Need to Replace String in onclick attribute with dynamic variable

Question

What I'm trying to do is replace some a bit of "placeholder" text which is inside a URL string , with another string that is stored inside a javascript variable. This variable is dynamically generated based on a user's choices, so I can't just hardcode the variable.

Here is my code thus far:

var result_photo = "http://quizsocial.com/yahoo/this.jpg";
var sRegExphoto = new RegExp(result_photo);

$('a.facer').each(function() {
this.attributes.onclick.nodeValue=this.attributes.onclick.nodeValue.replace('result_photo_placeholder', sRegExphoto);
});

You can also see my jsfiddle at: http://jsfiddle.net/Ywa7j/1/

This fiddle seems very close to me, but where I get stuck is that my javascript Regex bit that gets replaced into my string continues to have it's regex delimiters set around it. If I could get rid of those delimiters on my Regex object, I think I would be doing well. However, I simply cannot find a way to get rid of those delimiters.

Please help me figure this one out! Thanks a lot. If you have suggestions that will take me away from the way I'm attempting to do this now, I'm all ears, as well.

I don't really see why you need a regex at all here. Why not just .replace('result_photo_placeholder', result_photo); — Evan Trimboli
– Evan Trimboli, Commented Mar 11, 2014 at 2:28
I had read online that I needed to pass a regex object to the .replace function - as in, it simply won't take a simple variable. Maybe I am wrong though... — Steve Goerger
– Steve Goerger, Commented Mar 11, 2014 at 2:38
That's not correct: developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/… You've gone about this in a really backwards fashion, perhaps just explain what you want to do, as opposed to a solution you've already decided upon. — Evan Trimboli
– Evan Trimboli, Commented Mar 11, 2014 at 3:56

JMZavala · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-11 02:52:45Z

2

My solution:

http://jsfiddle.net/Ywa7j/2/

Description:

replace: this.attributes.onclick.nodeValue=this.attributes.onclick.nodeValue.replace('result_photo_placeholder', sRegExphoto);

With: $(this).attr('onclick',$(this).attr('onclick').replace('result_photo_placeholder',sRegExphoto));

you must use $(this) instead of "this" and use the attr method to set a new value. In your case, set it as the same value replacing "result_photo_placeholder".

answered Mar 11, 2014 at 2:52

JMZavala

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1 Comment

Steve Goerger Over a year ago

Thanks @JMZavala! I had to make a little change to your code - you are using "sRegExphoto" still, whereas I just want to use the base result_photo variable - but your basic function was definitely the key to opening this up for me and I really appreciate it!

cbojar · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-11 02:35:24Z

0

Rather that wrap your string in a RegExp object, pass the string to the replace function.

When you pass the regular expression object, it is not being used to match a pattern, but is instead being used as the replacement value. It gets its .toString() method called on it, giving you a string with the regex delimiters. Since you aren't using it to match a pattern, converting it to a regular expression is unnecessary.

answered Mar 11, 2014 at 2:35

cbojar

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2 Comments

Steve Goerger Over a year ago

My reading suggests that replace() can't take a variable, only a Regex. Also, I can't pass the URL string directly into replace(), because that URL/variable changes depending on what the user does.

cbojar Over a year ago

Replace takes a pattern (simple string or regex) in the first parameter, and the second is the string you are replacing it with, so that needs to be (or will be coverted to) a string.

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