Non-standard
This feature is non-standard and is not on a standards track. Do not use it on production sites facing the Web: it will not work for every user. There may also be large incompatibilities between implementations and the behavior may change in the future.
The non-standard lastMatch property is a static and read-only property of regular expressions that contains the last matched characters. RegExp.$& is an alias for this property.
Syntax
RegExp.lastMatch RegExp['$&']
Description
The lastMatch property is static, it is not a property of an individual regular expression object. Instead, you always use it as RegExp.lastMatch or RegExp['$&'].
The value of the lastMatch property is read-only and modified whenever a successful match is made.
You can not use the shorthand alias with the dot property accessor (RegExp.$&), because the parser expects an expression with "&" in that case and a SyntaxError is thrown. Use the bracket notation for property access.
Examples
Using lastMatch and $&
var re = /hi/g;
re.test('hi there!');
RegExp.lastMatch; // "hi"
RegExp['$&']; // "hi"
Specifications
Non-standard. Not part of any current specification.
Browser compatibility
| Feature | Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | Yes | Yes | 1 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Feature | Android webview | Chrome for Android | Edge mobile | Firefox for Android | Opera Android | iOS Safari | Samsung Internet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | Yes | Yes | Yes | 4 | Yes | Yes | Yes |