Javascript regex OR operator

Question

I'm trying to combine two separate regex queries into one default one in a small script I have.

The first query is

/\[(.*?)\]/g

Which matches shortcodes like this

[gallery]

The second query is

/\[([^\]]+)]([^\[]+)\[\/([^\]]+)]/g

Which matches shortcodes like this

[gallery]data[/gallery]

When I try to combine the queries, like this

/\[(.*?)\]|\[([^\]]+)]([^\[]+)\[\/([^\]]+)]/g

Everything is matched except the "data" inside an extended shortcode, like this.

[gallery]
[gallery][/gallery]

The result I am expecting / wanting to see is this

[gallery]
[gallery]data[/gallery]

I have successfully used two regex's separately, but it would be tidier to combine them. — Richard Denton
– Richard Denton, Commented Aug 26, 2014 at 5:24

Avinash Raj · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-26 05:36:41Z

1

Just reverse the patterns. Because the order of matching is something like that the regex you gave first(ie, regex which was present just before to the OR | operator) would do the matching operation and next comes the second regex. You gave \[(.*?)\] as first regex so it matches also the strings that must be matched by the second regex. Reversing the order would force the regex engine to match strings like this [gallery]data[/gallery] on very first. After that the strings like this [gallery] would be matched.

\[([^\]]+)]([^\[]+)\[\/([^\]]+)]|\[(.*?)\]

DEMO

edited Aug 26, 2014 at 5:36

answered Aug 26, 2014 at 5:25

Avinash Raj

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1 Comment

Richard Denton Over a year ago

Thanks for the fast contribution - problem solved. Thank you.

vks · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-26 05:27:29Z

0

  \[([^\]]+)]([^\[]+)\[\/([^\]]+)]|\[(.*?)\]

Try this.The bigger first.

See Demo.

http://regex101.com/r/tK9sJ3/1

answered Aug 26, 2014 at 5:27

vks

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Comments

walid toumi · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-26 05:28:35Z

0

Try this:

\[(.*?)\](?:([^\[]+)\[\/([^\]]+)])?

answered Aug 26, 2014 at 5:28

walid toumi

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Tim.Tang · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-26 05:29:09Z

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just simple try:

/\[[^\]]+]([^\[]+\[\/[^\]]+])?/g

Regular expression visualization

Debuggex Demo

answered Aug 26, 2014 at 5:29

Tim.Tang

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elclanrs · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-26 05:29:41Z

0

Using an optional non-capturing group, and a backreference to the first match:

/\[(.+?)\](?:([^\]]+)\[\/\1\])?/g

answered Aug 26, 2014 at 5:29

elclanrs

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