Question

I’m using a the .replace() method in javascript to convert a serialized array of objects into a simpler serialzed string. Here is my code:

b = //string
b = b.replace(/},{/gi, "},cb,,{");
b = b.replace(/}],[{/gi, "},cb,,row,{"); //The error is being thrown for this line

When I run this code I am getting an “Unexpected Token /” error for the third line. Why is this? The line is more or less identical to the line above it. Please help me figure this out.

Note: I cant submit a string without the regex as an argument because I need the substring to be replaced more than once.

Answer 1

In this context, the opening [ is a special character that indicates a character class. Since there isn’t a ] occurring after it, the error occurs.

You simply need to escape the [ for your regex to work:

b = b.replace(/}],\[{/gi, "},cb,,row,{");

For the sake of consistency, I wouldn’t hesitate to escape the other brace characters since they are special characters as well (but happen to be parsed literally in this context):

b = b.replace(/\}\],\[\{/gi, "},cb,,row,{");