Question

We have a database where every table name starts with WW.
I want to display an SQL on a web page, but wrap each table name with a link.
For example:

"select * from wwx_something where ..."

Should be transformed into:

"select * from <a href='/table/wwx_something/'>wwx_something</a> where ..."

There might be several tables, of course, and it should not be case-sensitive.

I need a javascript regex solution…I can’t seem to get it to work.

Answer 1

Solution using a single replace:

var re = /(FROM|JOIN)\s+(WW\S+)/gi;
yourText.replace(re, "$1 <a href='$2'>$2</a>");

note that I also tentative support for stuff such like “SELECT * FROM wwa JOIN wwb”.

ADDED after comment: yes, you can replace with a custom function in order to uppercase the URL:

var re = /(FROM|JOIN)\s+(WW\S+)/gi;
function change(s, p1, p2) {
    return p1 + " <a href='http://whatever/" + p2.toUpperCase() + "'>" + p2 + "</a>";
}
yourText.replace(re, change);

PS: IMHO it’s better to include FROM/JOIN in the match because this way you’re better warded about strays “ww” that have nothing to do with table names… including a bit of context always helps disambiguate.