If Statement with .match(regex) in javascript not picking up spaces

Question

Hi guys I'm trying to check if user input string contains a space. I'm using http://regexr.com/ to check if my regular expression is correct. FYI new to regex. Seems to be correct.

But it doesn't work, the value still gets returned even if there is a space. is there something wrong with my if statement or am I missing how regex works.

 var regex = /([ ])\w+/g;
 if (nameInput.match(regex)||realmInput.match(regex)) {
     alert('spaces not allowed');
 } else {
     //do something else 
 }

Thanks in Advance

What exact input do you have for nameInput and realmInput that doesn't have the expected result? — Bergi
– Bergi, Commented Jan 22, 2016 at 0:40

iMoses · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-22 01:01:20Z

1

This regex /([ ])\w+/g will match any string which contain a space followed by any number of "word characters". This won't catch, for example, a space at the end of the string, not followed by anything.

Try using /\s+/g instead. It will match any occurrence of at least one space (including tabs).

Update:

If you wish to match only a single space this will do the trick: / /g. There's no real need for the brackets and parenthesis, and since one space is enough even the g flag is kind of obsolete, it could have simply been / /.

edited Jan 22, 2016 at 1:01

answered Jan 22, 2016 at 0:44

iMoses

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1 Comment

Carlos Hanson Over a year ago

I would also offer /[ ]/g if you do not want to match other whitespace characters.

chiquyet · Accepted Answer · 2016-01-22 00:51:02Z

0

Your current regex doesn't match 'abc '(a word with space character at the end) . If you want to make sure, you can trim you input before check :).

You can check here https://regex101.com/

The right regex for matching only white space is

/([ ])/g

answered Jan 22, 2016 at 0:51

chiquyet

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