Replace multiple strings between characters in JavaScript

Question

I'm trying to replace strings with variables in the same way that Python string formatting works.

The string will be in a similar format to:

string = 'Replace $name$ as well as $age$ and $country$';

And I'd like to have a regex operation that will return and array:

['name', 'age', 'country'] or ['$name$', '$age$', '$country$']

So that I can map it to object keys:

{
 name    : 'Bob',
 age     :  50,
 country : 'US'
}

I've seen solutions using string concatenation but I need a solution using regex because I have to rely on strings containing these variables.

Should be simple enough. What have you tried so far? What is acceptable in one of your token names? — Matt Burland
– Matt Burland, Commented May 30, 2014 at 17:20
Anything really, as long as it isn't expected as actual content, so a single character would do as well as a combination. — BarakChamo
– BarakChamo, Commented May 30, 2014 at 20:11

Amit Joki · Accepted Answer · 2014-05-30 17:19:53Z

3

You can do this:

var string = 'Replace $name$ as well as $age$ and $country$';
var arr = [];
string.replace(/\$(.+?)\$/g, function(m,g1){ arr.push(g1); return m; });
console.log(arr); // desired output

answered May 30, 2014 at 17:19

Amit Joki

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5 Comments

Matt Burland Over a year ago

That .+ should be .+? to make it not greedy.

Amit Joki Over a year ago

@MattBurland, yeah I knew! Done

Tom Fenech Over a year ago

@Matt or you could use [^$]+

Matt Burland Over a year ago

@TomFenech: Personally I prefer the non-greedy ?, but what you suggest would work as well. Really don't know if there's an actual benefit to one versus the other.

Bradley Trager Over a year ago

It would be nice if this solution allowed for an escape character so you could do something like `var string = 'Price: \$$price$'.

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