Javascript regular expression nothing to repeat error

Question

I'm attempting to replace a string with another string in Javascript and using the answer given in How do you use a variable in a regular expression? by Eric Wendelin - code is the following:

var re = new RegExp(delim, 'g');
return input.replace(re,",");

When i run this i get the error

/***/: Nothing to repeat

(the value of delim is "***" btw)

I understand if you get a Nothing to repeat error it means you haven't properly escaped a character in your regexp but why do i get this error in this case ?

`*` is a token that means "repeat the previous". And there is nothing to repeat, exactly as the message says. — VLAZ, Dec 25 '16 at 14:33
Did you meant to match 3 asterisks? Because then use `/\*{3}/g` — Bálint, Dec 25 '16 at 14:38
could you please add the expected behaviour here ? that is a sample string and replaced string — Sarath Sadasivan Pillai, Dec 25 '16 at 15:13

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 25 '16 at 14:37

2

* is the reserved repetition character, that matches 0 or more times the previous character or group, so you need to escape it (equivalent to {0,}).

Change the delimeter string to \\*\\*\\* or \\*{3}.

delim = '\\*{3}'
input = 'hello *** world'
var re = new RegExp(delim, 'g');
console.log(input.replace(re, ","))

answered Dec 25 '16 at 14:37

Uriel

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great, thanks for clarifying that – auburg Dec 25 '16 at 18:01

Javascript regular expression nothing to repeat error

1 Answers1