RegExp.prototype.global - JavaScript | MDN (original) (raw)

Baseline

Widely available

The global accessor property of RegExp instances returns whether or not the g flag is used with this regular expression.

Try it

const regex1 = new RegExp("foo", "g");

console.log(regex1.global);
// Expected output: true

const regex2 = new RegExp("bar", "i");

console.log(regex2.global);
// Expected output: false

Description

RegExp.prototype.global has the value true if the g flag was used; otherwise, false. The g flag indicates that the regular expression should be tested against all possible matches in a string. Each call to exec() will update its lastIndex property, so that the next call to exec() will start at the next character.

Some methods, such as String.prototype.matchAll() and String.prototype.replaceAll(), will validate that, if the parameter is a regex, it is global. The regex's Symbol.match and Symbol.replace methods (called by String.prototype.match() and String.prototype.replace()) would also have different behaviors when the regex is global.

The set accessor of global is undefined. You cannot change this property directly.

Examples

Using global

const regex = /foo/g;
console.log(regex.global); // true

const str = "fooexamplefoo";
const str1 = str.replace(regex, "");
console.log(str1); // example

const regex1 = /foo/;
const str2 = str.replace(regex1, "");
console.log(str2); // examplefoo

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also