Javascript regex split reject null

Question

Is it possible to make a JavaScript regex reject null matches?

Can the String.split() method be told to reject null values?

console.log("abcccab".split("c"));
//result: ["ab", "", "", "ab"]
//desired result: ["ab", "ab"]

-

While I was testing this I came across a partial answer on accident:

console.log("abccacaab".split(/c+/));
//returns: ["ab", "a", "aab"] 

But, a problem arises when the match is at the start:

console.log("abccacaab".split(/a+/));
//returns: ["", "bcc", "c", "b"]
// ^^

Is there a clean answer? Or do we just have to deal with it?

• Gumbo: How about matching all sequences of characters except c?
• Isaac: @nathanhayfield That's what I'm wanting to avoid

Answer 1

This isn't precisely a regex solution, but a filter would make quick work of it.

"abcccab".split("c").filter(Boolean);

This will filter out the falsey "" values.

• Isaac: I feel like I've been stealing all your rep! stackoverflow.com/questions/19888689/…
• user1106925: @Isaac: LOL, nah I make my answers into CW's anyway. Glad to see you use the info!

Answer 2

Trim the matches from the ends of the string before you split:

console.log("abccacaab".replace(/^a+|a+$/g, '').split(/a+/));
// ["bcc", "c", "b"]

• Isaac: That's nice, not as clean as squint's answer though
• Paul: @Nope, I left it here because you told nathanhayfield that you wanted to avoiding iterating through the array and removing the empty strings, which is what filter does.