How can I extract a substring in javascript

Question

I need to extract a sub string, particularly "Sweet Heart" Package (SPA02) from this string:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<button onclick="myFunction()">Find String</button>

<p id="demo"></p>

<script>
function myFunction() {
    var str = '<div class="view view-commerce-line-item-table view-id-commerce_line_item_table view-display-id-default view-dom-id-57765ff55f834d6a7ec1b8f510768a90">
<div class="view-content">
<table class="views-table cols-4"><thead><tr><th class="views-field views-field-line-item-title">
            Title          </th>
<th class="views-field views-field-commerce-unit-price">
            Unit price          </th>
<th class="views-field views-field-quantity">
            Quantity          </th>
<th class="views-field views-field-commerce-total views-align-right">
            Total          </th>
</tr></thead><tbody><tr class="odd views-row-first views-row-last"><td class="views-field views-field-line-item-title">
             "Sweet Heart" Package    (SPA02)          </td>
<td class="views-field views-field-commerce-unit-price">
            135.00  CAD          </td>
<td class="views-field views-field-quantity">
            1          </td>
<td class="views-field views-field-commerce-total views-align-right">
            135.00  CAD          </td>
</tr></tbody></table></div>
</div>';
    var n = str.indexOf('class="odd views-row-first views-row-last"><td class="views-field views-field-line-item-title">');
    document.getElementById("demo").innerHTML = n;
}
</script>

</body>
</html>

I have tried this to find the beginning of the string: str.indexOf('class="odd views-row-first views-row-last"><td class="views-field views-field-line-item-title">'); but it doesn't return a valid integer position, it in fact doesn't return anything... and I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong and how i'd best go about this.

Thanks!

check you developer console. It looks like you have a syntax error. Specifically, a string across multiple lines. — Alexander O'Mara
– Alexander O'Mara, Commented Jan 25, 2015 at 6:12
@AlexanderO'Mara I definitely do, are you saying a string across multiple lines is invalid in javascript ? :o — stdcerr
– stdcerr, Commented Jan 25, 2015 at 6:14
If it comes from a server-side scripting language like PHP, encode it using a JSON encoder. If not, check out this question and this question. — Alexander O'Mara
– Alexander O'Mara, Commented Jan 25, 2015 at 6:19

Alexander O'Mara · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-25 07:31:29Z

1

You can't declare a JavaScript string across multiple lines. You will get a syntax error.

SyntaxError: unterminated string literal

Alternative options include:

Escape the newline:

var str = '<div>\
    test\
</div>';

Concatenate:

var str = '<div>' + 
'    test' + 
'</div>';

Store it in a DOM element:

<script id="my_str" type="text/html">
<div>
    test
</div>
</script>

And retrieve like so:

doucment.getElementById('my_str').innerHTML;

Using PHP:

var str = <?php echo json_encode( $your_html_string ); ?>;

edited Jan 25, 2015 at 7:31

answered Jan 25, 2015 at 7:00

Alexander O'Mara

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How can I extract a substring in javascript

1 Answer 1

Escape the newline:

Concatenate:

Store it in a DOM element:

Using PHP:

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Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Escape the newline:

Concatenate:

Store it in a DOM element:

Using PHP:

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