lastMatch Property ($&)
Returns the last matched characters from any regular expression search. Read-only.
RegExp.lastMatch
Arguments
- RegExp
Required. The global RegExp object.
Remarks
The initial value of the lastMatch property is an empty string. The value of the lastMatch property changes whenever a successful match is made.
Note
The properties of the RegExp object are not available when a program is running in fast mode, the default for JScript. To compile a program that uses these properties from a command prompt, you must turn off the fast option by using /fast-. It is not safe to turn off the fast option in ASP.NET because of threading issues.
The short form for the lastMatch property is $&. The expressions RegExp["$&"] and RegExp.lastMatch can be used interchangeably.
Example
The following example illustrates the use of the lastMatch property:
// Create the regular expression pattern.
var re = new RegExp("d(b+)(d)","ig");
var str = "cdbBdbsbdbdz";
// Perform the search.
var arr = re.exec(str);
// Create the output.
var s = ""
s += "$1: " + RegExp.$1 + "\n";
s += "$2: " + RegExp.$2 + "\n";
s += "$3: " + RegExp.$3 + "\n";
s += "input: " + RegExp.input + "\n";
s += "lastMatch: " + RegExp.lastMatch + "\n";
s += "leftContext: " + RegExp.leftContext + "\n";
s += "rightContext: " + RegExp.rightContext + "\n";
s += "lastParen: " + RegExp.lastParen + "\n";
The output of this program is as follows:
$1: bB
$2: d
$3:
input: cdbBdbsbdbdz
lastMatch: dbBd
leftContext: c
rightContext: bsbdbdz
lastParen: d