CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascript
Ryan
Ryan

Reputation: 618

JavaScript String.Replace() not working

var formatChart = {
    '[newline]' : '<br />', 
    '[tab]' : '&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;', 
    '[space]' : '&nbsp;'
}; 


// Formats a string according to the formatting chart
var formatString = function(string)
{
    for (var k in formatChart)
    {
        while (string.indexOf(formatChart[k]) != -1)
            string = string.replace(k, this.formatChart[k]); 
    }
    return string; 
}; 

var str = "Hello[newline]World[tab]Tab[space]Hello[newline]Done"; 
alert(formatString(str));

The code above is supposed to replace all occurrences of "special" characters ([newline], etc) with their HTML equivalents. But it's not working.

Why?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 4597

Answers (8)

1337XyPhR
1337XyPhR

Reputation: 81

Incorrect: while (string.indexOf(formatChart[k]) != -1)

Correct: while (string.indexOf(k) != -1)

Upvotes: 0

deadalnix
deadalnix

Reputation: 2325

Be carefull, replace in javascript works with regex. This is not what you are trying to do. An usual way to do is use combined join and split functions.

Plus, you are testing if the replaced string exists in a first place (formatChart[k]) but you want to test if the replacee (k) is in that string.

here is a sample code :

function formatString(str) {
    for (var k in formatChart) {
        str = str.split(k).join(formatChart[k]);
    }

    return str;
}

Upvotes: 4

jfriend00
jfriend00

Reputation: 707198

Here's a slightly different regex version. This escapes the regex chars in the things to replace so we can use the global replace of the regex replace function. You need double backslashes in front of the brackets so that you're left with on backslash when passed as a regex.

var formatChart = {
    '\\[newline\\]' : '<br />', 
    '\\[tab\\]' : '&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;', 
    '\\[space\\]' : '&nbsp;'
};

var str = "Hello[newline]World[tab]Tab[space]Hello[newline]Done";  

function formatString(str) {
    for (var i in formatChart) {
        str = str.replace(new RegExp(i, "gi"), formatChart[i]);
    }
    return(str);
}

You can see it in action here: http://jsfiddle.net/jfriend00/pj2Kr/

Upvotes: 1

Joe
Joe

Reputation: 82584

Here's a fiddle using regex: http://jsfiddle.net/msTuC/

Upvotes: 0

bluefoot
bluefoot

Reputation: 10580

There is an small mistake in your function. replace

while (string.indexOf(formatChart[k]) != -1)

by

while (string.indexOf(k) != -1)

and see the results

Upvotes: 1

Nick Husher
Nick Husher

Reputation: 1884

Instead of this:

while (string.indexOf(formatChart[k]) != -1)

Try this:

while (string.indexOf(k) != -1)

Upvotes: 1

g.d.d.c
g.d.d.c

Reputation: 47968

string.indexOf(formatChart[k]) != -1 is wrong. When iterating over an Object (which you actually shouldn't do) the k value is the Key. You want string.indexOf(k) != -1.

Upvotes: 1

gereeter
gereeter

Reputation: 4761

You are searching the string for the resultant values, not the keys. Try this instead:

var formatString = function(str)
{
    for (var k in formatChart)
    {
        while (str.indexOf(k) != -1)
            str = str.replace(k, formatChart[k]); 
    }
    return str; 
};

Upvotes: 2

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