Replace All Occurrences of a String in JavaScript

Discussion

1. Richard

   I had this issue before, didn’t knew the answer was so simple. Out of frusteration I actually used php.js because I couldn’t figure it out. Thnx man.
2. Jay

   FTR, JS’s replace function DOES act like replace functions in other languages, just perhaps not the ones you’re expecting it to.

   It doesn’t work like str_replace in PHP, but it is very similar to preg_replace.

   As long as developers are aware that .replace is a regular expression replacement method, I think it’s pretty straightforward.

   http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/jsref_replace.asp

   It should also be noted that one can create a regular expression using something like:

   var regex = new RegExp('MooTools', 'g');
   

   And that regular expression can be used in the replace function (first parameter). Which is helpful if you ever want to use the contents of a variable in your replacement:

   http://tommcfarlin.com/2008/03/11/using-local-variables-with-javascripts-replace-function/

   Don’t forget to escape!
3. James

   “.replace is a regular expression replacement method” (@Jay)

   I think that’s quite misleading. From what you’ve said one would assume that the replace-method’s first argument is converted to a regular expression implicitly when in fact, if you pass a string, it’s treated as literal text and is not converted to a RegExp object.

   Also, just to clarify, /regex/ is the same as RegExp(‘regex’) – which, btw, doesn’t require the new operator.
4. vrS

   David, just a question, whats the name of comments system that you had? WDC or something like that. Thx
5. elron

   can it replace the page itself?
   i mean, insted of ““, it will write ““,
   or insted if “<iframe>”, it will write “” (“<” is “<")
   waiting for a response.
   thanks!
6. Yang

   Could you tell me what is code to create the copy to clipboard button, please?
7. Magento定制

   also have this problem. thanks for your perfect method.
   I use replace(/\+/g, ‘ ‘) replace “+” to space
8. gadget

   Here is another article about javascript replace you people might be interested @

   http://gadgets-code.com/javascript-replace-method-review

   :)
9. jonathan

   thanks fir that simple but super usefull tip
10. Abhishek

    use ‘gi’ in place of ‘g’ to replace the string irrespective case, i.e to replace for insenstive case.
11. webrc

    quote -replace(/\+/g, ‘ ‘) replace “+” to space”-unquote worked like a charm! for decodeURIComponent after banging my head for two hours!

    //on serverside
    server.encode(uri) 
    //on client side
    var str = decodeURIComponent(uri);
    str.Replace(/\+/g,' ');
    
12. Pragya Shukla

    Thanks David. It helps me a lot.
13. jaroslav r.

    newCats = ['lions', 'leopards', 'cats'];
    console.log( newCats.toString().replace(',',', ','g') );
    

    lions, leopards, cats /* and not lions,leopards,cats */

    no need for // in the regex argument if it’s a simple expression.
14. Pathiv

    Thanks mate….it worked for me….
15. mitchel haas

    Thanks David. Works for me!
16. Leandrom

    thank you!
17. Bhushan

    Hi
    I need to replace the break in the string. I’m writing each character using plus so that you can unserstand.
    ”. Remove all the + from above string, and i need to replace that string within another string.
    Can you please tell me how to do it ?
18. Varghese

    We can also pass the i parameter in the regex to keep it case insensitive. Also we can create a function that would do the same and attach it to the String Obj using prototype, say something like String.prototype.replaceAll …