CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascriptregex
fancy
fancy

Reputation: 51463

How can I regex this array/string?

array = ['item1', 'item2', 'item3', 'item4']
output = array.toString()

This gets me "item1,item2,item3,item4" but I need to turn this into "item1, item2, item3, and item4" with spaces and "and"

How could I construct a regex process to do this rather then substringing and find/replacing?

Is this the best way?

Thanks!

Upvotes: 0

Views: 100

Answers (3)

HBP
HBP

Reputation: 16063

This version handles all the variations I could think of :

function makeList (a) {
  if (a.length < 2)
    return a[0] || '';

  if (a.length === 2)
    return a[0] + ' and ' + a[1];

  return a.slice (0, -1).join (', ') + ', and '  + a.slice (-1);
}    

console.log ([makeList ([]), 
              makeList (['One']), 
              makeList (['One', 'Two']), 
              makeList(['One', 'Two', 'Three']),
              makeList(['One', 'Two', 'Three', 'Four'])]);

// Displays : ["", "One", "One and Two", "One, Two, and Three", "One, Two, Three, and Four"]

Upvotes: 1

jmar777
jmar777

Reputation: 39699

Try this:

var array = ['item1', 'item2', 'item3', 'item4'];
array.push('and ' + array.pop());
var output = array.join(', ');
// output = 'item1, item2, item3, and item4'

Edit: if you really do want a regex-based solution:

var output = array.join(',')
    .replace(/([^,]+),/g, '$1, ').replace(/, ([^,]+)$/, ' and $1');

Another edit:

Here's another non-regex approach that doesn't mess with the original array variable:

var output = array.slice(0,-1).concat('and ' + array.slice(-1)).join(', ');

Upvotes: 4

Elliot Bonneville
Elliot Bonneville

Reputation: 53371

var output = array.join(", ");
output = outsput.substr(0, output.lastIndexOf(", ") + " and " + output.substr(output.lastIndexOf(" and "));

Upvotes: 0

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