Regex to escape the parentheses

Question

I tried different ways to escape the parentheses using regex in JavaScript but I still can't make it work.

This is the string:

"abc(blah (blah) blah()...).def(blah() (blah).. () ...)"

I want this to be detected:

abc().def()

Using this code, it returns false.

 str.match(/abc\([^)]*\)\.def\([^)]*\)/i);

Can you please tell me why my regex is not working?

Are you sure? It returns `["abc(blah blah blah).def(blah blah...)"]` for me. — Blender, Apr 26 '12 at 03:40
Sorry guys, I have just edited the post. Basically it has nested parentheses. — RoundOutTooSoon, Apr 26 '12 at 03:42
What do you mean you want it "to be detected"? You mean you want to pull out the `abc().def()` text and do something with it? Or you just want your regex to match the "abc(blah (blah) ... etc" string? — alan, Apr 26 '12 at 03:52
Agreed: '_I want this to be detected_ ' makes no sense to me. — jahroy, Apr 26 '12 at 03:55

score 12 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 26 '12 at 03:57

12

This regex will match the string you provided:

(abc\().+(\)\.def\().+(\))

And using backreferences $1$2$3 will produce abc().def()

Or just use this if you don't want the back references:

abc\(.+\)\.def\(.+\)

answered Apr 26 '12 at 03:57

alan

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 26 '12 at 04:08

K... Here's an Idea...

abc(blah (blah) blah()).def(blah() (blah).blah())

Use regExp like this

var regExp1 = \^([a-z])*\(\ig;

it'll match

abc(

then use

var regExp2 = /\)\./

it'll match the

")."

in the string..

then split the actual string so that it becomes

def(blah() (blah).blah())

repeat till the regular expression can't find the

regExp2

and add a closing bracket.. The simplest solution I could think of.. Hope it helps..

2 Answers2