How to extract block comments from a string using regular expressions?

Question

I want to write a function that takes a string and returns an array with the content of all the block comments from it. For example:

var text = 'This is not a comment\n/*this is a comment*/\nNot a comment/*Another comment*/';
var comments = getComments(text);

And 'comments' will be an array with the values:

['this is a comment', 'Another comment']

I tried with this code:

function getComments(text) {
    var comments,
    comment,
    regex;

    comments = [];
    regex = /\/\*([^\/\*]*)\*\//g;
    comment = regex.exec(text);

    while(comment !== null) {
        skewer.log(comment);
        comments.push(comment[1]);
        comment = regex.exec(text);
    }

    return comments;
}

The problem is that if there is a * or a / inside the comment, it does not match

Dump Cake · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-24 20:38:57Z

1

I'm not sure about the JavaScript piece, but this regex should match your pattern: \/\*.*?\*\/

answered Nov 24, 2014 at 20:38

Dump Cake

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Comments

Noel · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-24 21:16:43Z

0

I updated your code a bit in this jsfiddle, removing some of the ancillary code (like skewer). Here is the relevant part:

function getComments(text) {
    var comments,
    regex,
    match;
    comments = [];
    regex = /\/\*.*?\*\//g

    while ((match = regex.exec(text)) != null) {
        comments.push(match);
    }
    return comments;
}

answered Nov 24, 2014 at 21:16

Noel

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1 Comment

nhahtdh Over a year ago

This only works with most but not all the cases. Take var a = "/*"; var b = "*/"; for example - no comment should be extracted.

ddanone · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-28 08:18:27Z

0

Try this solution, works on php and javascript:

(?:\/\*)((.|[\r\n])*?)(?:\*\/)

You can test on: https://regex101.com/r/qoeQLq/2

answered Jul 28, 2018 at 8:18

ddanone

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