javascript jquery regexp replace

Question

I'm trying to create a dynamic searchbar and i need help.

Right now im trying to replace a string with another string but i cant seem to succeed.

Im getting input from the user:

var location_keyword = $("#si_user_location").val();

Now i would like to replace a whitespace " " with a "|" to use this in my regexp as OR.

For example if the user wrote "Turkey Alanya", i want it to be "Turkey|Alanya" so that the search hits for both Turkey OR Alanya.

i tried something like this but it didnt work

var location_keyword = $("#si_user_location").val();
location_keyword.replace(" ","|");
var regexp_loc = new RegExp(location_keyword, "i");

i used to do this in PHP before with expressions such as:

preg_replace('/'.preg_quote($keyword).'/i', "<span>$0</span>", $string)

and i could replace strings caseinsensetive like this, how can i do this in js?

I used the last expression in PHP to highlight the keyword in the results, which i would like to do aswell in js.

hope i can get some help, thanks in advance! :)

best of regards, alexander

Mark Byers · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-02 20:17:06Z

3

There are two problems with the use of replace on this line:

location_keyword.replace(" ","|");

It does not modify the string - it returns a new string. You need to reassign the result of the call to the original variable otherwise you won't see the changed string.
It only replaces the first occurrence unless you use a regular expression with the g (global) flag.

Try this instead:

location_keyword = location_keyword.replace(/ /g, '|');

edited Mar 2, 2011 at 20:17

answered Mar 2, 2011 at 20:11

Mark Byers

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2 Comments

Alexander Over a year ago

what is the /g in the regexp ?

Ryan Over a year ago

/g stands for global, meaning replace all instances of the needle in haystack, instead of only replacing just the first instance you find.

Matej Baćo · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-02 20:13:10Z

1

Try this:

location_keyword  = location_keyword.replace(/\s+/,"|");

answered Mar 2, 2011 at 20:13

Matej Baćo

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Comments

claudiut · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-02 20:14:44Z

0

This should work fine:

location_keyword.replace(/ /g,"|");

Hope this helps! :)

answered Mar 2, 2011 at 20:14

claudiut

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