Wildcard search function

[google]

I need a simple wildcard pattern matching function written in JS. I
have wrestled with regular expresions but frankly am struggling to come
up with anything less than an epic function of many lines of code ...
Any help much appreciated!

Sample string :
"the cat sat on the mat"

matches :
"the cat*" , "*cat*" , "*the mat"

no matches :

"the cat", "cat", "the mat"

[Evertjan.]

wrote on 23 okt 2006 in comp.lang.javascript:

I need a simple wildcard pattern matching function written in JS. I
have wrestled with regular expresions but frankly am struggling to come
up with anything less than an epic function of many lines of code ...
Any help much appreciated!

Sample string :
"the cat sat on the mat"

matches :
"the cat*" , "*cat*" , "*the mat"

no matches :

"the cat", "cat", "the mat"

I cannot imagine you "need" it in javascript,
perhaps you only "want" it, or it is a school assignment.

When seaching a large amount of data, say on a database,
SQL string with "LIKE" will help you.

--
Evertjan.
The Netherlands.
(Please change the x'es to dots in my emailaddress)

[google]

It is needed and your reply is not at all helpful

[Julian Turner]

go****@grepit.com wrote:

I need a simple wildcard pattern matching function written in JS. I
have wrestled with regular expresions but frankly am struggling to come
up with anything less than an epic function of many lines of code ...
Any help much appreciated!

Sample string :
"the cat sat on the mat"

matches :
"the cat*" , "*cat*" , "*the mat"

no matches :

"the cat", "cat", "the mat"

Hi

Here is a starter for ten, covering "the cat*", and not using any
regular expressions.

I assume that "the cat*" means that the sample string **must** start
with "the cat". Your post is perhaps ambiguous in this regard.

Perhaps you could have a go extending to the other matches you want,
case handling, making it more robust, etc, and then post your code.

var s = "the cat sat on the mat";

alert (match(s, "the cat"));
alert (match(s, "the cat*"));

function match(sSource, sMatch)
{
var wildcardRight = false;

if (sMatch.charAt(sMatch.length - 1) == "*")
{
wildcardRight = true;
sMatch = sMatch.substring(0, sMatch.length - 1);
}

if (wildcardRight)
{
return (sSource.indexOf(sMatch) == 0);
}
else
{
return sSource == sMatch;
}
}

Regards

Julian

[Evertjan.]

wrote on 25 okt 2006 in comp.lang.javascript:

It is needed and your reply is not at all helpful

Are you addressing me perhaps?

Without quoting I don't know what you are talking about.

In general things are seldom "needed", often "wanted".

--
Evertjan.
The Netherlands.
(Please change the x'es to dots in my emailaddress)

[Dr J R Stockton]

In message <11**********************@k70g2000cwa.googlegroups .com>, Mon,
23 Oct 2006 07:43:36, go****@grepit.com writes

>I need a simple wildcard pattern matching function written in JS. I
have wrestled with regular expresions but frankly am struggling to come
up with anything less than an epic function of many lines of code ...
Any help much appreciated!

Sample string :
"the cat sat on the mat"

matches :
"the cat*" , "*cat*" , "*the mat"

no matches :

"the cat", "cat", "the mat"

The string matches none of the substrings, but the substrings match
parts of the string. Replace in your substrings "*" by ".*", prefix by
^, follow by $, and you are there. Simplify : ^.* and .*$ can be
removed.

Testing in <URL:http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/js-valid.htm#RT>, your
conditions are fulfilled.

Example :
S = "the cat sat on the mat"
OK = !!S.match(/^the cat.*$/) // true
OK = !!S.match(/^the cat$/) // false
It's a good idea to read the newsgroup and its FAQ. See below.

--
(c) John Stockton, Surrey, UK. ?@merlyn.demon.co.uk Turnpike v6.05 IE 6
<URL:http://www.jibbering.com/faq/>? JL/RC: FAQ of news:comp.lang.javascript
<URL:http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/js-index.htmjscr maths, dates, sources.
<URL:http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/TP/BP/Delphi/jscr/&c, FAQ items, links.

[google]

If you have nothing constructive to add to this topic please move
along.

On Oct 25, 3:09 pm, "Evertjan." <[e-mail]:

wrote on 25 okt 2006 in comp.lang.javascript:

It is needed and your reply is not at all helpfulAre you addressing me perhaps?

Without quoting I don't know what you are talking about.

In general things are seldom "needed", often "wanted".

--
Evertjan.
The Netherlands.
(Please change the x'es to dots in my emailaddress)

[google]

Thanks for this.

I have two routines now as shown below, both seem to work fine, but the
performance of the regular expression approach is not good - any ideas?
(String1 = string to be searched & String2 contains the pattern)

function MatchString(String1, String2)
{
var Items, Pos;

Items = String2.split("*");
if (Items.length == 1)
return(String1 == String2);
Pos = 0;
for (Count=0; Count<Items.length; Count++)
{
if (Count == 0)
{
if ((Pos = String1.indexOf(Items[Count], Pos)) != 0)
return(false);
}
else
{
if ((Pos = String1.indexOf(Items[Count], Pos)) == -1)
return(false);
}
Pos = Pos + Items[Count].length;
}
return(true);
}

function MatchString2(String1, String2)
{
var Pattern = "";

Pattern = '/^' + String2 + '$/';
return(!!String1.match(eval(Pattern)));
}

On Oct 25, 9:29 pm, Dr J R Stockton <[e-mail]:

In message <[e-mail] .com>, Mon,
23 Oct 2006 07:43:36, [e-mail] writes

I need a simple wildcard pattern matching function written in JS. I
have wrestled with regular expresions but frankly am struggling to come
up with anything less than an epic function of many lines of code ...
Any help much appreciated!

Sample string :
"the cat sat on the mat"

matches :
"the cat*" , "*cat*" , "*the mat"

no matches :

"the cat", "cat", "the mat"The string matches none of the substrings, but the substrings match

parts of the string. Replace in your substrings "*" by ".*", prefix by
^, follow by $, and you are there. Simplify : ^.* and .*$ can be
removed.

Testing in <URL:http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/js-valid.htm#RT>, your
conditions are fulfilled.

Example :
S = "the cat sat on the mat"
OK = !!S.match(/^the cat.*$/) // true
OK = !!S.match(/^the cat$/) // false

It's a good idea to read the newsgroup and its FAQ. See below.

--
(c) John Stockton, Surrey, UK. ?[e-mail] Turnpike v6.05 IE 6
<URL:http://www.jibbering.com/faq/>? JL/RC: FAQ of news:comp.lang.javascript
<URL:http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/js-index.htmjscr maths, dates, sources.
<URL:http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/TP/BP/Delphi/jscr/&c, FAQ items, links.

[Evertjan.]

wrote on 31 okt 2006 in comp.lang.javascript:

On Oct 25, 3:09 pm, "Evertjan." <[e-mail]:

> wrote on 25 okt 2006 in comp.lang.javascript:

It is needed and your reply is not at all helpfulAre you addressing
me perhaps?

Without quoting I don't know what you are talking about.

In general things are seldom "needed", often "wanted".

[Please do not toppost on usenet]

If you have nothing constructive to add to this topic please move
along.

How can I add anything if you do not, by quoting,
tell us what you were talking about first?

Please keep to netiquette!

--
Evertjan.
The Netherlands.
(Please change the x'es to dots in my emailaddress)

[Julian Turner]

go****@grepit.com wrote:

[snip]

but the
performance of the regular expression approach is not good - any ideas?

[snip]

function MatchString2(String1, String2)
{
var Pattern = "";

Pattern = '/^' + String2 + '$/';
return(!!String1.match(eval(Pattern)));
}

Hi

Your use of "eval" may be one source of the slow performance. You are
generally wise to avoid using eval unless absolutely necessary.

new RegExp() will parse a String into a RegExp

Try

var re = new RegExp(Pattern);
return !!re.test(String1);

Regards

Julian

[Julian Turner]

go****@grepit.com wrote:

[snip]
but the
performance of the regular expression approach is not good - any ideas?
[snip]

function MatchString2(String1, String2)
{
var Pattern = "";

Pattern = '/^' + String2 + '$/';
return(!!String1.match(eval(Pattern)));
}

Hi

Apologies, there was an error in my last post, in that for new RegExp,
you ignore the "/" at the start and end of a RegExp literal.

Furthermore, if by performance you mean that it is not returning the
result you expect, then it may depend on the following.

If String2 value is "the cat*", the ' * ' does not have quite the same
meaning as a wild-card in a regular expression.

' * ' in a regular expression looks for the previous character repeated
ad-infinitum. Notice the dot ".*" in the examples you have been given.
' . ' means any caracter, other than new line I think.

An alternative approach may be to do the following:-

function match(s1, s2)
{
var left = (s2.charAt(0) == "*") ? "" : "^";
var right = (s2.charAt(s2.length - 1) == "*") ? "" : "$";
var s2 = s2.replace(/^\*|\*$/,"");
var re = new RegExp(left + s2 + right);
return re.test(s1);
}
One thing to watch out for. Certain characters, like "(" have a
special meaning in a RegExp, so they must either not be included in s2,
or be escaped : i.e. "(" -"\(".

Regards

Julian Turner

[google]

What would you know about "netiquette" as you so naffly put it.

You have posted three times to this thread and have come up with
nothing constructive at all. You kindly suggested that I did not "need"
a solution with your first post and perhaps it was my "homework" -
which was completely useless and confontational.

I suggest that you post only to threads where you actually have
something constructive and useful to say, something akin to the very
informative suggestions from the other participants.

Tw@t!

Evertjan. wrote:

wrote on 31 okt 2006 in comp.lang.javascript:

On Oct 25, 3:09 pm, "Evertjan." <[e-mail]:

wrote on 25 okt 2006 in comp.lang.javascript:

It is needed and your reply is not at all helpfulAre you addressing
me perhaps?

Without quoting I don't know what you are talking about.

In general things are seldom "needed", often "wanted".

[Please do not toppost on usenet]

If you have nothing constructive to add to this topic please move
along.

How can I add anything if you do not, by quoting,
tell us what you were talking about first?

Please keep to netiquette!

--
Evertjan.
The Netherlands.
(Please change the x'es to dots in my emailaddress)