Regex - Matching across multiple lines

[Jamsta1912]

Hi everyone,

I have a question about regex in javascript. I'm trying to pick out the part of a string between two key phrases / characters, across multiple lines.

If I run this background script:

var x= 'abcdefg';
var myreg = /b.*e/i;
gs.print('myreg : ' + x.match(myreg));

I get this:

*** Script: myreg : bcde

That's simple and makes sense to me: it's picking out the text that starts with b and ends with e, with any number of characters intbetween excluding line breaks.

But what should the regular expression look like if I wanted to match on a string that starts with b and ends with e, with any number of characters inbetween including line breaks?

I tried this:

var x= 'abcdefg';
var myreg = /b(.|\n|\r)*e/i;
gs.print('myreg : ' + x.match(myreg));

and instead of 'bcde' I get:

*** Script: myreg : bcde,d

So then I tried this:

var x= 'abcdefg';
var myreg = /b((.|\n|\r)*)e/i;
gs.print('myreg : ' + x.match(myreg));

and I get:

*** Script: myreg : bcde,cd,d

So in those last two cases I'm getting multiple matches returned, which I don't understand . Can anyone explain what's happening there? And, what's the best practice way to match on text between two phrases / characters, allowing there to be line breaks inbetween?

Thank you

Jamie

[divya mishra]

Hey Jamie,

The first expression looks good to me(tested) It allowed me to get characters between b and e including line breaks.

post me your feedback

Please Hit ✅Correct, ��Helpful, or ��Like depending on the impact of the response

Have a lovely day ahead

Regards,

Divya Mishra

[Jamsta1912]

Hi Divya,

The first script doesn't work across line breaks, as the dot represents any character except line breaks.

So, for instance this:

var x= 'abcd\nefg'; 
var myreg = /b.*e/i; 
gs.print('myreg : ' + x.match(myreg)); 

returns

*** Script: myreg : null

But you may have meant my first alternative script. That one though, returns an array of more than one match.

Any other thoughts?

Jamie.