JavaScript: RegExp.prototype

RegExp.prototype is the value of the property key "prototype" of the function RegExp. [see RegExp Object]

console.log(
  RegExp.hasOwnProperty("prototype"),
);

Type

Type of RegExp.prototype is Object .

console.log(
  typeof RegExp.prototype === "object",
);

Parent

Parent of RegExp.prototype is Object.prototype .

console.log(
  Reflect.getPrototypeOf(RegExp.prototype) === Object.prototype,
);

Purpose

Purpose of RegExp.prototype is to provide methods and properties useful for all regexp instances.

RegExp.prototype is the parent of all RegExp instances.

console.log(
  Reflect.getPrototypeOf(/abc/) === RegExp.prototype,
);

Properties

Function Properties

• test
• exec
• toString
• [ Symbol.match ] JS2015
• [ Symbol.replace ] JS2015
• [ Symbol.search ] JS2015
• [ Symbol.split ] JS2015

Value Properties

source

Value is the regex pattern as string.

global

Value is true/false, corresponds to presence of flag g in regex. [see RegExp Flag]

ignoreCase

Value is true/false, corresponds to presence of flag i in regex.

multiline

Value is true/false, corresponds to presence of flag m in regex.

unicode

Value is true/false, corresponds to presence of flag u in regex. (JS2015)

sticky

Value is true/false, corresponds to presence of y in regex. (JS2015)

flags

a string of all on flags. Sample value: "gimuy" (JS2015)

lastIndex

A index for the target string, for regex function to begin match. It is automatically set by regex functions, usually when global flag g is on, to allow you to do a loop to find all occurances. When global flag g is off, this value is 0. When it is on, the regex function, when finished execution, advanced the index by set the index to end position of a match (or 0 when no more match), so next call will start search from there.

const gx = /\d/g;
console.log(gx.lastIndex); // 0
console.log(gx.exec("a2cd3f")); // [ "2" ]
console.log(gx.lastIndex); // 2
console.log(gx.exec("a2cd3f")); // [ "3" ]
console.log(gx.lastIndex); // 5

[see RegExp.prototype.exec]