Javascript split string in a bidimensional array

Question

I want to split a string in a bidimensional array.

My array is like this one:

var str = 'a) first sentence without fixed lenght b) second phrase c) bla bla bla'

The returning array that i need is like:

var arr =[
          [ 'a', 'first sentence without fixed lenght' ],
          [ 'b', 'second phrase' ],
          [ 'c', 'bla bla bla' ]
         ];

I thought about use a regular expression to find the index of the list something like this:

/\w\)\s/gi

and then split the string, but without success. Anyone could help me?

Daniel Gimenez · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-04 00:29:58Z

1

Okay you can do this with a split or match. I went for a solution not counting on ) always being a delimiter. Instead I am looking for a very specific pattern of whitespace,letter,),whitespace in a zero-length lookahead. So most probable uses of parenthesis like "D) (whispers)" will be okay [ D) matches s) does not ].

var str = 'a) first sentence without fixed lenght b) second phrase c) bla bla bla';
var re = /(?=\s\w\)\s)/g;
var myArray = str.split(re);
var text;
var parenIndex;
// the result is = myArray[ 'a) first ...', 'b) second ... ', 'c) third ...' ];

for (var i = 0, il = myArray.length; i < il; i++) {
    text = myArray[i];
    parenIndex = text.indexOf(')'); // get first instance of )
    myArray[i] = [ text.substring(0, parenIndex - 1), text.substring(parenIndex + 1) ];
}
// the result is = myArray[ ['a', 'first ...'], ['b', 'second ... '], ... ];

A simpler less reliable approach would as follows. It assumes that ) is always a delimeter.

var str = 'a) first sentence without fixed lenght b) second phrase c) bla bla bla';
var re = /(?=\w\))|\)/g;
var myArray = str.split(re);
var newArray = new Array(myArray.length / 2);

for (var i = 0, il = myArray.length; i < il; i += 2) {
    newArray[i / 2] = [ myArray[i], myArray[i + 1] ];
}

edited Jul 4, 2013 at 0:29

answered Jul 4, 2013 at 0:16

Daniel Gimenez

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1 Comment

Danilo Over a year ago

I tried your second approach, it works perfectly but in the line 3 the correct syntax is: str.split(re); the for is: for(var i=0 and there is a close parenthesis to add in the following line.. ;) I added also a trim() when I store the vars in the array.

dandavis · Accepted Answer · 2013-07-04 00:15:58Z

1

here's a simple way to pull it off:

var ray= 'a) first sentence without fixed lenght b) second phrase c) bla bla bla'
.split(/(\w)\) /)
.slice(1)
.map(function(a,b,c){if(b%2){ return [c[b-1],a] }})
.filter(Boolean);

alert(JSON.stringify(ray, null, "\t"));

   /* shows: 
 [
    [
        "a",
        "first sentence without fixed lenght "
    ],
    [
        "b",
        "second phrase "
    ],
    [
        "c",
        "bla bla bla"
    ]
]
*/

answered Jul 4, 2013 at 0:15

dandavis

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