Compare and index regex in Javascript array

Question

I have two arrays:

enteredCommands = ["valid", "this", 1.1];
validParameters = [/valid/, /alsoValid/, /this|that/, /\d+(\.)?\d*/];

I want to loop through all of the enteredCommands, if it exists in validParameters remove it from validParameters, if it doesn't, break.

I don't know how to compare the regex in this way, if I change validParameters to:

validParameters = ["valid", "alsoValid", /this|that/, /\d+(\.)?\d*/];

and use:

var ok2go = true;
// For each entered command...
for (var i = 0; i < commands.length; i++) {
     // Check to see that it is a valid parameter
     if (validParameters.indexOf(commands[i]) === -1) {
         // If not, an invalid command was entered.
         ok2go = false;
         break;
     // If valid, remove from list of valid parameters so as to prevent duplicates.
     } else {
         validParameters.splice(validParameters.indexOf(commands[i]), 1);
     }
     return ok2go;
}

if (ok2go) {
   // do stuff if all the commands are valid
} else {
   alert("Invalid command");
}

It works the way I want it to for the strings, but obviously not for those values that need to be regex. Is there any way to solve this?

Test cases:

enteredCommands = ["valid", "this", 1.1, 3];
// Expected Result: ok2go = false because 2 digits were entered

enteredCommands = ["valid", "alsoValid", "x"];
// Expected Result: ok2go = false because x was entered

enteredCommands = ["valid", "alsoValid", 1];
// Expected Result: ok2go = true because no invalid commands were found so we can continue on with the rest of the code

Not at all clear what you are asking or wanting to accomplish — charlietfl
– charlietfl, Commented Feb 16, 2017 at 15:05
The wanted result is just to verify that all of the enteredCommands exist in validParameters only once. Hence: "I want to loop through all of the enteredCommands, if it exists in validParameters remove it from validParameters, if it doesn't, break." — mariahm24
– mariahm24, Commented Feb 16, 2017 at 15:08

Nina Scholz · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-16 16:54:51Z

2

You could filter the given commands and if a regular expression match, the exclude it from the regex array. Return only commants which does not match with the rest of the regex array.

function check(array) {
    var regex = [/valid/, /alsoValid/, /this|that/, /\d+(\.)?\d*/];

    return array.filter(function (a) {
        var invalid = true;
        regex = regex.filter(function (r) {
            if (!r.test(a)) {
                return true;
            }
            invalid = false;					
        });
        invalid && alert('invalid command: ' + a);
        return invalid;
    });
}

console.log(check(["valid", "this", 1.1, 3]));   // 2 digits were entered
console.log(check(["valid", "alsoValid", "x"])); // x was entered
console.log(check(["valid", "alsoValid", 1]));   // nothing, no invalid commands were found

edited Feb 16, 2017 at 16:54

answered Feb 16, 2017 at 15:14

Nina Scholz

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3 Comments

mariahm24 Over a year ago

This doesn't address if enteredCommands includes something like "x", in which case I want to alert that an invalid command was entered.

Nina Scholz Over a year ago

please add some test cases to the question and what should happen. actually this answer checks enteredCommands in advance, if an invalid command is entered.

mariahm24 Over a year ago

Added test cases, the goal isn't necessarily to remove things from validParameters, its just to do syntax checking before the rest of the function that this will live in executes.

Daniël Camps · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-16 15:17:19Z

0

I recommend you split up the checks for a matching regex and the check for a matching string.

Conceptually, you might want to do the following (code not tested)

var validStringParameters = ["valid", "alsoValid"];
var validRegexMatches = [/valid/, /alsoValid/, /this|that/, /\d+(\.)?\d*/];

var validCommands = enteredcommands.filter(function(command){
if (validStringParameters.indexOf(command) !== -1){
return true;
}
for (var i = 0; i < validRegexMatches.length; i++){
if (command.test(validRegexMatches[i]){
return true;
})
return false;
}
})

answered Feb 16, 2017 at 15:17

Daniël Camps

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