The "RegExp" Object Type - Regular Expression Patterns

This section provides a quick description and a tutorial example script on the 'RegExp' built-in object type, which is used to create 'RegExp' objects for pattern matching operations.

The "RegExp" object type is a built-in object type to be used to create a "RegExp" object, representing a regular expression pattern. It has the following main features:

Here is a tutorial example script showing some of those features:

// RegExp_Object_Type.js
// Copyright (c) 2013 HerongYang.com. All Rights Reserved.

   // Creating a new RegExp object
   var myObject = new RegExp('\\S+@.*\.com','i');

   // Checking this object
   println("\nAbout this \"myObject\":");
   println("   Type = "+(typeof myObject));
   println("   Instance Of Object: "+(myObject instanceof Object));
   println("   Instance Of RegExp: "+(myObject instanceof RegExp));

   println("\nProperties of this \"myObject\":");
   println("   myObject.source = "+myObject.source);
   println("   myObject.global = "+myObject.global);
   println("   myObject.ignoreCase = "+myObject.ignoreCase);
   println("   myObject.multiline = "+myObject.multiline);
   println("   myObject.lastIndex = "+myObject.lastIndex);

   // Using RegExp's inherited methods
   var text = "Please write to me@herongyang.com for help.";
   var t = myObject.test(text);
   var e = myObject.exec(text);

   println("\nExecution result:");
   println("   typeof myObject = "+(typeof myObject));
   println("   typeof myObject.test() = "+(typeof t));
   println("   myObject.toString() = "+myObject.toString());
   println("   myObject.test() = "+t);

   println("\nAbout myObject.exec():");
   println("   typeof myObject.exec() = "+(typeof e));
   println("   myObject.exec() instanceOf Array: "+(e instanceof Array));
   for (var item in e) {
      println("   "+item+" = "+e[item]);
   }

If you run this script with "jrunscript", you will get:

About this "myObject":
   Type = function
   Instance Of Object: true
   Instance Of RegExp: true

Properties of this "myObject":
   myObject.source = \S+@.*.com
   myObject.global = false
   myObject.ignoreCase = true
   myObject.multiline = false
   myObject.lastIndex = 0

Execution result:
   typeof myObject = function
   typeof myObject.test() = boolean
   myObject.toString() = /\S+@.*.com/i
   myObject.test() = true

About myObject.exec():
   typeof myObject.exec() = object
   myObject.exec() instanceOf Array: true
   0 = me@herongyang.com
   index = 16
   input = Please write to me@herongyang.com for help.

Now we know how to create "RegExp" objects with the "RegExp()" constructor. The output also shows that the "typeof myObject" returns "function". Should it be "object"?

Read other "RegExp" related chapters to see more tutorial examples.

Table of Contents

 About This Book

 Introduction to JavaScript

 ECMAScript Language Specification and JavaScript Dialects

 Data Types, Variables and Expressions

 Flow Control Statements

 Creating, Accessing, and Manipulating Arrays

 Defining and Calling Functions

 Web Browser Supporting JavaScript

 Server-Side and Client-Side Web Scripting

 Introduction to Objects

 Defining Your Own Object Types

 Inheritance of Properties and Methods through the Prototype Object Chain

 'jrunscript' - JavaScript Shell Command from JDK

 Using Functions as "Function" Objects

Introduction to Built-in Object Types

 Overview of Built-in Object Types

 The "Object" Object Type - The Root Object Type

 The "Global" Object Type - The Invisible Global Container

 Global Properties and Functions Defined in ECMAScript

 Global Properties and Functions Provided by "jrunscript"

 The "Function" Object Type - Functions Are Objects

 The "Array" Object Type - Arrays Are Objects

 The "JSON" Object Type - parse() and stringify()

 The "String" Object Type - Not Equal to String Primitive Type

 The "Boolean" Object Type - Wrapping Boolean Values into Objects

 The "Number" Object Type - Not Equal to Number Primitive Type

 The "Date" Object Type - Managing Dates and Times

The "RegExp" Object Type - Regular Expression Patterns

 The "Error" Object Type - Runtime Exceptions

 The "Math" Object Type - The Math Container

 W3C's Document Object Model (DOM) Specifications

 AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript And XML)

 References

 Full Version in PDF/EPUB