Regex to check if http or https exists in the string

Question

So i have this code:

function validateText(str)
{
    var tarea = str;
    var tarea_regex = /^(http|https)/;
    if(tarea_regex.test(String(tarea).toLowerCase()) == true)
    {
        $('#textVal').val('');
    }
}

This works perfectly for this:

https://hello.com
http://hello.com

but not for:

this is a website http://hello.com asdasd asdasdas

tried doing some reading but i dont where to place * ? since they will check the expression anywhere on the string according here -> http://www.regular-expressions.info/reference.html

thank you

fwiw, gskinner.com/RegExr is a great way to learn about regex. — timrwood
– timrwood, Commented May 16, 2012 at 22:22

Hosein Yeganloo · Accepted Answer · 2020-03-17 16:32:32Z

28

Try this:

function validateText(string) {
  if(/(http(s?)):\/\//i.test(string)) {
    // do something here
  }
}

edited Mar 17, 2020 at 16:32

answered Sep 29, 2014 at 9:50

Hosein Yeganloo

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1 Comment

Hosein Yeganloo Over a year ago

sorry. my bad :)

Ashley Strout · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-24 12:20:27Z

22

From the looks of it, you're just checking if http or https exists in the string. Regular expressions are a bit overkill for that purpose. Try this simple code using indexOf:

function validateText(str)
{
    var tarea = str;
    if (tarea.indexOf("http://") == 0 || tarea.indexOf("https://") == 0) {
        // do something here
    }
}

edited Sep 24, 2015 at 12:20

answered May 16, 2012 at 19:40

Ashley Strout

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3 Comments

magicianiam Over a year ago

thanks, let me try this. tried it but it sees every value of tarea as http or https

magicianiam Over a year ago

it empties the value for any input

Ashley Strout Over a year ago

Yes, that was a logic error on my part as pointed out by @Dan Tao. Fixed now.

aztaroth · Accepted Answer · 2020-03-17 14:57:20Z

5

The ^ in the beginning matches the start of the string. Just remove it.

var tarea_regex = /^(http|https)/;

should be

var tarea_regex = /(http|https)/;

edited Mar 17, 2020 at 14:57

user3310334

answered May 16, 2012 at 19:39

aztaroth

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Comments

web_bod · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-16 19:40:07Z

4

((http(s?))\://))

Plenty of ideas here : http://regexlib.com/Search.aspx?k=URL&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

answered May 16, 2012 at 19:40

web_bod

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1 Comment

Scott Over a year ago

Thanks, works fine for me when removing extra ) and adding slashes /((http(s?))\://)/

Dan Tao · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-16 19:39:02Z

3

Have you tried using a word break instead of the start-of-line character?

var tarea_regex = /\b(http|https)/;

It seems to do what I think you want. See here: http://jsfiddle.net/BejGd/

answered May 16, 2012 at 19:39

Dan Tao

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1 Comment

magicianiam Over a year ago

sorry I haven't. i'm partially new to regex and i was not certain what they meant with wordbreak.

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