Regex for a string starting with http:// and containing ~

Question

I'm trying to validate a string with regex in javascript that a user inputs into a <form>that starts with http:// and contains a ~ somwhere within that string. what I have is

(/^(http?:\/\/)\~/.test(string))

But it's not quite working.

Any tips?

If ( str.indexOf('http://') === 0 && str.indexOf('~') > 0 ) ??? — adeneo
– adeneo, Commented Apr 21, 2016 at 2:58
@adeneo Thanks that worked! Can you explain how indexOf works? and what's the difference between == and ===? — Enigma
– Enigma, Commented Apr 21, 2016 at 3:01
@Enigma it gives you the starting index of the substring in the given string.. — Rajshekar Reddy
– Rajshekar Reddy, Commented Apr 21, 2016 at 3:04
String.indexOf gives you the index of the string inside the string. If that index is 0, the string starts with that string. If it's more than 0 it contains the string, if it's -1 it does not contain the string. — adeneo
– adeneo, Commented Apr 21, 2016 at 3:05

Tushar · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-21 03:00:01Z

3

No need or RegEx, you can use String#startsWith and String#includes.

if (str.startsWith('http://') && str.includes('~')) {

As these methods are not supported by all the browsers, you can use polyfills from MDN for older browsers.

answered Apr 21, 2016 at 3:00

Tushar

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1 Comment

Enigma Over a year ago

Cool, that worked as well! It's neat how there's multiple methods to solve this problem.

MikeTGW · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-21 03:02:25Z

1

The regex solution would look like:

(/^https?:\/\/.*\~/.test(string))

Your regex was almost correct, you were just missing the .* which checks for characters after the http:// portion

I also put s? in there in-case https was valid

answered Apr 21, 2016 at 3:02

MikeTGW

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2 Comments

zerkms Over a year ago

Why did you escape ~ actually?

MikeTGW Over a year ago

Well honestly, I included the escape because the OP had it escaped. Figured it might be special in JS. Does it hurt anything? I know it worked in the console when I tested it.

Thangcof · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-21 03:04:09Z

1

I think your regex should be repaired to this:

(/^(http?:\/\/).*\~/.test(string))

answered Apr 21, 2016 at 3:04

Thangcof

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