why does str.replace() only replace the first found item?

Question

text = "1/2/3"
result = text.replace("/", "");

I expect the result to be "123" but instead it's "12/3" Why?

This is a good answer: [Replacing all occurrences of a string in JavaScript](http://stackoverflow.com/a/1144788/3088045) — Kamafeather, Aug 28 '14 at 11:23
possible duplicate of [Why does javascript replace only first instance when using replace?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1967119/why-does-javascript-replace-only-first-instance-when-using-replace) — Wooble, Aug 28 '14 at 11:26
@Kamafeather Thx, just looked at it, and it's exactly what I needed — Demian Kasier, Aug 28 '14 at 11:29
Voted to close my own question, since it is, indeed, a duplicate — Demian Kasier, Aug 29 '14 at 05:56

Ahmad · Accepted Answer · 2014-08-28T11:31:20.163

5

Add the global selection "g" flag and use a regex instead of a string in first parameter.

result = text.replace(/\//g, "");

edited Aug 28 '14 at 11:31

answered Aug 28 '14 at 11:22

Ahmad

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@AdrianoRepetti Yep true, was about to point to that in the answer. Thanks – Ahmad Aug 28 '14 at 11:27
@AdrianoRepetti what does "regex parameter" mean? – zerkms Aug 28 '14 at 11:28
@zerkms poorly worded but _"where first parameter (pattern) is a regex"_. – Adriano Repetti Aug 28 '14 at 11:29

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 28 '14 at 11:23

1

You can do this with regular expression as argument to replace with global selection.

"1/2/3".replace(/\//g, "")

answered Aug 28 '14 at 11:23

Vishwanath

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 28 '14 at 11:30

0

You can try the below Regexp

"1/2/3".replace(/\//g,"");

This will replace all the / elements with "".

answered Aug 28 '14 at 11:30

Nagendra Srinivas M

21
4

In what is this different/better compared to Ahmad, Vishwanath and Felipe answers? – Adriano Repetti Aug 28 '14 at 11:31

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 28 '14 at 11:46

0

Another way of doing the same:

String.prototype.replaceAll = function(matchStr, replaceStr) {
  return this.replace(new RegExp(matchStr, 'g'), replaceStr);
 };
var str = "1/2/3";
result = str.replaceAll('/', '');

answered Aug 28 '14 at 11:46

Tapaswi Panda

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score -1 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 28 '14 at 11:24

-1

a = "1/2/3"
a =a.split("/").join("")

answered Aug 28 '14 at 11:24

NIlesh Sharma

5,445
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1

+1 for avoiding the use of regex and for improved perf – Kaiido Aug 28 '14 at 11:26
1

@Kaiido: "and for improved perf" --- why do you think so? It allocates an additional array. – zerkms Aug 28 '14 at 11:26
@zerkms http://jsperf.com/replace-all-vs-split-join from this answer http://stackoverflow.com/a/1145525/3702797 – Kaiido Aug 28 '14 at 11:37

why does str.replace() only replace the first found item?

5 Answers5