Getting this regex expression to work in javascript

Question

I have an html checkbox element with the following name:

type_config[selected_licenses][CC BY-NC-ND 3.0]

I would like to break this name apart as follows and returned as part of an array:

["type_config",  "[selected_licenses]", "[CC BY-NC-ND 3.0]", "[selected_licenses][CC BY-NC-ND 3.0]"]

I thought I could do this by using a regular expression in javascript. Here is the expression that I am using:

matches = /([a-zA-Z0-9_]*)((\[[a-zA-Z0-9_\.\s]*\])+)*/.exec(element_name);

but this is the result I am getting in my matches variable:

["type_config[selected_licenses]", "type_config", "[selected_licenses]", "[selected_licenses]", index: 0, input: "type_config[selected_licenses][CC BY-ND 3.0]"]

I am half way there. What am I doing wrong in my regular expression? I guess I should also ask if it is possible to accomplish what I want with a regex?

Thanks.

You can use \w instead of [a-zA-Z0-9_]. You can use it even inside [], like [\w\.\s]. — MaxArt
– MaxArt, Commented Jan 13, 2014 at 23:34
Thanks for the tip, I will make that change. However it doesn't resolve my question. — user5013
– user5013, Commented Jan 13, 2014 at 23:40

MaxArt · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-13 23:41:04Z

1

The problem with this kind of goal is that there's no simple way to achieve this with regular expression, i.e. a simple match call. In short, even if you put a quantifier after a capturing group, the captured string will always be just one.

You'll have to rely on something more specific, like breaking the string with a repeated use of indexOf, or something like

name.split(/(?=\[)/);

Maybe you want to be sure that name is formally correct.

answered Jan 13, 2014 at 23:41

MaxArt

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user5013 Over a year ago

Sorry, too quick to respond on my part :-). So it isn't possible - that is good to know. I will go with what you suggested above.

Vasili Syrakis · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-13 23:55:40Z

0

This is a very ugly problem. I don't know how repeatable this is, but I can do it:

Regex

^(\w+)(?<firstbracket>\[(?<secondbracket>[^]]*)\]\[(.*?)\])$

Replacement

["$1", "[$3]", "[$4]", "$2"]

Demo

http://regex101.com/r/eD9mH8

answered Jan 13, 2014 at 23:55

Vasili Syrakis

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