Regex Matching using Javascript

Question

I'm having a problem with my regex.

var validFormat = /^(JD[a-zA-Z0-9]{6}),(.*),(.*)$/;
console.log('JD231SSD, First Name, Last Name'.match(validFormat));

This will result in

["JD231SSD, First Name, Last Name", "JD231SSD", " First Name", " Last Name", index: 0, input: "JD231SSD, First Name, Last Name"]

and this is OK, but the first name and last name are optional so what I want to achieved are following to be valid.

'JD231SSD, First Name'

'JD231SSD'

So I can get the following:

["JD231SSD, First Name", "JD231SSD", " First Name", index: 0, input: "JD231SSD, First Name"]
["JD231SSD", "JD231SSD", index: 0, input: "JD231SSD"]

I was hoping that I could achieved this using regex but I'm not sure if it's possible. Because if it's not then I can try another solution.

• Avinash Raj: 'JD231SSD, John' is john is a first name or last name?
• Jeroen: What will you do with input like JD123SSD, John, Homestead, of the and JD123SSD, Mary and JD123SSD, Marc-Anthony, d'Artagnan and... (Check out this article for some more fun possibilities...)

Answer 1

var validFormat = /^(JD[a-zA-Z0-9]{6}),?([^,]*),?([^,]*)$/;

Answer 2

You may use

^(JD[a-zA-Z0-9]{6})(?:,([^,\n]*))?(?:,([^,\n]*))?$

See demo

The \n is not necessary if the strings do not contain newlines.

I replaced the (.*) with negated class [^,] and added optional non-capturing group ((?: ... )?) around comma + [^,].

var re = /^(JD[a-zA-Z0-9]{6})(?:,([^,\n]*))?(?:,([^,\n]*))?$/gm; 
var str = 'JD231SSD, First Name, Last Name\nJD231SSD, First Name\nJD231SSD';
var m;
 
while ((m = re.exec(str)) !== null) {
 if (m.index === re.lastIndex) {
 re.lastIndex++;
 }
 document.write("Whole match: " + m[0] + "<br/>");
 document.write("ID: " + m[1] + "<br/>");
 if (m[2] !== undefined) {
 document.write("First name: " + m[2] + "<br/>");
 }
 if (m[3] !== undefined) {
 document.write("Last name: " + m[3] + "<br/>");
 }
 document.write("<br/>");
 
}

• kdlcruz: it's giving me Uncaught SyntaxError: Invalid regular expression: /^(JD[a-zA-Z0-9]{6})(?:,([^,\n]*))?(?:,([^]*))?$?$/: Nothing to repeat.
• Wiktor Stribiżew: Why did you add $?? You should use it exactly as it is in my answer.

Answer 3

^(JD[a-zA-Z0-9]{6})(?:,(.*?)(?:,(.*))?)?$

You can use this regex to capture all three.See demo.

https://regex101.com/r/uF4oY4/80

Answer 4

var validFormat = ^(JD[a-zA-Z0-9]{6})(?:,(.*?)(?:,(.*))?)?$;
console.log('JD231SSD, First Name, Last Name'.match(validFormat));

• SuperBiasedMan: Please consider editing your post to add more explanation about what your code does and why it will solve the problem. An answer that mostly just contains code (even if it's working) usually wont help the OP to understand their problem.