How to remove characters from string using regex

Question

I want to remove << any words #_ from the following string.

stringVal = "<<Start words#_ I <<love#_ kind <<man>>, <<john#_ <<kind man>> is really <<great>> <<end words#_ ";

Result mast be:

Start words I love kind <<man>>, john <<kind man>> is really <<great>> end words

I tried like this:

stringVal = stringVal.replace(/^.*<<.+\#_.*$/g, "");

But it removes all string.

Note: << any words #_ may exists multiple time in string, at the start, in the middle or at the end

@Andreas, thank you for comment, I checked it was same as mine — Muhammad
– Muhammad, Commented May 4, 2020 at 13:44
I added the comment because of the explanation of your regular expression which should make it clear why it removes everything — Andreas
– Andreas, Commented May 4, 2020 at 13:45
Inferring from your example you might be looking for <<(\w+)# which needs to be replaced by $1, see a demo on regex101.com. — Jan
– Jan, Commented May 4, 2020 at 13:48

Jan · Accepted Answer · 2020-05-04 14:17:14Z

3

Inferring from your examples, you might be looking for:

stringVal = "<<Start words#_ I <<love#_ kind <<man>>, <<john#_ <<kind man>> is really <<great>> <<end words#_ ";

stringVal = stringVal.replace(/<<([-\w ]+)#_/g, "$1");
console.log(stringVal);

To allow other characters, change the \w+ to e.g. [-\w ]+.
See an additional demo on regex101.com.

edited May 4, 2020 at 14:17

answered May 4, 2020 at 13:51

Jan

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3 Comments

Jan Over a year ago

@Muhammad: No, then you need to change the expression to [-\w ]+ as stated in the answer in the end.

Muhammad Over a year ago

thank you and now only does not work at the start and at the end: like -> <<#hello_ I <<lo and ve#_ kind <<man>>, <<john#_ <<kind man>> is really <<great>> <<#he llo

Jan Over a year ago

@Muhammad: Please edit your question and put all your required conditions in there.

The fourth bird · Accepted Answer · 2020-05-04 14:09:35Z

2

Instead of using .+\#_, and you want to match any words you could match word characters optionally repeated by matching a space space and word characters.

<<(\w+(?: \w+)*)#_

Regex demo

In the replacement use group 1 $1

Note that you don't have to escape #

const regex = /<<(\w+(?: \w+)*)#_/g;
stringVal = "I <<love#_ kind <<man>>, <<john#_ <<kind man>> is really <<great>>";
const result = stringVal.replace(regex, '$1');

console.log(result);

edited May 4, 2020 at 14:09

answered May 4, 2020 at 13:52

The fourth bird

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3 Comments

Muhammad Over a year ago

Thank you very much, your answers works well, and also this works well <<(\w+)#_ from @Anreas

Muhammad Over a year ago

@Jan, is right if there is space does not work by the I up voted for the efforts thank you

The fourth bird Over a year ago

@Muhammad If there can be any words as in plural, this could be another option <<(\w+(?: \w+)*)#_ regex101.com/r/kh5ktF/1 If there can not be underscores in the word, only after the # then this might also be an option <<([^\W_]+(?: [^\W_]+)*)#_ regex101.com/r/eoyrYB/1

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