Question

I have the following script:

    $(".Text").contents().each(function () {
   $(this).replaceWith($(this).text()
            .replace(/\[([^\]]*)\]/g, '<span class="IT_Symbol" style="display:inline;border: 1px solid blue;">$&</span>')
        );
    });

It finds anything between square brackets and wraps it with a class. The element style is so i can see it working, as this script is triggered by a doubleclick. Currently it finds everything between square brackets including the brackets themselves. If possible, i’d like to remove the brackets, but keep what’s between.

Answer 1

You’re replacing with $&, which is the whole matched text. If you replace with $1 instead, this only matches the first group, which is ([^\]]*), and therefore excludes the surrounding brackets.

$(".Text").contents().each(function () {
    $(this).replaceWith($(this).text().replace(/\[([^\]]*)\]/g, '<span class="IT_Symbol" style="display:inline;border: 1px solid blue;">$1</span>'));
});