The source
property returns a String
containing the source text of the regexp object, and it doesn't contain the two forward slashes on both sides and any flags.
The source for this interactive example is stored in a GitHub repository. If you'd like to contribute to the interactive examples project, please clone https://github.com/mdn/interactive-examples and send us a pull request.
Property attributes of RegExp.prototype.source |
|
---|---|
Writable | no |
Enumerable | no |
Configurable | yes |
Examples
Using source
var regex = /fooBar/ig; console.log(regex.source); // "fooBar", doesn't contain /.../ and "ig".
Empty regular expressions and escaping
Starting with ECMAScript 5, the source
property no longer returns an empty string for empty regular expressions. Instead, the string "(?:)"
is returned. In addition, line terminators (such as "\n") are escaped now.
new RegExp().source; // "(?:)" new RegExp('\n').source === '\n'; // true, prior to ES5 new RegExp('\n').source === '\\n'; // true, starting with ES5
Specifications
Specification |
---|
ECMAScript (ECMA-262) The definition of 'RegExp.prototype.source' in that specification. |
Browser compatibility
The compatibility table on this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.
Desktop | Mobile | Server | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
source | Chrome Full support 1 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 1 | IE Full support 4 | Opera Full support 5 | Safari Full support 1 | WebView Android Full support 1 | Chrome Android Full support 18 | Firefox Android Full support 4 | Opera Android Full support 10.1 | Safari iOS Full support 1 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0 | nodejs Full support Yes |
"(?:)" for empty regexps | Chrome Full support 6 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 38 | IE No support No | Opera Full support 15 | Safari Full support 5 | WebView Android Full support ≤37 | Chrome Android Full support 18 | Firefox Android Full support 38 | Opera Android Full support 14 | Safari iOS Full support 4.2 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0 | nodejs ? |
Escaping | Chrome Full support 73 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 38 | IE Full support 10 | Opera Full support 60 | Safari Full support 6 | WebView Android Full support 73 | Chrome Android Full support 73 | Firefox Android Full support 38 | Opera Android Full support 52 | Safari iOS Full support 6 | Samsung Internet Android No support No | nodejs ? |
Prototype accessor property (ES2015) | Chrome Full support 48 | Edge Full support 12 | Firefox Full support 41 | IE Full support 4 | Opera Full support 35 | Safari Full support 1.3 | WebView Android Full support 48 | Chrome Android Full support 48 | Firefox Android Full support 41 | Opera Android Full support 35 | Safari iOS Full support 1 | Samsung Internet Android Full support 5.0 | nodejs Full support Yes |
Legend
- Full support
- Full support
- No support
- No support
- Compatibility unknown
- Compatibility unknown