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Alter Regular Expression to Return 2 Values Instead of 3 from userAgent String

Answer 1

+1 A:

In regular expressions, the values you get returned are those in parentheses:

/([a-z]+)-#(\d+)/.exec("abc-#123")

// ["abc-#123", "abc", "123"]

You can just make the groups non-matching by adding ?: at the start of it:

/(?:[a-z]+)-#(\d+)/.exec("abc-#123")

// ["abc-#123", "123"]

Edit after re-reading your question.

The return from the regex will contain (as shown in my examples above) the entire matched string, then the matched groups. If you want just the matched groups, just slice off the first value:

myRegex.exec(userAgent).slice(1);

// ["webkit", "525.13"]   <-- note that this is an array

nickf 2010-04-30 00:31:50

Thanks! I'd imagine though not bothering to `slice` and never referencing the first value would be more efficient, as the first value is created anyway and then sliced.Can I not create an expression that does not return the entire matched string, and just the groups, as in my question. I understand this may not be possible.Thank you again for all your help!

Jonathon David Oates 2010-04-30 00:41:42

@Jay: no it's not possible.

nickf 2010-04-30 03:00:02

Answer 2

A:

Hem, if you are using jQuery there is a build-in method for this propose that gives you and already chewed result. http://api.jquery.com/jQuery.browser/

Cesar 2010-04-30 02:30:52

No, I'n not using jQuery, sorry, I could have been clearer, I'm using a the regular expression jQuery uses from looking at the source. I don't want to load all of jQuery to detect WebKit, but the regular expression jQuery.browser uses should be as reliable as any.

Jonathon David Oates 2010-04-30 08:36:51

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Alter Regular Expression to Return 2 Values Instead of 3 from userAgent String

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