RegExp.prototype.source
The source property returns a String containing the source text of the regexp object, and it doesn't contain the two forward slashes on both sides and any flags.
Property attributes of RegExp.prototype.source |
|
|---|---|
| Writable | no |
| Enumerable | no |
| Configurable | yes |
Examples
Using source
var regex = /fooBar/ig;
console.log(regex.source); // "fooBar", doesn't contain /.../ and "ig".
Empty regular expressions and escaping
Starting with ECMAScript 5, the source property no longer returns an empty string for empty regular expressions. Instead, the string (?:) is returned. In addition, line terminators (such as "\n") are escaped now.
new RegExp().source; // "(?:)"
new RegExp('\n').source === '\n'; // true, prior to ES5
new RegExp('\n').source === '\\n'; // true, starting with ES5
Specifications
| Specification |
|---|
| ECMAScript Language Specification (ECMAScript) # sec-get-regexp.prototype.source |
Browser compatibility
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