jQuery :contains(regex)?

Question

Is it possible to have a jQuery selector where the :contains() is a regular expression?

I need to select an element where the innerHTML contains something findable through regex?

I know it's a short question. My apologies.

var t = $("#id a:containsRegex("/[0-9]/g")"); // Doesn't work

Deepak Ingole · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-08T07:15:21.477

43

Try ,

var regex = new RegExp("[0-9]"); // expression here

$("#id a").filter(function () {
    return regex.test($(this).text()); 
});

edited Apr 08 '14 at 07:15

answered Apr 08 '14 at 07:08

Deepak Ingole

@Pilot using `innerText` is wrong. Use `$(this).text()` instead. – Tomalak Apr 08 '14 at 07:16
@Tomalak Updated..`innerText` is only valid for block elements ? M I right Master – Deepak Ingole Apr 08 '14 at 07:19
4

fyi you can use `var regex = /[0-9]/;` to make it more readable – ThiefMaster Apr 08 '14 at 07:19
2

@Pilot No, `innerText`is simply a proprietary DOM extension once invented by Microsoft. It should not be used as the default way to get text from an element, all modern browsers support the W3C standard `textContent` property. – Tomalak Apr 08 '14 at 08:48
@Tomalak thanks for such a valuable comment..Much appreciated. – Deepak Ingole Apr 08 '14 at 08:54
just for others' reference `filter` is a jquery function not a native array filter function which i was mistaking it for. – Muhammad Umer Mar 18 '15 at 16:40

1 Answers1