Matching and returning all strings contained within [] using regex in javascript

Question

I'm wanting to match all values contained within [] brackets using regex in javascript.

I have the following string: [parent][0][child]

Attempting to use the regex value: \[[^]]*\]

Entering both values into the Rexex Tester matches everything successfully, however when I actually implement it, match only returns one array key value.

JS Code:

var string = '[parent][0][child]';
regex = /\[[^]]*\]/;
match = string.match(regex);  //Returns just [0]?

I'm wanting match to return an array with all the matching values [parent, 0, child]

Sabuj Hassan · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-26 16:03:51Z

4

Use modifier /g

And also escape the ] inside the character class []

regex = /\[[^\]]*\]/g;

answered Mar 26, 2014 at 16:03

Sabuj Hassan

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4 Comments

Axel Over a year ago

Thanks, this worked. Is there a way to only return the strings within the brackets? I'm looking specifically for an array with [parent,0,child].

000 Over a year ago

regex = /\[([^\]]*)\]/g;

Axel Over a year ago

@JoeFrambach - That regex value still returns the [] in the results. match.forEach(function(key){ console.log(key); }) returns ['[parent]','[0]','[child]'], I'm looking for ['parent','0','child'] as the results set.

Sabuj Hassan Over a year ago

@Axel Javscript doesn't support lookbehind. Otherwise it could be very easy for this. You can use Positive lookahead to check ] at right side, and keeping left side open as Jerry posted a solution below. Alternately, if your input is same like the example, you can use .split(/[\]\[]+/) for this purpose.

000 · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-26 16:12:02Z

2

An alternative path to your end goal:

var str = "[parent][0][child]"
str.split(/\[|\]/).filter(Boolean)

outputs ["parent", "0", "child"]

answered Mar 26, 2014 at 16:12

000

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3 Comments

Denys Séguret Over a year ago

You could replace .filter(function(s){return !!s}) with filter(Boolean)

000 Over a year ago

Ah yes! That's brilliant

Axel Over a year ago

Nice solution, and a lot cleaner! Exactly the results I was going for.

Denys Séguret · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-26 16:07:58Z

2

Use the g flag to get more than one result and fix your regex :

regex = /\[[^\]]*\]/g;

If you want to get only the part between brackets without explicit iteration, you may do

var matches = string.match(regex).map(function(v){ return v.slice(1,-1) })

edited Mar 26, 2014 at 16:07

answered Mar 26, 2014 at 16:02

Denys Séguret

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Comments

Jerry · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-26 16:10:41Z

1

You could use a lookahead and nothing else to help get only the parts within the square brackets; assuming that you are 100% sure the strings have balanced square brackets:

regex = /[^\[\]]*(?=\])/g;

regex101 demo

The g flag is the global flag to match all the possible matches.

answered Mar 26, 2014 at 16:10

Jerry

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Comments

Amit Joki · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-26 16:21:06Z

0

You can use this regex:

/[^[\[\]]+/g

Use it like this:

var string = '[parent][0][child]';
var regex = /[^[\[\]]+/g;
var matches = string.match(regex);
console.log(matches); //[parent,0,child]

answered Mar 26, 2014 at 16:21

Amit Joki

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