Regex for multiple spaces between words

Question

I need a regex that detects words inside a string. My regex works fine when the class consists of a single word, but not for multiple words.

function repl(string){
  return string.replace(/<span class="[a-z\s\-\b \b]*">/ , (n)=>{
  return <Symbol/>
}
}

Works:

repl('<span class='hi'>') /==> <Symbol/>

Does not work:

repl('<span class='hi hi'>')

The RegExp you provided should *not* match ``, since your pattern explicitly checks for a double quote delimiter for the class string itself, not a single quote as the test case uses. — esqew, Dec 07 '22 at 16:51
Why not use a proper (X)HTML/XML parser instead of trying to chop up markup yourself? There are *so* many edge cases with this type of markup that in almost 100% of cases it doesn't make much sense to try to roll your own parser (see [the canonical answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/1732454/269970)) — esqew, Dec 07 '22 at 16:52
When the test cases are adjusted to use `"` for delineating the class attribute value string, it seems that the tag is still matched by the pattern you've built. ([Regex101 demonstration](https://regex101.com/r/QHmxUk/1)) What *exactly* does "*does not work*" actually mean? Can you clarify your problem statement a bit more? See also: [ask] — esqew, Dec 07 '22 at 16:54
Several of the items in your current attempt seem out of place. You probably tried to say something like `"[a-z\s-]*"`; what did you hope the space and the multiple `\b`s would do that `\s` doesn't? — tripleee, Dec 07 '22 at 17:16
In addition, your code appears to contain multiple syntax errors. — tripleee, Dec 07 '22 at 17:22

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 07 '22 at 17:34

You can simplify your expression to: /<span class=["'][a-z_\-][\w\s\-]*["']>/i

Make sure your HTML element attributes are double-quoted.

Note: Please be aware that the closing </span> tag is mandatory and should never be ommited.

const repl = (str) =>
  str.replace(/<span class=["'][a-z_\-][\w\-\s]*["']>/i, () => '<Symbol />');

console.log(repl('<span class="hi">'));
console.log(repl("<span class='hi hi'>"));
console.log(repl('<span class="one two  three   ">'));

Regex for multiple spaces between words

1 Answers1