones are used for further programming. — Martin
– Martin, Commented Jan 12, 2014 at 17:52

Nouphal.M · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-12 17:10:36Z

1

Try

for(var i=0;i<arr.length;i++){
    if(text.search(arr[i])!=-1){
        arrMatch = arr[i];
        text = text.replace(arrMatch, '<b>'+arrMatch+'</b>'); 
        //Remove found item from array <<<<<< Needs a fix
        if ( i !== -1 ){ arr.splice(i, 1); i--;}//decrement the index
    }
}

JSFiddle here

answered Jan 12, 2014 at 17:10

Nouphal.M

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1 Comment

Scott Sauyet Over a year ago

It might be nicer, though, to loop from the top down and not do any of this index fiddling: for (var i = arr.length; i-->0;) {... arr.splice(1, 1) ... }.

Scott Sauyet · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-12 17:37:23Z

1

A different technique (Fiddle):

var arrString = "apple, banana, monkey, sugar",
    text = "This a nice  monkey  zoo with  banana  trees.";

var arr = arrString.split(", ");

var found = [], foundIndices = [];
var test = new RegExp("\\b" + arr.join("\\b|\\b") + "\\b", "g");

var newText = text.replace(test, function(word) {
    if (found.indexOf(word) < 0) {
        found.push(word);
    };
    var index = arr.indexOf(word);
    if (foundIndices.indexOf(index) < 0) {
        foundIndices.push(index);
    }
    return "<b>" + word + "</b>";
});

foundIndices.sort(function(a, b) {return b - a;});
foundIndices.forEach(function(index) {arr.splice(index, 1);});

log(arrString);
log("The text contains " + found.join(", ") + ".");
log(newText);
log("These array itmes are left: " + arr.join(", ") + ".");

This will not work if the items to test have special characters important in regular expressions.

The big difference is that it builds a single regular expression and then goes through the string all at once replacing all the matches it finds.

answered Jan 12, 2014 at 17:37

Scott Sauyet

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2 Comments

Martin Over a year ago

Thanks, but Nouphal.M's solution does just fine and seems more stable. I made it case insensitive and it works just fine so far.

Scott Sauyet Over a year ago

That's fine. I wasn't really expecting you to use it. But you might want to look at my comment on the other answer.

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