Emulating SQL LIKE in JavaScript

Question

How can I emulate the SQL keyword LIKE in JavaScript?

For those of you who don\'t know what LIKE is, it\'s a very simple regex which only s

Answer 1

Here's a function I use, based on PHP's preg_quote function:

function regex_quote(str) {
  return str.replace(new RegExp("([\\.\\\\\\+\\*\\?\\[\\^\\]\\$\\(\\)\\{\\}\\=\\!\\<\\>\\|\\:\\-])", "g"), "\\$1");
}

So your line would now be:

var match = new RegEx(regex_quote(likeExpr).replace("%", ".*").replace("_", ".")).exec(str) != null;