The toString()
method returns a string representing the regular expression.
RegExp.prototype.toString()
Try it
Syntax
toString()
Return value
A string representing the given object.
Description
The RegExp
object overrides the toString()
method of the Object
object; it does not inherit Object.prototype.toString()
. For RegExp
objects, the toString()
method returns a string representation of the regular expression.
Examples
Using toString()
The following example displays the string value of a RegExp
object:
var myExp = new RegExp('a+b+c'); console.log(myExp.toString()); // logs '/a+b+c/' var foo = new RegExp('bar', 'g'); console.log(foo.toString()); // logs '/bar/g'
Empty regular expressions and escaping
Starting with ECMAScript 5, an empty regular expression returns the string "/(?:)/" and line terminators such as "\n" are escaped:
new RegExp().toString(); // "/(?:)/" new RegExp('\n').toString() === '/\n/'; // true, prior to ES5 new RegExp('\n').toString() === '/\\n/'; // true, starting with ES5
Specifications
Browser compatibility
Desktop | Mobile | Server | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari | WebView Android | Chrome Android | Firefox for Android | Opera Android | Safari on IOS | Samsung Internet | Deno | Node.js | |
toString |
1
|
12
|
1
|
4
|
5
|
1
|
1
|
18
|
4
|
10.1
|
1
|
1.0
|
1.0
|
0.10.0
|
escaping |
73
|
12
|
38
|
9
|
60
|
6
|
73
|
73
|
38
|
52
|
6
|
11.0
|
1.0
|
12.0.0
|
See also
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Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/RegExp/toString