Develop Reference

Why doesn't my function correctly replace when using some regex pattern

This is an extension of this SO question
I made a function to see if i can correctly format any number. The answers below work on tools like https://regex101.com and https://regexr.com/, but not within my function(tried in node and browser):
const
const format = (num, regex) => String(num).replace(regex, '$1')
Basically given any whole number, it should not exceed 15 significant digits. Given any decimal, it should not exceed 2 decimal points.
so...
Now
format(0.12345678901234567890, /^\d{1,13}(\.\d{1,2}|\d{0,2})$/)
returns 0.123456789012345678 instead of 0.123456789012345
but
format(0.123456789012345,/^-?(\d*\.?\d{0,2}).*/)
returns number formatted to 2 deimal points as expected.

Let me try to explain what's going on.
For the given input 0.12345678901234567890 and the regex /^\d{1,13}(\.\d{1,2}|\d{0,2})$/, let's go step by step and see what's happening.
^\d{1,13} Does indeed match the start of the string 0
(\. Now you've opened a new group, and it does match .
\d{1,2} It does find the digits 1 and 2
|\d{0,2} So this part is skipped
) So this is the end of your capture group.
$ This indicates the end of the string, but it won't match, because you've still got 345678901234567890 remaining.
Javascript returns the whole string because the match failed in the end.
Let's try removing $ at the end, to become /^\d{1,13}(\.\d{1,2}|\d{0,2})/
You'd get back ".12345678901234567890". This generates a couple of questions.
Why did the preceding 0 get removed?
Because it was not part of your matching group, enclosed with ().
Why did we not get only two decimal places, i.e. .12?
Remember that you're doing a replace. Which means that by default, the original string will be kept in place, only the parts that match will get replaced. Since 345678901234567890 was not part of the match, it was left intact. The only part that matched was 0.12.

Answer to title question: your function doesn't replace, because there's nothing to replace - the regex doesn't match anything in the string. csb's answer explains that in all details.
But that's perhaps not the answer you really need.
Now, it seems like you have an XY problem. You ask why your call to .replace() doesn't work, but .replace() is definitely not a function you should use. Role of .replace() is replacing parts of string, while you actually want to create a different string. Moreover, in the comments you suggest that your formatting is not only for presenting data to user, but you also intend to use it in some further computation. You also mention cryptocurriencies.
Let's cope with these problems one-by-one.
What to do instead of replace?
Well, just produce the string you need instead of replacing something in the string you don't like. There are some edge cases. Instead of writing all-in-one regex, just handle them one-by-one.
The following code is definitely not best possible, but it's main aim is to be simple and show exactly what is going on.
function format(n) {
const max_significant_digits = 15;
const max_precision = 2;
let digits_before_decimal_point;
if (n < 0) {
// Don't count minus sign.
digits_before_decimal_point = n.toFixed(0).length - 1;
} else {
digits_before_decimal_point = n.toFixed(0).length;
}
if (digits_before_decimal_point > max_significant_digits) {
throw new Error('No good representation for this number');
}
const available_significant_digits_for_precision =
Math.max(0, max_significant_digits - digits_before_decimal_point);
const effective_max_precision =
Math.min(max_precision, available_significant_digits_for_precision);
const with_trailing_zeroes = n.toFixed(effective_max_precision);
// I want to keep the string and change just matching part,
// so here .replace() is a proper method to use.
const withouth_trailing_zeroes = with_trailing_zeroes.replace(/\.?0*$/, '');
return withouth_trailing_zeroes;
}
So, you got the number formatted the way you want. What now?
What can you use this string for?
Well, you can display it to the user. And that's mostly it. The value was rounded to (1) represent it in a different base and (2) fit in limited precision, so it's pretty much useless for any computation. And, BTW, why would you convert it to String in the first place, if what you want is a number?
Was the value you are trying to print ever useful in the first place?
Well, that's the most serious question here. Because, you know, floating point numbers are tricky. And they are absolutely abysmal for representing money. So, most likely the number you are trying to format is already a wrong number.
What to use instead?
Fixed-point arithmetic is the most obvious answer. Works most of the time. However, it's pretty tricky in JS, where number may slip into floating-point representation almost any time. So, it's better to use decimal arithmetic library. Optionally, switch to a language that has built-in bignums and decimals, like Python.

Can this numeric range regex be refactored?

I need to match a number range:
-9223372036854775808 to 9223372036854775807
^(?:922337203685477580[0-7]|9223372036854775[0-7]\d{2}|922337203685477[0-4]\d{3}|92233720368547[0-6]\d{4}|9223372036854[0-6]\d{5}|922337203685[0-3]\d{6}|92233720368[0-4]\d{7}|9223372036[0-7]\d{8}|922337203[0-5]\d{9}|92233720[0-2]\d{10}|922337[0-1]\d{12}|92233[0-6]\d{13}|9223[0-2]\d{14}|922[0-2]\d{15}|92[0-1]\d{16}|9[01]\d{17}|[1-8]\d{18}|\d{0,18}|-(?:922337203685477580[0-8]|9223372036854775[0-7]\d{2}|922337203685477[0-4]\d{3}|92233720368547[0-6]\d{4}|9223372036854[0-6]\d{5}|922337203685[0-3]\d{6}|92233720368[0-4]\d{7}|9223372036[0-7]\d{8}|922337203[0-5]\d{9}|92233720[0-2]\d{10}|922337[0-1]\d{12}|92233[0-6]\d{13}|9223[0-2]\d{14}|922[0-2]\d{15}|92[0-1]\d{16}|9[01]\d{17}|[1-8]\d{18}|\d{0,18}))?$
// space for easier copy and paste
Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but there's a long story behind this. I can't figure out how to do this in JavaScript by just checking a range, because of the size of the number, and this must be accurate.
Here's the thought process in breaking this thing down. I just started with the max number and worked my way down, then worked on the negative by just adding the - in the regex. You'll obviously have to copy and paste this thing somewhere to see it all. Also, could be mistakes. Made my head nearly explode.
9,223,372,036,854,775,807
922337203685477580[0-7]
9223372036854775[0-7][0-9]{2}
922337203685477[0-4][0-9]{3}
92233720368547[0-6][0-9]{4}
9223372036854[0-6][0-9]{5}
922337203685[0-3][0-9]{6}
92233720368[0-4][0-9]{7}
9223372036[0-7][0-9]{8}
922337203[0-5][0-9]{9}
92233720[0-2][0-9]{10}
922337[0-1][0-9]{12}
92233[0-6][0-9]{13}
9223[0-2][0-9]{14}
922[0-2][0-9]{15}
92[0-1][0-9]{16}
9[01][0-9]{17}
[1-8][0-9]{18}
[0-9]{0,18}
There's a single digit different in the negative vs. positive, so you'll see where I had to basically duplicate most of this.
So a few question:
Did I do this right?
If not, what's a better way?
Can this be done without regular expressions considering the size of the number? I need to validate client-side.
Can it be refactored and still retain strict rules?
Suggestions appreciated :)

Can this be done without regular expressions considering the size of the number?
It can be done in a series of if statements using only string operations (no need to convert to numbers).
all strings that don't match [0-9]{1,19} are out
all candidates that are of length 18 or less are good
for length 19 you can work with string comparison to see if they are numerically less than your upper limit
tweak the above to take care of negative numbers

Your regex is correct.
This is a shorter version
^(?:-9223372036854775808|-?(?:\d{0,18}|(?!922337203685477580[8-9]|92233720368547758[1-9]|92233720368547759|922337203685477[6-9]|92233720368547[8-9]|9223372036854[8-9]|922337203685[5-9]|92233720368[6-9]|92233720369|922337203[7-9]|92233720[4-9]|9223372[1-9]|922337[3-9]|92233[8-9]|9223[4-9]|922[4-9]|92[3-9]|9[3-9])\d{19}))$
Regex demo
How to generate that regex without mistake:
Input max number:
9223372036854775807
Output:
9223372036854775807
922337203685477580
92233720368547758
9223372036854775
922337203685477
92233720368547
9223372036854
922337203685
92233720368
9223372036
922337203
92233720
9223372
922337
92233
9223
922
92
9
Replace last number letter
9->remove all line
8->9
7->[8-9]
6->[7-9]
5->[6-9]
4->[5-9]
3->[4-9]
2->[3-9]
1->[2-9]
0->[1-9]
Output:
922337203685477580[8-9]
92233720368547758[1-9]
92233720368547759
922337203685477[6-9]
92233720368547[8-9]
9223372036854[8-9]
922337203685[5-9]
92233720368[6-9]
92233720369
922337203[7-9]
92233720[4-9]
9223372[1-9]
922337[3-9]
92233[8-9]
9223[4-9]
922[4-9]
92[3-9]
9[3-9]
Regex [Output]
922337203685477580[8-9]|92233720368547758[1-9]|92233720368547759|922337203685477[6-9]|92233720368547[8-9]|9223372036854[8-9]|922337203685[5-9]|92233720368[6-9]|92233720369|922337203[7-9]|92233720[4-9]|9223372[1-9]|922337[3-9]|92233[8-9]|9223[4-9]|922[4-9]|92[3-9]|9[3-9]
Add these[output] to regex
(?!output)\d{19}
Will become [output2]
(?!922337203685477580[8-9]|92233720368547758[1-9]|92233720368547759|922337203685477[6-9]|92233720368547[8-9]|9223372036854[8-9]|922337203685[5-9]|92233720368[6-9]|92233720369|922337203[7-9]|92233720[4-9]|9223372[1-9]|922337[3-9]|92233[8-9]|9223[4-9]|922[4-9]|92[3-9]|9[3-9])\d{19}
Matches \d{19} <= 9223372036854775807
Add
^(?:-9223372036854775808|-?(?:\d{0,18}|[output2]))$
^(?:-9223372036854775808|-?(?:\d{0,18}|(?!922337203685477580[8-9]|92233720368547758[1-9]|92233720368547759|922337203685477[6-9]|92233720368547[8-9]|9223372036854[8-9]|922337203685[5-9]|92233720368[6-9]|92233720369|922337203[7-9]|92233720[4-9]|9223372[1-9]|922337[3-9]|92233[8-9]|9223[4-9]|922[4-9]|92[3-9]|9[3-9])\d{19}))$
Will match
-9223372036854775808 or
+/- \d{0,18} or
+/- \d{19} <= 9223372036854775807
Demo

Regex - creating an input/textarea that correctly interprets numbers

Im designing a conversion website where i perform calculations on inputted numbers and i need my input or textarea to receive and interpret numbers entered in different fashions
like:
Entry = 3,000,000.1111
Interpreted value = 3000000.1111
or
Entry = 3000000.1111
Interpreted value = 3000000.1111
and I want to include a second input for European decimal notation
(or if possible have the same input do both)
Entry = 3.000.000,1111 (comma acts a decimal, decimal as separator)
Interpreted value = 3000000.1111
I wonder how I could do this. I suspect from some of my research that I could use regex.
Also should i use an input or a textarea? I want to limit the size of the number to 40 places.
It seems the textarea Im currently using won't recognize any values after a comma when a comma is used. I realized this is due to parseFloat. So I need to remove the commas using .replace() before parsing. But what do I do in the instance of European notation where the comma IS the decimal point? I suspect I should use regex to identify if a number is in comma decimal notation or standard decimal point notation and then outline the appropriate replacement behavior based on that. Any ideas how to write regex to identify a number between .0000000001 and 1,000,000,000,000,000 by only the separator and decimal point? What about when the entry doesn't use either? 12000 for example. Any help with this would be appreciated. Using HTML5 and Javascript. I am not using a form and am new at this. This is my first web page so please be patient with my questions.
I was thinking about this:
input = //value from textarea as a string
if(/REGEX which determines that the structure of the number is N,NNN.NN/.test(input)){
input = input.replace(/\,/,""); //replace the commas with nothing
}
else if(/REGEX which determine that structure of the number is N.NNN,NN/.test(input){
input = input.replace(/\./,""); //replace the decimal point separators with nothing
input = input.replace(/\,/,".");//replace the comma decimal with a point decimal
}
else{
//input unchanged assuming is NNNN without decimal
}
number = parseFloat(input);
I want to keep the possibility open for them to enter large numbers and also to use numbers less than one to 10 decimal places. Thanks to those who contributed.
Best,RP

I believe this should handle everything:
^[1-9](?:\d{0,2}(?:([,.])\d{3})*|\d+)(?:(?!\1)[,.]\d+)?$
You're treading on complicated territory here. Also, the above RegEx does not allow for values less than "1".
Basically, the RegEx does the following:
Allows for no thousandths separators ("," or ".") but ensures if they are used that they occur in the correct places.
Allows for either "," or "." to be used as both thousandths/cents separators, but ensures that the cents separator is not the same as the thousandths separator.
Requires the string equivalent number to begin with any digit other than "0".
To implement this you could attach an event listener to your form element(s) and use JS to do a simple .test.
After reading further, I think I misinterpreted your goal originally. I assumed you simply wanted to validate these values with a RegEx. I also assumed you're trying to work with currency (ie. two decimal places). However, fret not! You can still utilize my original answer if you really want.
You mentioned input and textarea which are both form elements. You can attach a listener to these element(s) looking for the input, change, and/or keyup events. As a part of the callback you can run the .test method or some other functionality. Personally, I would rethink how you want to handle input. Also, what's your actual goal here? Do you really need to know the thousandths separator or keep track of it? Why not just disallow any characters other than the one decimal point/comma and digits?
Also, parsing numbers like .0000000001 as a float is a terrible idea. You will lose precision very quickly if you do any sort of calculations such as multiplication, division, power, etc. You're going to have to figure out a different method to do this like storing the number to the right separately and as integers instead then go from there.
I can help you if you describe what you're trying to do in better detail.

Find numbers at a specific position

I'm trying to find an expression for JavaScript which gives me the two characters at a specific position.
It's always the same call so its may be not too complicated.
I have always a 10 char long number and i want to replace the first two, the two at place 3 and 4 or the two at place 5 and 6 and so on.
So far I've done this:
number.replace(/\d{2}/, index));
this replace my first 2 digits with 2 others digits.
but now I want to include some variables at which position the digits should be replaced, something like:
number.replace(/\d{atposx,atpox+1}/, index));
that means:
01234567891
and I want sometimes to replace 01 with 02 and sometimes 23 with 56.
(or something like this with other numbers).
I hope I pointed out what I want.

This function works fine:
function replaceChars(input, startPos, replacement){
return input.substring(0,startPos) +
replacement +
input.substring(startPos+replacement.length)
}
Usage:
replaceChars("0123456789",2,"55") // output: 0155456789
Live example: http://jsfiddle.net/FnkpT/

Numbers are fairly easily interpreted as strings in JS. So, if you're working with an actual number (i.e. 9876543210) and not a number that's represented by a string (i.e. '987654321'), just turn the number into a string (''.concat(number); ) and don't limit yourself to the constraints of what you can do with just numbers.
Both of the above examples are fine (bah, they beat me to it), but you can even think about it like this:
var numberString = ''.concat(number);
var numberChunks = numberString.match(/(\d{2})/g);
You've now got an array of chunks that you can either walk through, switch through, or whatever other kind of flow you want to follow. When you're done, just say...
numberString = numberChunks.join('');
number = parseInt(numberString, 10);
You've got your number back as a native number (or skip the last part to just get the string back). And, aside from that, if you're doing multiple replacements.. the more replacements you do in the number, the more efficient breaking it up into chunks and dealing with the chunks are. I did a quick test, and running the 'replaceChars' function was faster on a single change, but will be slower than just splitting into an array if you're doing two or more changes to the data.
Hope that makes sense!

You can try this
function replaceAtIndex(str,value,index) {
return str.substr(0,index)+value+str.substr(index+value.length);
}
replaceAtIndex('0123456789','X',3); // returns "012X456789"
replaceAtIndex('0123456789','XY',3); // returns "012XY56789"

Javascript percentage validation

I am after a regular expression that validates a percentage from 0 100 and allows two decimal places.
Does anyone know how to do this or know of good web site that has example of common regular expressions used for client side validation in javascript?
#Tom - Thanks for the questions. Ideally there would be no leading 0's or other trailing characters.
Thanks to all those who have replied so far. I have found the comments really interesting.

Rather than using regular expressions for this, I would simply convert the user's entered number to a floating point value, and then check for the range you want (0 to 100). Trying to do numeric range validation with regular expressions is almost always the wrong tool for the job.
var x = parseFloat(str);
if (isNaN(x) || x < 0 || x > 100) {
// value is out of range
}

I propose this one:
(^100(\.0{1,2})?$)|(^([1-9]([0-9])?|0)(\.[0-9]{1,2})?$)
It matches 100, 100.0 and 100.00 using this part
^100(\.0{1,2})?$
and numbers like 0, 15, 99, 3.1, 21.67 using
^([1-9]([0-9])?|0)(\.[0-9]{1,2})?$
Note what leading zeros are prohibited, but trailing zeros are allowed (though no more than two decimal places).

This reminds me of an old blog Entry By Alex Papadimoulis (of The Daily WTF fame) where he tells the following story:
"A client has asked me to build and install a custom shelving system. I'm at the point where I need to nail it, but I'm not sure what to use to pound the nails in. Should I use an old shoe or a glass bottle?"
How would you answer the question?
It depends. If you are looking to pound a small (20lb) nail in something like drywall, you'll find it much easier to use the bottle, especially if the shoe is dirty. However, if you are trying to drive a heavy nail into some wood, go with the shoe: the bottle with shatter in your hand.
There is something fundamentally wrong with the way you are building; you need to use real tools. Yes, it may involve a trip to the toolbox (or even to the hardware store), but doing it the right way is going to save a lot of time, money, and aggravation through the lifecycle of your product. You need to stop building things for money until you understand the basics of construction.
This is such a question where most people sees it as a challenge to come up with the correct regular expression to solve the problem, but it would be much better to just say that using regular expressions are using the wrong tool for the job.
The problem when trying to use regex to validate numeric ranges is that it is hard to change if the requirements for the allowed range is changes. Today the requirement may be to validate numbers between 0 and 100 and it is possible to write a regex for that which doesn't make your eyes bleed. But next week the requirment maybe changes so values between 0 and 315 are allowed. Good luck altering your regex.
The solution given by Greg Hewgill is probably better - even though it would validate "99fxx" as "99". But given the circumstances that might actually be ok.

Given that your value is in str
str.match(/^(100(\.0{1,2})?|([0-9]?[0-9](\.[0-9]{1,2})))$/)

^100(\.(0){0,2})?$|^([1-9]?[0-9])(\.(\d{0,2}))?\%$
This would match:
100.00
optional "1-9" followed by a digit (this makes the int part), optionally followed by a dot and two digits
From what I see, Greg Hewgill's example doesn't really work that well because parseFloat('15x') would simply return 15 which would match the 0<x<100 condition. Using parseFloat is clearly wrong because it doesn't validate the percentage value, it tries to force a validation. Some people around here are complaining about leading zeroes and some are ignoring trailing invalid characters. Maybe the author of the question should edit it and make clear what he needs.

I recomend this, if you are not exclusively developing for english speaking users:
[0-9]{1,2}((,|\.)[0-9]{1,10})?%?
You can simply replace the 10 by a 2 to get two decimal places.
My example will match:
15.5
5.4366%
1,43
50,55%
34
45%
Of cause the output of this one is harder to cast, but something like this will do (Java Code):
private static Double getMyVal(String myVal) {
if (myVal.contains("%")) {
myVal = myVal.replace("%", "");
}
if (myVal.contains(",")) {
myVal = myVal.replace(',', '.');
}
return Double.valueOf(myVal);
}

None of the above solutions worked for me, as I needed my regex to allow for values with numbers and a decimal while the user is typing ex: '18.'
This solution allows for an empty string so the user can delete their entire input, and accounts for the other rules articulated above.
/(^$)|(^100(\.0{1,2})?$)|(^([1-9]([0-9])?|0)\.(\.[0-9]{1,2})?$)|(^([1-9]([0-9])?|0)(\.[0-9]{1,2})?$)/

(100|[0-9]{1,2})(\.[0-9]{1,2})?
That should be the regex you want. I suggest you to read Mastering Regular Expression and download RegexBuddy or The Regex Coach.

#mlarsen:
Is not that a regex here won't do the job better.
Remember that validation msut be done both on client and on server side, so something like:
100|(([1-9][0-9])|[0-9])(\.(([0-9][1-9])|[1-9]))?
would be a cross-language check, just beware of checking the input length with the output match length.

(100(\.(0){1,2})?|([1-9]{1}|[0-9]{2})(\.[0-9]{1,2})?)