How to split string between two separators in javascript?

Question

I know how to split using, multiple separators but I have no idea how to split a string into an array between two characters. So:

var myArray = "(text1)(text2)(text3)".split(???)
//=> myArray[0] = "text1", myArray[1] = "text2", myArray[2] = "text3"

What should I enter in the "???"? Or is there a different approach I should use?

Making ")(" a separator won't work as I want to split the array with a variety of separators such as ">" making it very unpractical to list every possible combination of separators

Ωmega · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-27 22:32:46Z

13

.split(/[()]+/).filter(function(e) { return e; });

See this demo.

answered Nov 27, 2012 at 22:32

Ωmega

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2 Comments

Madbreaks Over a year ago

Please provide an explanation, without one this answer isn't especially helpful.

SoEzPz Over a year ago

I think the code says it all. This is exactly what I was looking for. We can also use "(text1)(text2)(text3)".split(/[()]+/).filter(String); to get rid of that nasty little empty string.

Martin Ender · Accepted Answer · 2012-11-27 22:43:23Z

2

Using split between specific characters without losing any characters is not possible with JavaScript, because you would need a lookbehind for that (which is not supported). But since you seem to want the texts inside the parentheses, instead of splitting you could just match the longest-possible string not containing parentheses:

myArray = "(text1)(text2)(text3)".match(/[^()]+/g)

edited Nov 27, 2012 at 22:43

answered Nov 27, 2012 at 22:26

Martin Ender

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4 Comments

Paul S. Over a year ago

this answer is the most sensible for behaviour OP wants, (not a simple string split) but will fail for e.g. "(text(1)(text(2)". You can make this match the opening parentheses, too, then map them out; .match(/\([^)]+/g).map(function (e) {return e.slice(1);});

Martin Ender Over a year ago

@PaulS sure, but that seems rather invalid. and things with proper nesting can't be matched anyway. I mean, why support (text(1)(text(2) but not (1)text)(2)text) or (te(1)xt)(te(2)xt)?

Paul S. Over a year ago

True. I was trying to think how to do all of them without needing a loop, but a second ( defiantly would not be the end of the section, whereas a second ) could be. It isn't the biggest issue in the world though.

Martin Ender Over a year ago

@PaulS. allowing arbitrary nesting is the biggest issue in the world, if you want to solve it with a JavaScript regex ;)

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