RegExp.prototype[@@search]()
The [@@search]()
method executes a search for a match
between a this
regular expression and a string.
Syntax
regexp[Symbol.search](str)
Parameters
str
-
A
String
that is a target of the search.
Return value
- integer
-
If successful,
[@@search]()
returns the index of the first match of the regular expression inside the string. Otherwise, it returns -1.
Description
This method is called internally in String.prototype.search()
. For
example, the following two examples return the same result.
'abc'.search(/a/);
/a/[Symbol.search]('abc');
This method exists for customizing the search behavior in RegExp
subclasses.
Examples
Direct call
This method can be used in almost the same way as
String.prototype.search()
, except the different this
and the
different arguments order.
var re = /-/g;
var str = '2016-01-02';
var result = re[Symbol.search](str);
console.log(result); // 4
Using @@search in subclasses
Subclass of RegExp
can override [@@search]()
method to
modify the behavior.
class MyRegExp extends RegExp {
constructor(str) {
super(str)
this.pattern = str;
}
[Symbol.search](str) {
return str.indexOf(this.pattern);
}
}
var re = new MyRegExp('a+b');
var str = 'ab a+b';
var result = str.search(re); // String.prototype.search calls re[@@search].
console.log(result); // 3
Specifications
Specification |
---|
ECMAScript Language Specification # sec-regexp.prototype-@@search |
Browser compatibility
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