Changing specific words in string using JavaScript

Question

I have something like this:

var myString = "Paul, Paula, Pauline";
var myRegExp = /Paula?/g;
var change= myString.replace(myRegExp, "George");
document.write(change);

How can I change only Paul and Paula without changing Pauline into Georgeine. Now, I get George, George, Georgeine, and I want George, George, Pauline.

Wiktor Stribiżew · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-16 14:17:03Z

4

You can use the following regex:

var myRegExp = /\bPaula?\b/g;

var myString = "Paul, Paula, Pauline";
var myRegExp = /\bPaula?\b/g;

var change= myString.replace(myRegExp, "George");

document.write(change);

Word boundaries (\b) are necessary as we need to tell the regex engine to fail the match if there are other word characters other Paul or Paula.

Regular expression visualization

Debuggex Demo

edited Jul 16, 2015 at 14:17

answered Jul 16, 2015 at 12:51

Wiktor Stribiżew

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2 Comments

Wiktor Stribiżew Over a year ago

Glad to help. Please consider upvoting my answer if it proved helpful and accepting since it works for you.

Wiktor Stribiżew Over a year ago

Actually, sometimes, debuggex.com is even more appealing than regex101.com, due to visualization. But it is true that regex101.com is much more helpful since it offers code generation and debugging (shows how the regex actually works). However, for demo purposes, I am relying on SO snippet functionality. See how your question looks now :)

vks · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-16 13:05:14Z

1

var myRegExp = /(^|\s)Paula?(?=[,\s]|$)/g

You can use this and replace by var change= myString.replace(myRegExp, "$1George");

See demo.

https://regex101.com/r/fX3oF6/11

answered Jul 16, 2015 at 13:05

vks

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1 Comment

vks Over a year ago

@PiotrX do accept an answer which helped you the most and upvote others which helped you

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