CFLib.org – Common Function Library Project

Description:
Escapes all regular expression "special characters" in a string with "\". Useful for dynamic uses of REFind and REReplace.

Return Values:
Returns a string.

Example:

<cfoutput>
"this and (that)" => #REEscape("this and (that)")#<br>
"$1 + $2 = $3" => #REEscape("$1 + $2 = $3")#<br>
"\,+,*,?,.,[,],^,$,(,),{,},|,-" => #REEscape("\,+,*,?,.,[,],^,$,(,),{,},|,-")#<br>
<br>
<cfset price = "$3">
Escaped regular expression search string that works:<br>
"= #price#" found at character: #REFind("=.*#REEscape(price)#",  "An example of simple financial math: $1 + $2 = $3")#<br>
<br>
Unescaped regular expression search string that doesn't work:<br>
"= #price#" not found (search returns zero): #REFind("=.*#price#",  "An example of simple financial math: $1 + $2 = $3")#
</cfoutput>

Parameters:

Full UDF Source:

/**
 * Escapes all regular expression "special characters" in a string with "\".
 * 
 * @param theString      The string to format. (Required)
 * @return Returns a string. 
 * @author Shawn Seley (shawnse@aol.com) 
 * @version 1, June 26, 2002 
 */
function REEscape(theString){
    var special_char_list      = "\,+,*,?,.,[,],^,$,(,),{,},|,-";
    var esc_special_char_list  = "\\,\+,\*,\?,\.,\[,\],\^,\$,\(,\),\{,\},\|,\-";
    return ReplaceList(theString, special_char_list, esc_special_char_list);
}