Question

I’m searching for a JavaScript Regex replace in one “command”.

It should replace asterisks within four brackets (two on each side) with the HTML charcode ★ (★) within a span class=”stars”. There is a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 5 asterisks.

The replace is applied to a large text, so multiple replaces should function.

Example:

{{*}}
{{**}}
{{***}}
{{****}}
{{*****}}

should be replaced by:

<span class="stars">&#9733;</span>
<span class="stars">&#9733;&#9733;</span>
<span class="stars">&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;</span>
<span class="stars">&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;</span>
<span class="stars">&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;&#9733;</span>

Answer 1

Not really one line, but this works

var t = document.getElementById("container").innerHTML;
t = t.replace(/{{(\*{1,5})}}/g,function(m, g) {
    return "<span class='star'>"+new Array(g.length+1).join("&#9733;")+"</span>";
});
document.getElementById("container").innerHTML = t;