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How to identify a pattern in a string in nodejs

I have the following problem that I have not been able to solve for several hours:
What I want to do is that when I receive a string, identify a pattern in said string and be able to use it later, for example when receiving the text:
"Hello this is an example message, the hashtag of the day is #Phone, you can use it wherever you want"
what I want to do is identify that #Phone and extract it from all that text and for example then be able to make a console.log() of that word that is with the #. So that the result of the console.log is only Phone, for example, or the data that has the #
I have the following code:
const prefix = "#";
client.on("message", function(message) {
if (!message.content.includes(prefix)) return;
const commandBody = message.content.slice(prefix.length);
const args = commandBody.split(' ');
const command = args.shift().toUpperCase();
console.log(command)
});
This what returns me is the first element of the text without its first letter, in the case that the text is "Hello, how are you !try this", what it shows is only "ello", and I need it to only show " try"

Use a regular expression to match # (or !) followed by letters or non-space characters or whatever sort of text you want to permit afterwards:
const prefix = '!';
const pattern = new RegExp(prefix + '([a-z]+)', 'i');
const getMatch = str => str.match(pattern)?.[1];
console.log(getMatch('Hello, how are you !try this'));
If the prefix may be a special character in a regular expression, escape it first:
function escapeRegex(string) {
return string.replace(/[-\/\\^$*+?.()|[\]{}]/g, '\\$&');
}
const pattern = new RegExp(escapeRegex(prefix) + '([a-z]+)', 'i');

How to parse JSON-like file with regex

I have this structure of my input data, it is just like JSON but not containing strings. I only need to parse few information from these data
{ .appVersion = "1230"; DisplayStrings = ( A ); customParameters = ( { name = Axes;.......(continues)}'''
the code looks like this, what happens here is that it matches but search until last appearance of semicolon. I tried all non-greedy tips and tricks that I have found, but I feel helpless.
const regex = /.appVersion = (".*"?);/
const found = data.match(regex)
console.log(found)
How can I access value saved under .appVersion variable, please?

You need to escape the . before appVersion since it is a special character in Regex and you can use \d instead of .* to match only digits. If you want just the number to be captured, without the quotes you can take them out of the parentheses.
const regex = /\.appVersion = "(\d+)";/
const found = data.match(regex)
const appVersion = found[1];

const string = '{ .appVersion = "1230"; DisplayStrings = (...(continues)';
const appVersion = string.match(/\.appVersion\s*=\s*"([^"]+)"/)[1];
If that's what you need...
I'm not sure where the format you're trying to parse comes from, but consider asking (making) your data provider return json string, so you could easily invoke JSON.parse() which works in both node and browser environments.

You can try the following:
var data='{ .appVersion = "1230"; DisplayStrings = ( A ); customParameters = ( { name = Axes;.......(continues)}';
const regex = /.appVersion = [^;]*/ //regex test: https://regex101.com/r/urX53f/1
const found = data.match(regex);
var trim = found.toString().replace(/"/g,''); // remove the "" if necessary
console.log(found.toString());
console.log(trim);

Your regex is looking for . which is "any character" in a regex. Escape it with a backslash:
/\.appVersion = ("\d+");/

Don't use .* to capture the value, It's greedy.
You can use something like \"[^\"]* - Match a quote, then Any character except quote, as many time as possible.
try
const regex = \.appVersion = \"([^\"]*)\";
Note that the first dot is should also be quoted, and the spaces should be exactly as in your example.

Overlapping named capturing groups

I'm using named capturing groups to validate and extract data out of a product number. The format of the product number looks like this:
1102961D048.075
Chars 1-2 gender_code 11
Chars 1-6 style 110296
Chars 7-8 width_code 1D
Chars 9-11 color_code 048
Char 12 delimiter ignored
Chars 13-15 size_code 075
My current code looks like this:
const validateMpn = (mpn) => {
const regex = /(?<style>\d{6})(?<width>\d{1}[ABDE])(?<color_code>\d{3})\.(?<size_code>\d{3})/gi
const match = regex.exec(mpn)
if (!match) {
return null
}
return match.groups
}
const str1 = '1102961D048.075'
const str2 = '1200322A001.085'
const match1 = validateMpn(str1)
const match2 = validateMpn(str2)
console.log(match1)
console.log(match2)
As gender_code and style overlap I'm not sure how to get them both. Therefore I have the following questions:
Is it possible to this with only one regular expression?
If yes, how could I accomplish this?

Sure, just place gender inside the style group:
const validateMpn = (mpn) => {
const regex = /(?<style>(?<gender>\d{2})\d{4})(?<width>\d{1}[ABDE])(?<color_code>\d{3})\.(?<size_code>\d{3})/gi
const match = regex.exec(mpn)
if (!match) {
return null
}
return match.groups
}
const str1 = '1102961D048.075'
const str2 = '1200322A001.085'
const match1 = validateMpn(str1)
const match2 = validateMpn(str2)
console.log(match1)
console.log(match2)

I suggest just having separate capture groups for the first two and four following characters. Then, form the style by just concatenating together the first two capture groups:
var input = "1102961D048.075";
var regex = /(.{2})(.{4})(.{2})(.{3}).(.{3})/g;
var match = regex.exec(input);
console.log("gender_code: " + match[1]);
console.log("style: " + match[1] + match[2]);
As a style note, I prefer not using named capture groups, because they tend to result in a bloated regex which is hard to read.

Yes you can capture gender_code using positive look ahead using this regex,
(?=(..))(\d{6})(\d{1}[ABDE])(\d{3})\.(\d{3})
Regex Demo
This is named groups regex but will only work in Chrome browser
and named capture grouping will be available in ECMAScript 2018 and is only supported in Chrome as of now.
This JS demo will work in Chrome as that is the only one as of now supporting EcmaScript2018,
const validateMpn = (mpn) => {
const regex = /(?=(?<gender_code>\d\d))(?<style>\d{6})(?<width>\d{1}[ABDE])(?<color_code>\d{3})\.(?<size_code>\d{3})/gi
const match = regex.exec(mpn)
if (!match) {
return null
}
return match.groups
}
const str1 = '1102961D048.075'
const str2 = '1200322A001.085'
const match1 = validateMpn(str1)
const match2 = validateMpn(str2)
console.log(match1)
console.log(match2)

Unexpected Behavior When Escaping Backslashes JS

so i'm making a simple function that separates the file name and the directory path. I believe there is an easier way with node's Path module but I thought i'd do it myself for this project.
so the problem is when i'm writing a backslash character in a string, I'm escaping them in the string like "directory\AnothaDirectory". It runs, but the double "\" and the "\\" used in order to escape are still remaining in the strings after they are parsed. ex: "C:\\Documents\Newsletters".
I have tried both to use single backslahses, which throws compiler errors as one could expect. but I have also tried to use forward slashes. what could be the reason the backslashes are not being escaped?
function splitFileNameFromPath(path,slashType){
let pathArray = path.split(slashType),
fileName = pathArray[pathArray.length - 1],
elsIndexes = pathArray.length - 1,
pathSegs = pathArray.slice(0, elsIndexes);
let dirPath = pathSegs.join(slashType);
//adds an extra slash after drive name and colon e.g."C:\\"
dirPath = dirPath.replace( new RegExp("/\\/","ug"), "\\" )
//removes illegal last slash
let pathSeg = pathSegs.slice(0,-1)
return [dirPath, fileName]
}
let res = splitFileNameFromPath("C:\\\\Documents\\Newsletters\\Summer2018.pdf","\\");
console.log(res)

There are some moments in this code I do not understand.
"C:\\\\Documents\\Newsletters\\Summer2018.pdf" (i.e. "C:\\Documents\Newsletters\Summer2018.pdf") does not seem like a valid Windows path as there are no double slashes after the drive letter usually used (it is not like in the URL 'https://...').
new RegExp("/\\/","ug") is equal to /\/\//gu and does not match anythhing.
The result of let pathSeg = pathSegs.slice(0,-1) is not used at all.
It seems to me this code is enough to achive the task:
'use strict';
function splitFileNameFromPath(path, slashType) {
const pathArray = path.split(slashType),
fileName = pathArray.pop(),
dirPath = pathArray.join(slashType);
return [dirPath, fileName];
}
const path = "C:\\Documents\\Newsletters\\Summer2018.pdf";
const slash = "\\";
const res = splitFileNameFromPath(path, slash);
console.log(res);
console.log(path === res.join(slash));

Use dynamic (variable) string as regex pattern in JavaScript

I want to add a (variable) tag to values with regex, the pattern works fine with PHP but I have troubles implementing it into JavaScript.
The pattern is (value is the variable):
/(?!(?:[^<]+>|[^>]+<\/a>))\b(value)\b/is
I escaped the backslashes:
var str = $("#div").html();
var regex = "/(?!(?:[^<]+>|[^>]+<\\/a>))\\b(" + value + ")\\b/is";
$("#div").html(str.replace(regex, "" + value + ""));
But this seem not to be right, I logged the pattern and its exactly what it should be.
Any ideas?

To create the regex from a string, you have to use JavaScript's RegExp object.
If you also want to match/replace more than one time, then you must add the g (global match) flag. Here's an example:
var stringToGoIntoTheRegex = "abc";
var regex = new RegExp("#" + stringToGoIntoTheRegex + "#", "g");
// at this point, the line above is the same as: var regex = /#abc#/g;
var input = "Hello this is #abc# some #abc# stuff.";
var output = input.replace(regex, "!!");
alert(output); // Hello this is !! some !! stuff.
JSFiddle demo here.
In the general case, escape the string before using as regex:
Not every string is a valid regex, though: there are some speciall characters, like ( or [. To work around this issue, simply escape the string before turning it into a regex. A utility function for that goes in the sample below:
function escapeRegExp(stringToGoIntoTheRegex) {
return stringToGoIntoTheRegex.replace(/[-\/\\^$*+?.()|[\]{}]/g, '\\$&');
}
var stringToGoIntoTheRegex = escapeRegExp("abc"); // this is the only change from above
var regex = new RegExp("#" + stringToGoIntoTheRegex + "#", "g");
// at this point, the line above is the same as: var regex = /#abc#/g;
var input = "Hello this is #abc# some #abc# stuff.";
var output = input.replace(regex, "!!");
alert(output); // Hello this is !! some !! stuff.
JSFiddle demo here.
Note: the regex in the question uses the s modifier, which didn't exist at the time of the question, but does exist -- a s (dotall) flag/modifier in JavaScript -- today.

If you are trying to use a variable value in the expression, you must use the RegExp "constructor".
var regex = "(?!(?:[^<]+>|[^>]+<\/a>))\b(" + value + ")\b";
new RegExp(regex, "is")

I found I had to double slash the \b to get it working. For example to remove "1x" words from a string using a variable, I needed to use:
str = "1x";
var regex = new RegExp("\\b"+str+"\\b","g"); // same as inv.replace(/\b1x\b/g, "")
inv=inv.replace(regex, "");

You don't need the " to define a regular expression so just:
var regex = /(?!(?:[^<]+>|[^>]+<\/a>))\b(value)\b/is; // this is valid syntax
If value is a variable and you want a dynamic regular expression then you can't use this notation; use the alternative notation.
String.replace also accepts strings as input, so you can do "fox".replace("fox", "bear");
Alternative:
var regex = new RegExp("/(?!(?:[^<]+>|[^>]+<\/a>))\b(value)\b/", "is");
var regex = new RegExp("/(?!(?:[^<]+>|[^>]+<\/a>))\b(" + value + ")\b/", "is");
var regex = new RegExp("/(?!(?:[^<]+>|[^>]+<\/a>))\b(.*?)\b/", "is");
Keep in mind that if value contains regular expressions characters like (, [ and ? you will need to escape them.

I found this thread useful - so I thought I would add the answer to my own problem.
I wanted to edit a database configuration file (datastax cassandra) from a node application in javascript and for one of the settings in the file I needed to match on a string and then replace the line following it.
This was my solution.
dse_cassandra_yaml='/etc/dse/cassandra/cassandra.yaml'
// a) find the searchString and grab all text on the following line to it
// b) replace all next line text with a newString supplied to function
// note - leaves searchString text untouched
function replaceStringNextLine(file, searchString, newString) {
fs.readFile(file, 'utf-8', function(err, data){
if (err) throw err;
// need to use double escape '\\' when putting regex in strings !
var re = "\\s+(\\-\\s(.*)?)(?:\\s|$)";
var myRegExp = new RegExp(searchString + re, "g");
var match = myRegExp.exec(data);
var replaceThis = match[1];
var writeString = data.replace(replaceThis, newString);
fs.writeFile(file, writeString, 'utf-8', function (err) {
if (err) throw err;
console.log(file + ' updated');
});
});
}
searchString = "data_file_directories:"
newString = "- /mnt/cassandra/data"
replaceStringNextLine(dse_cassandra_yaml, searchString, newString );
After running, it will change the existing data directory setting to the new one:
config file before:
data_file_directories:
- /var/lib/cassandra/data
config file after:
data_file_directories:
- /mnt/cassandra/data

Much easier way: use template literals.
var variable = 'foo'
var expression = `.*${variable}.*`
var re = new RegExp(expression, 'g')
re.test('fdjklsffoodjkslfd') // true
re.test('fdjklsfdjkslfd') // false

Using string variable(s) content as part of a more complex composed regex expression (es6|ts)
This example will replace all urls using my-domain.com to my-other-domain (both are variables).
You can do dynamic regexs by combining string values and other regex expressions within a raw string template. Using String.raw will prevent javascript from escaping any character within your string values.
// Strings with some data
const domainStr = 'my-domain.com'
const newDomain = 'my-other-domain.com'
// Make sure your string is regex friendly
// This will replace dots for '\'.
const regexUrl = /\./gm;
const substr = `\\\.`;
const domain = domainStr.replace(regexUrl, substr);
// domain is a regex friendly string: 'my-domain\.com'
console.log('Regex expresion for domain', domain)
// HERE!!! You can 'assemble a complex regex using string pieces.
const re = new RegExp( String.raw `([\'|\"]https:\/\/)(${domain})(\S+[\'|\"])`, 'gm');
// now I'll use the regex expression groups to replace the domain
const domainSubst = `$1${newDomain}$3`;
// const page contains all the html text
const result = page.replace(re, domainSubst);
note: Don't forget to use regex101.com to create, test and export REGEX code.

var string = "Hi welcome to stack overflow"
var toSearch = "stack"
//case insensitive search
var result = string.search(new RegExp(toSearch, "i")) > 0 ? 'Matched' : 'notMatched'
https://jsfiddle.net/9f0mb6Lz/
Hope this helps