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Session 2

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Matching Patterns in JavaScript
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Objectives

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By the end of this session, students will learn to:

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 Explain Regular Expressions in JavaScript and its uses

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 Identify RegExp object and matching patterns in JavaScript

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 Describe the uses of modifiers, brackets and Metacharacters

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 Describe properties and methods of RegExp in JavaScript

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Overview of Regular Expressions

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Regular Expressions (RegExp):

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 Used to search specific data in a text based on a pattern.

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 Consists of pattern and optionally flags.

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Benefits are:

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Formulates RegExp

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with a special
Used to find Retrieves all the syntax where

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specific data from a search results in developers can
code, spreadsheets,
log files, and ec
one go, minimizing
effort and time.
search text, replace
substring, and
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documents. extract information
from a string.
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RegExp Objects: Pattern and Matcher

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There are two classes for creating RegExp Objects: Pattern and Matcher.

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• Is a keyword that needs to be searched in a
document or code.

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Pattern • Can be a string of characters or just one

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character.
• Has no constructors.

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• Is used after creating a Pattern.
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• Is used to match the pattern against a
sequence of characters.
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• Is created by the matcher () method.
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RegExp Objects: Creation

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Two ways to define RegExp are:

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1. Instantiating a new RegExp object using the constructor.

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2. Using the RegExp Literal Form.

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RegExp Objects

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 Object Literal: A string that has a 'name: value' separated by a comma and

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enclosed in curly brackets.

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 Methods: Methods match, extract, and replace a string.

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 Reg Flags: Additional flags specified to control the use of Patterns.

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RegExp Flags Description

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g Searches until method returns null.

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Performs case in-sensitive search.
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m Uses ^ and $ to match the beginning and end of each line.
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u Interprets Unicode points.

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Modifiers

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Modifiers perform case insensitive and global searches.

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Modifier Types

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Brackets

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Brackets are used to find a variety of characters.

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[abc]

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[^abc]

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[0-9]
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[^0-9]
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(x|y)

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Metacharacters

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Metacharacters are characters that have a special meaning in RegExp.

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Example of Metacharacters:

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. \s \n \xxx

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\w \S \f \xdd

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\W \b \t \uxxx
\d
\D
\B
\0
\w
\vec
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Quantifiers

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Quantifiers help to specify the number of occurrences of a particular pattern.

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n+

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?!n n*

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?=n n?

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Quantifiers

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^n n{X}

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n$ n{X,Y}
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n{X,}
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 RegExp Object: Properties

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Name Description Version

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constructor Returns the function that creates the RegExp objects’ JavaScript 1.1
prototype.

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Global Determines to test with regular expression. JavaScript 1.2

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ignoreCase Specifies the case is to be ignored during pattern JavaScript 1.2
matching in a string.

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Input String against which a regular expression is matched. JavaScript 1.2
lastIndex Specifies the starting index for the next match. JavaScript 1.2

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lastMatch Indicates the last matched characters. JavaScript 1.2

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Multiline Specifies if a multiline search is required. JavaScript 1.2
Prototype
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Adds new properties and methods to all instances of a
class.
JavaScript 1.1
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rightContext Substring following the most recent match. JavaScript 1.2
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Source Contains the search text of the pattern. JavaScript 1.2

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RegExp Object: Methods

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Name Description Version

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Compile Executes the search for matching a specified JavaScript 1.2

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string
Exec Executes a search for matching its string JavaScript 1.2

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parameter
Test Implements a search for a match between a JavaScript 1.2

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regular expression and a specified string

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toSource Used to get a string representation of the JavaScript 1.3

toString
object
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Represents the source code of the specified JavaScript 1.1
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object
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Summary

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 Regular Expression or RegExp is used for searching specific data in a text.

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 The RegExp object has predefined properties. There are two classes involved
in creating a RegExp object: Pattern and Matcher.

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 The RegExp has methods to match, extract, and replace a string.

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 RegExp Flags match against other strings and additional flags can be specified

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to control the use of Patterns.

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 Modifiers are used to perform case insensitive and global searches in RegExp.
Brackets are used to find a range of characters.

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

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Metacharacters are characters with a special meaning in RegExp.
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 Quantifiers help to specify number of occurrences of a particular pattern.
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© Aptech Limited