4

I want to remove signs like:

!@#$%^&*()_+`-=[]\|{};':",./<>?。,‘“”’;【】『』

and many more. But ensuring all the foreign characters are kept, such as Chinese, French, Greece, etc.

In Ruby, I'm able to do it with regex

/[^\p{Alnum}]/

It doesn't work in JS. Thanks in advance.


Answer

Thank Jordan Gray. The 8400-letter regex is awesome. It is a short solution as it is only 8.4kb compare to 63kb of XRegExp.

For the record, the full answer I use is

/[^1-9\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u00AA\u00B5\u00BA\u00C0-\u00D6\u00D8-\u00F6\u00F8-\u02C1\u02C6-\u02D1\u02E0-\u02E4\u02EC\u02EE\u0370-\u0374\u0376\u0377\u037A-\u037D\u0386\u0388-\u038A\u038C\u038E-\u03A1\u03A3-\u03F5\u03F7-\u0481\u048A-\u0527\u0531-\u0556\u0559\u0561-\u0587\u05D0-\u05EA\u05F0-\u05F2\u0620-\u064A\u066E\u066F\u0671-\u06D3\u06D5\u06E5\u06E6\u06EE\u06EF\u06FA-\u06FC\u06FF\u0710\u0712-\u072F\u074D-\u07A5\u07B1\u07CA-\u07EA\u07F4\u07F5\u07FA\u0800-\u0815\u081A\u0824\u0828\u0840-\u0858\u08A0\u08A2-\u08AC\u0904-\u0939\u093D\u0950\u0958-\u0961\u0971-\u0977\u0979-\u097F\u0985-\u098C\u098F\u0990\u0993-\u09A8\u09AA-\u09B0\u09B2\u09B6-\u09B9\u09BD\u09CE\u09DC\u09DD\u09DF-\u09E1\u09F0\u09F1\u0A05-\u0A0A\u0A0F\u0A10\u0A13-\u0A28\u0A2A-\u0A30\u0A32\u0A33\u0A35\u0A36\u0A38\u0A39\u0A59-\u0A5C\u0A5E\u0A72-\u0A74\u0A85-\u0A8D\u0A8F-\u0A91\u0A93-\u0AA8\u0AAA-\u0AB0\u0AB2\u0AB3\u0AB5-\u0AB9\u0ABD\u0AD0\u0AE0\u0AE1\u0B05-\u0B0C\u0B0F\u0B10\u0B13-\u0B28\u0B2A-\u0B30\u0B32\u0B33\u0B35-\u0B39\u0B3D\u0B5C\u0B5D\u0B5F-\u0B61\u0B71\u0B83\u0B85-\u0B8A\u0B8E-\u0B90\u0B92-\u0B95\u0B99\u0B9A\u0B9C\u0B9E\u0B9F\u0BA3\u0BA4\u0BA8-\u0BAA\u0BAE-\u0BB9\u0BD0\u0C05-\u0C0C\u0C0E-\u0C10\u0C12-\u0C28\u0C2A-\u0C33\u0C35-\u0C39\u0C3D\u0C58\u0C59\u0C60\u0C61\u0C85-\u0C8C\u0C8E-\u0C90\u0C92-\u0CA8\u0CAA-\u0CB3\u0CB5-\u0CB9\u0CBD\u0CDE\u0CE0\u0CE1\u0CF1\u0CF2\u0D05-\u0D0C\u0D0E-\u0D10\u0D12-\u0D3A\u0D3D\u0D4E\u0D60\u0D61\u0D7A-\u0D7F\u0D85-\u0D96\u0D9A-\u0DB1\u0DB3-\u0DBB\u0DBD\u0DC0-\u0DC6\u0E01-\u0E30\u0E32\u0E33\u0E40-\u0E46\u0E81\u0E82\u0E84\u0E87\u0E88\u0E8A\u0E8D\u0E94-\u0E97\u0E99-\u0E9F\u0EA1-\u0EA3\u0EA5\u0EA7\u0EAA\u0EAB\u0EAD-\u0EB0\u0EB2\u0EB3\u0EBD\u0EC0-\u0EC4\u0EC6\u0EDC-\u0EDF\u0F00\u0F40-\u0F47\u0F49-\u0F6C\u0F88-\u0F8C\u1000-\u102A\u103F\u1050-\u1055\u105A-\u105D\u1061\u1065\u1066\u106E-\u1070\u1075-\u1081\u108E\u10A0-\u10C5\u10C7\u10CD\u10D0-\u10FA\u10FC-\u1248\u124A-\u124D\u1250-\u1256\u1258\u125A-\u125D\u1260-\u1288\u128A-\u128D\u1290-\u12B0\u12B2-\u12B5\u12B8-\u12BE\u12C0\u12C2-\u12C5\u12C8-\u12D6\u12D8-\u1310\u1312-\u1315\u1318-\u135A\u1380-\u138F\u13A0-\u13F4\u1401-\u166C\u166F-\u167F\u1681-\u169A\u16A0-\u16EA\u1700-\u170C\u170E-\u1711\u1720-\u1731\u1740-\u1751\u1760-\u176C\u176E-\u1770\u1780-\u17B3\u17D7\u17DC\u1820-\u1877\u1880-\u18A8\u18AA\u18B0-\u18F5\u1900-\u191C\u1950-\u196D\u1970-\u1974\u1980-\u19AB\u19C1-\u19C7\u1A00-\u1A16\u1A20-\u1A54\u1AA7\u1B05-\u1B33\u1B45-\u1B4B\u1B83-\u1BA0\u1BAE\u1BAF\u1BBA-\u1BE5\u1C00-\u1C23\u1C4D-\u1C4F\u1C5A-\u1C7D\u1CE9-\u1CEC\u1CEE-\u1CF1\u1CF5\u1CF6\u1D00-\u1DBF\u1E00-\u1F15\u1F18-\u1F1D\u1F20-\u1F45\u1F48-\u1F4D\u1F50-\u1F57\u1F59\u1F5B\u1F5D\u1F5F-\u1F7D\u1F80-\u1FB4\u1FB6-\u1FBC\u1FBE\u1FC2-\u1FC4\u1FC6-\u1FCC\u1FD0-\u1FD3\u1FD6-\u1FDB\u1FE0-\u1FEC\u1FF2-\u1FF4\u1FF6-\u1FFC\u2071\u207F\u2090-\u209C\u2102\u2107\u210A-\u2113\u2115\u2119-\u211D\u2124\u2126\u2128\u212A-\u212D\u212F-\u2139\u213C-\u213F\u2145-\u2149\u214E\u2183\u2184\u2C00-\u2C2E\u2C30-\u2C5E\u2C60-\u2CE4\u2CEB-\u2CEE\u2CF2\u2CF3\u2D00-\u2D25\u2D27\u2D2D\u2D30-\u2D67\u2D6F\u2D80-\u2D96\u2DA0-\u2DA6\u2DA8-\u2DAE\u2DB0-\u2DB6\u2DB8-\u2DBE\u2DC0-\u2DC6\u2DC8-\u2DCE\u2DD0-\u2DD6\u2DD8-\u2DDE\u2E2F\u3005\u3006\u3031-\u3035\u303B\u303C\u3041-\u3096\u309D-\u309F\u30A1-\u30FA\u30FC-\u30FF\u3105-\u312D\u3131-\u318E\u31A0-\u31BA\u31F0-\u31FF\u3400-\u4DB5\u4E00-\u9FCC\uA000-\uA48C\uA4D0-\uA4FD\uA500-\uA60C\uA610-\uA61F\uA62A\uA62B\uA640-\uA66E\uA67F-\uA697\uA6A0-\uA6E5\uA717-\uA71F\uA722-\uA788\uA78B-\uA78E\uA790-\uA793\uA7A0-\uA7AA\uA7F8-\uA801\uA803-\uA805\uA807-\uA80A\uA80C-\uA822\uA840-\uA873\uA882-\uA8B3\uA8F2-\uA8F7\uA8FB\uA90A-\uA925\uA930-\uA946\uA960-\uA97C\uA984-\uA9B2\uA9CF\uAA00-\uAA28\uAA40-\uAA42\uAA44-\uAA4B\uAA60-\uAA76\uAA7A\uAA80-\uAAAF\uAAB1\uAAB5\uAAB6\uAAB9-\uAABD\uAAC0\uAAC2\uAADB-\uAADD\uAAE0-\uAAEA\uAAF2-\uAAF4\uAB01-\uAB06\uAB09-\uAB0E\uAB11-\uAB16\uAB20-\uAB26\uAB28-\uAB2E\uABC0-\uABE2\uAC00-\uD7A3\uD7B0-\uD7C6\uD7CB-\uD7FB\uF900-\uFA6D\uFA70-\uFAD9\uFB00-\uFB06\uFB13-\uFB17\uFB1D\uFB1F-\uFB28\uFB2A-\uFB36\uFB38-\uFB3C\uFB3E\uFB40\uFB41\uFB43\uFB44\uFB46-\uFBB1\uFBD3-\uFD3D\uFD50-\uFD8F\uFD92-\uFDC7\uFDF0-\uFDFB\uFE70-\uFE74\uFE76-\uFEFC\uFF21-\uFF3A\uFF41-\uFF5A\uFF66-\uFFBE\uFFC2-\uFFC7\uFFCA-\uFFCF\uFFD2-\uFFD7\uFFDA-\uFFDC]+/g

This is funny, isn't it?

Ivan Wang
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    Javascript's RegExp support is notoriously basic, but there are plugins to make up the shortfall. [XRegExp](http://xregexp.com/plugins/) has Unicode plugins that allow the kind of functionality you're talking about, but the package is pretty weighty. – Barney Mar 05 '14 at 10:11
  • Whoops—I just realised you asked for alpha**numerics**, in which case you might want to add `0-9` to the beginning as well! – Jordan Gray Mar 05 '14 at 13:56

2 Answers2

3

Someone has already suggested XRegExp. That's a great package, but if all you want is a way of matching letters you can grab it straight from the source.

In this case, what you're looking for is a way to match the whole Unicode Letter category, which is defined in the source for the XRegExp Unicode Base package. With XRegExp, you could match these with \p{L} or \p{Letter}. A JS-compatible expression for matching characters not in this category would work out to (brace yourself):

var NonLetters = /[^\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u00AA\u00B5\u00BA\u00C0-\u00D6\u00D8-\u00F6\u00F8-\u02C1\u02C6-\u02D1\u02E0-\u02E4\u02EC\u02EE\u0370-\u0374\u0376\u0377\u037A-\u037D\u0386\u0388-\u038A\u038C\u038E-\u03A1\u03A3-\u03F5\u03F7-\u0481\u048A-\u0527\u0531-\u0556\u0559\u0561-\u0587\u05D0-\u05EA\u05F0-\u05F2\u0620-\u064A\u066E\u066F\u0671-\u06D3\u06D5\u06E5\u06E6\u06EE\u06EF\u06FA-\u06FC\u06FF\u0710\u0712-\u072F\u074D-\u07A5\u07B1\u07CA-\u07EA\u07F4\u07F5\u07FA\u0800-\u0815\u081A\u0824\u0828\u0840-\u0858\u08A0\u08A2-\u08AC\u0904-\u0939\u093D\u0950\u0958-\u0961\u0971-\u0977\u0979-\u097F\u0985-\u098C\u098F\u0990\u0993-\u09A8\u09AA-\u09B0\u09B2\u09B6-\u09B9\u09BD\u09CE\u09DC\u09DD\u09DF-\u09E1\u09F0\u09F1\u0A05-\u0A0A\u0A0F\u0A10\u0A13-\u0A28\u0A2A-\u0A30\u0A32\u0A33\u0A35\u0A36\u0A38\u0A39\u0A59-\u0A5C\u0A5E\u0A72-\u0A74\u0A85-\u0A8D\u0A8F-\u0A91\u0A93-\u0AA8\u0AAA-\u0AB0\u0AB2\u0AB3\u0AB5-\u0AB9\u0ABD\u0AD0\u0AE0\u0AE1\u0B05-\u0B0C\u0B0F\u0B10\u0B13-\u0B28\u0B2A-\u0B30\u0B32\u0B33\u0B35-\u0B39\u0B3D\u0B5C\u0B5D\u0B5F-\u0B61\u0B71\u0B83\u0B85-\u0B8A\u0B8E-\u0B90\u0B92-\u0B95\u0B99\u0B9A\u0B9C\u0B9E\u0B9F\u0BA3\u0BA4\u0BA8-\u0BAA\u0BAE-\u0BB9\u0BD0\u0C05-\u0C0C\u0C0E-\u0C10\u0C12-\u0C28\u0C2A-\u0C33\u0C35-\u0C39\u0C3D\u0C58\u0C59\u0C60\u0C61\u0C85-\u0C8C\u0C8E-\u0C90\u0C92-\u0CA8\u0CAA-\u0CB3\u0CB5-\u0CB9\u0CBD\u0CDE\u0CE0\u0CE1\u0CF1\u0CF2\u0D05-\u0D0C\u0D0E-\u0D10\u0D12-\u0D3A\u0D3D\u0D4E\u0D60\u0D61\u0D7A-\u0D7F\u0D85-\u0D96\u0D9A-\u0DB1\u0DB3-\u0DBB\u0DBD\u0DC0-\u0DC6\u0E01-\u0E30\u0E32\u0E33\u0E40-\u0E46\u0E81\u0E82\u0E84\u0E87\u0E88\u0E8A\u0E8D\u0E94-\u0E97\u0E99-\u0E9F\u0EA1-\u0EA3\u0EA5\u0EA7\u0EAA\u0EAB\u0EAD-\u0EB0\u0EB2\u0EB3\u0EBD\u0EC0-\u0EC4\u0EC6\u0EDC-\u0EDF\u0F00\u0F40-\u0F47\u0F49-\u0F6C\u0F88-\u0F8C\u1000-\u102A\u103F\u1050-\u1055\u105A-\u105D\u1061\u1065\u1066\u106E-\u1070\u1075-\u1081\u108E\u10A0-\u10C5\u10C7\u10CD\u10D0-\u10FA\u10FC-\u1248\u124A-\u124D\u1250-\u1256\u1258\u125A-\u125D\u1260-\u1288\u128A-\u128D\u1290-\u12B0\u12B2-\u12B5\u12B8-\u12BE\u12C0\u12C2-\u12C5\u12C8-\u12D6\u12D8-\u1310\u1312-\u1315\u1318-\u135A\u1380-\u138F\u13A0-\u13F4\u1401-\u166C\u166F-\u167F\u1681-\u169A\u16A0-\u16EA\u1700-\u170C\u170E-\u1711\u1720-\u1731\u1740-\u1751\u1760-\u176C\u176E-\u1770\u1780-\u17B3\u17D7\u17DC\u1820-\u1877\u1880-\u18A8\u18AA\u18B0-\u18F5\u1900-\u191C\u1950-\u196D\u1970-\u1974\u1980-\u19AB\u19C1-\u19C7\u1A00-\u1A16\u1A20-\u1A54\u1AA7\u1B05-\u1B33\u1B45-\u1B4B\u1B83-\u1BA0\u1BAE\u1BAF\u1BBA-\u1BE5\u1C00-\u1C23\u1C4D-\u1C4F\u1C5A-\u1C7D\u1CE9-\u1CEC\u1CEE-\u1CF1\u1CF5\u1CF6\u1D00-\u1DBF\u1E00-\u1F15\u1F18-\u1F1D\u1F20-\u1F45\u1F48-\u1F4D\u1F50-\u1F57\u1F59\u1F5B\u1F5D\u1F5F-\u1F7D\u1F80-\u1FB4\u1FB6-\u1FBC\u1FBE\u1FC2-\u1FC4\u1FC6-\u1FCC\u1FD0-\u1FD3\u1FD6-\u1FDB\u1FE0-\u1FEC\u1FF2-\u1FF4\u1FF6-\u1FFC\u2071\u207F\u2090-\u209C\u2102\u2107\u210A-\u2113\u2115\u2119-\u211D\u2124\u2126\u2128\u212A-\u212D\u212F-\u2139\u213C-\u213F\u2145-\u2149\u214E\u2183\u2184\u2C00-\u2C2E\u2C30-\u2C5E\u2C60-\u2CE4\u2CEB-\u2CEE\u2CF2\u2CF3\u2D00-\u2D25\u2D27\u2D2D\u2D30-\u2D67\u2D6F\u2D80-\u2D96\u2DA0-\u2DA6\u2DA8-\u2DAE\u2DB0-\u2DB6\u2DB8-\u2DBE\u2DC0-\u2DC6\u2DC8-\u2DCE\u2DD0-\u2DD6\u2DD8-\u2DDE\u2E2F\u3005\u3006\u3031-\u3035\u303B\u303C\u3041-\u3096\u309D-\u309F\u30A1-\u30FA\u30FC-\u30FF\u3105-\u312D\u3131-\u318E\u31A0-\u31BA\u31F0-\u31FF\u3400-\u4DB5\u4E00-\u9FCC\uA000-\uA48C\uA4D0-\uA4FD\uA500-\uA60C\uA610-\uA61F\uA62A\uA62B\uA640-\uA66E\uA67F-\uA697\uA6A0-\uA6E5\uA717-\uA71F\uA722-\uA788\uA78B-\uA78E\uA790-\uA793\uA7A0-\uA7AA\uA7F8-\uA801\uA803-\uA805\uA807-\uA80A\uA80C-\uA822\uA840-\uA873\uA882-\uA8B3\uA8F2-\uA8F7\uA8FB\uA90A-\uA925\uA930-\uA946\uA960-\uA97C\uA984-\uA9B2\uA9CF\uAA00-\uAA28\uAA40-\uAA42\uAA44-\uAA4B\uAA60-\uAA76\uAA7A\uAA80-\uAAAF\uAAB1\uAAB5\uAAB6\uAAB9-\uAABD\uAAC0\uAAC2\uAADB-\uAADD\uAAE0-\uAAEA\uAAF2-\uAAF4\uAB01-\uAB06\uAB09-\uAB0E\uAB11-\uAB16\uAB20-\uAB26\uAB28-\uAB2E\uABC0-\uABE2\uAC00-\uD7A3\uD7B0-\uD7C6\uD7CB-\uD7FB\uF900-\uFA6D\uFA70-\uFAD9\uFB00-\uFB06\uFB13-\uFB17\uFB1D\uFB1F-\uFB28\uFB2A-\uFB36\uFB38-\uFB3C\uFB3E\uFB40\uFB41\uFB43\uFB44\uFB46-\uFBB1\uFBD3-\uFD3D\uFD50-\uFD8F\uFD92-\uFDC7\uFDF0-\uFDFB\uFE70-\uFE74\uFE76-\uFEFC\uFF21-\uFF3A\uFF41-\uFF5A\uFF66-\uFFBE\uFFC2-\uFFC7\uFFCA-\uFFCF\uFFD2-\uFFD7\uFFDA-\uFFDC]/

jsFiddle demo.

Pretty hefty, but what you'd expect if you aim to match uppercase, lowercase, title case, modifier and other letters in every language in the basic multilingual plane¹, including all ligatures and accented characters. Don't forget to add 0-9 to the beginning if you want to match numbers as well!

If you trust your Unicode not to get mangled, you could use this shorter version:

var NonLetters = /[^A-Za-zªµºÀ-ÖØ-öø-ˁˆ-ˑˠ-ˤˬˮͰ-ʹͶͷͺ-ͽΆΈ-ΊΌΎ-ΡΣ-ϵϷ-ҁҊ-ԧԱ-Ֆՙա-ևא-תװ-ײؠ-يٮٯٱ-ۓەۥۦۮۯۺ-ۼۿܐܒ-ܯݍ-ޥޱߊ-ߪߴߵߺࠀ-ࠕࠚࠤࠨࡀ-ࡘࢠࢢ-ࢬऄ-हऽॐक़-ॡॱ-ॷॹ-ॿঅ-ঌএঐও-নপ-রলশ-হঽৎড়ঢ়য়-ৡৰৱਅ-ਊਏਐਓ-ਨਪ-ਰਲਲ਼ਵਸ਼ਸਹਖ਼-ੜਫ਼ੲ-ੴઅ-ઍએ-ઑઓ-નપ-રલળવ-હઽૐૠૡଅ-ଌଏଐଓ-ନପ-ରଲଳଵ-ହଽଡ଼ଢ଼ୟ-ୡୱஃஅ-ஊஎ-ஐஒ-கஙசஜஞடணதந-பம-ஹௐఅ-ఌఎ-ఐఒ-నప-ళవ-హఽౘౙౠౡಅ-ಌಎ-ಐಒ-ನಪ-ಳವ-ಹಽೞೠೡೱೲഅ-ഌഎ-ഐഒ-ഺഽൎൠൡൺ-ൿඅ-ඖක-නඳ-රලව-ෆก-ะาำเ-ๆກຂຄງຈຊຍດ-ທນ-ຟມ-ຣລວສຫອ-ະາຳຽເ-ໄໆໜ-ໟༀཀ-ཇཉ-ཬྈ-ྌက-ဪဿၐ-ၕၚ-ၝၡၥၦၮ-ၰၵ-ႁႎႠ-ჅჇჍა-ჺჼ-ቈቊ-ቍቐ-ቖቘቚ-ቝበ-ኈኊ-ኍነ-ኰኲ-ኵኸ-ኾዀዂ-ዅወ-ዖዘ-ጐጒ-ጕጘ-ፚᎀ-ᎏᎠ-Ᏼᐁ-ᙬᙯ-ᙿᚁ-ᚚᚠ-ᛪᜀ-ᜌᜎ-ᜑᜠ-ᜱᝀ-ᝑᝠ-ᝬᝮ-ᝰក-ឳៗៜᠠ-ᡷᢀ-ᢨᢪᢰ-ᣵᤀ-ᤜᥐ-ᥭᥰ-ᥴᦀ-ᦫᧁ-ᧇᨀ-ᨖᨠ-ᩔᪧᬅ-ᬳᭅ-ᭋᮃ-ᮠᮮᮯᮺ-ᯥᰀ-ᰣᱍ-ᱏᱚ-ᱽᳩ-ᳬᳮ-ᳱᳵᳶᴀ-ᶿḀ-ἕἘ-Ἕἠ-ὅὈ-Ὅὐ-ὗὙὛὝὟ-ώᾀ-ᾴᾶ-ᾼιῂ-ῄῆ-ῌῐ-ΐῖ-Ίῠ-Ῥῲ-ῴῶ-ῼⁱⁿₐ-ₜℂℇℊ-ℓℕℙ-ℝℤΩℨK-ℭℯ-ℹℼ-ℿⅅ-ⅉⅎↃↄⰀ-Ⱞⰰ-ⱞⱠ-ⳤⳫ-ⳮⳲⳳⴀ-ⴥⴧⴭⴰ-ⵧⵯⶀ-ⶖⶠ-ⶦⶨ-ⶮⶰ-ⶶⶸ-ⶾⷀ-ⷆⷈ-ⷎⷐ-ⷖⷘ-ⷞⸯ々〆〱-〵〻〼ぁ-ゖゝ-ゟァ-ヺー-ヿㄅ-ㄭㄱ-ㆎㆠ-ㆺㇰ-ㇿ㐀-䶵一-鿌ꀀ-ꒌꓐ-ꓽꔀ-ꘌꘐ-ꘟꘪꘫꙀ-ꙮꙿ-ꚗꚠ-ꛥꜗ-ꜟꜢ-ꞈꞋ-ꞎꞐ-ꞓꞠ-Ɦꟸ-ꠁꠃ-ꠅꠇ-ꠊꠌ-ꠢꡀ-ꡳꢂ-ꢳꣲ-ꣷꣻꤊ-ꤥꤰ-ꥆꥠ-ꥼꦄ-ꦲꧏꨀ-ꨨꩀ-ꩂꩄ-ꩋꩠ-ꩶꩺꪀ-ꪯꪱꪵꪶꪹ-ꪽꫀꫂꫛ-ꫝꫠ-ꫪꫲ-ꫴꬁ-ꬆꬉ-ꬎꬑ-ꬖꬠ-ꬦꬨ-ꬮꯀ-ꯢ가-힣ힰ-ퟆퟋ-ퟻ豈-舘並-龎ff-stﬓ-ﬗיִײַ-ﬨשׁ-זּטּ-לּמּנּסּףּפּצּ-ﮱﯓ-ﴽﵐ-ﶏﶒ-ﷇﷰ-ﷻﹰ-ﹴﹶ-ﻼA-Za-zヲ-하-ᅦᅧ-ᅬᅭ-ᅲᅳ-ᅵ]/

This gives a little idea of the sheer diversity of this category. Personally, I would use the first expression since it is far less likely to be invisibly mucked up in a way that you will probably never find out about.


¹ This doesn't include characters from the so-called astral planes such as emoji, ancient/historic scripts like Egyptian hieroglyphs and the many many CJK ideographs. It's your call if you think these should count as "letters" in some very extended sense and thus want to include them.

Jordan Gray
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  • Guess you must have had a little spare time on your hands to pull those ranges out! :) – Xotic750 Mar 05 '14 at 12:00
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    @Xotic750 Ha, someone certainly did! All credit goes to the XRegExp team; I just pulled them from the source and formatted them a bit. :) – Jordan Gray Mar 05 '14 at 12:22
  • @Xotic750 It's pretty staggering when you think about it, BTW. They distinguished between punctuation and letter characters in all represented languages, skipped over characters like the multiplication/division symbols that randomly crop up in the middle of Latin Extended-A, remembered to include odd ones like masculine and feminine ordinals… – Jordan Gray Mar 05 '14 at 12:25
  • Thank you so much this is even more handy than I expected. The regex is 3900-letter long, which is epic and I love it. – Ivan Wang Mar 05 '14 at 13:26
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    @IvanWang I'm glad! :D I've actually updated the answer—I misread the answer and gave you a match for strings containing only letters, when you really wanted a match for non-letters. I've also added a simple jsFiddle with a couple of tests. (Or you could just use [RegexPal](http://regexpal.com/)!) – Jordan Gray Mar 05 '14 at 13:38
1

As @Barney suggested, I would go with XRegExp (v2.0.0 is about 63kb minimized). Here is an example, which I believe does what you are asking for? Using require.js to load the library.

HTML

<input id="entry" type="text"></input>
<div id="display"></div>

Javascript

require.config({
    paths: {
        'XRegExp': 'https://raw.github.com/slevithan/xregexp/v2.0.0/min/xregexp-all-min'
    }
})

require(['XRegExp'], function() {
    var display = document.getElementById('display'),
        alnum = XRegExp('[^\\p{L}\\p{Nd}]', 'g');

    document.getElementById('entry').addEventListener('keyup', function(evt) {
        display.textContent = XRegExp.replace(evt.target.value, alnum, '');
    }, false);
});

On jsFiddle

Xotic750
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