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regex detect url and prepend http:// [duplicate]

This question already has answers here:
Adding http:// to all links without a protocol
(4 answers)
Closed 8 years ago.
I would like to detect url's that are entered in a text input. I have the following code which prepends http:// to the beginning of what has been entered:
var input = $(this);
var val = input.val();
if (val && !val.match(/^http([s]?):\/\/.*/)) {
input.val('http://' + val);
}
How would I go about adapting this to only append the http:// if it contains a string followed by a tld? At the moment if I enter a string for example:
Hello. This is a test
the http:// will get appended to hello, even though it's not a url. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

This simple function works for me. We don't care about the real existence of a TLD domain to gain speed, rather we check the syntax like example.com.
Sorry, I've forgotten that VBA trim() is not intrinsic function in js, so:
// Removes leading whitespaces
function LTrim(value)
{
var re = /\s*((\S+\s*)*)/;
return value.replace(re, "$1");
}
// Removes ending whitespaces
function RTrim(value)
{
var re = /((\s*\S+)*)\s*/;
return value.replace(re, "$1");
}
// Removes leading and ending whitespaces
function trim(value)
{
return LTrim(RTrim(value));
}
function hasDomainTld(strAddress)
{
var strUrlNow = trim(strAddress);
if(strUrlNow.match(/[,\s]/))
{
return false;
}
var i, regex = new RegExp();
regex.compile("[A-Za-z0-9\-_]+\\.[A-Za-z0-9\-_]+$");
i = regex.test(strUrlNow);
regex = null;
return i;
}
So your code, $(this) is window object, so I pass the objInput through an argument, using classical js instead of jQuery:
function checkIt(objInput)
{
var val = objInput.value;
if(val.match(/http:/i)) {
return false;
}
else if (hasDomainTld(val)) {
objInput.value = 'http://' + val;
}
}
Please test yourself: http://jsfiddle.net/SDUkZ/8/

The best solution i have found is to use the following regex:
/\.[a-zA-Z]{2,3}/
This detects the . after the url, and characters for the extension with a limit of 2/3 characters.
Does this seem ok for basic validation? Please let me know if you see any problems that could arise.
I know that it will detect email address's but this wont matter in this instance.

You need to narrow down your requirements first as URL detection with regular expressions can be very tricky. These are just a few situations where your parser can fail:
IDNs (госуслуги.рф)
Punycode cases (xn--blah)
New TLD being registered (.amazon)
SEO-friendly URLs (domain.com/Everything you need to know about RegEx.aspx)
We recently faced a similar problem and what we ended up doing was a simple check whether the URL starts with either http://, https://, or ftp:// and prepending with http:// if it doesn't start with any of the mentioned schemes. Here's the implementation in TypeScript:
public static EnsureAbsoluteUri(uri: string): string {
var ret = uri || '', m = null, i = -1;
var validSchemes = ko.utils.arrayMap(['http', 'https', 'ftp'], (i) => { return i + '://' });
if (ret && ret.length) {
m = ret.match(/[a-z]+:\/\//gi);
/* Checking against a list of valid schemes and prepending with "http://" if check fails. */
if (m == null || !m.length || (i = $.inArray(m[0].toLowerCase(), validSchemes)) < 0 ||
(i >= 0 && ret.toLowerCase().indexOf(validSchemes[i]) != 0)) {
ret = 'http://' + ret;
}
}
return ret;
}
As you can see, we're not trying to be smart here as we can't predict every possible URL form. Furthermore, this method is usually executed against field values we know are meant to be URLs so the change of misdetection is minimal.
Hope this helps.

Check if a string starts with http using Javascript

I've been searching all over for an answer to this and all of the answers I've found haven't been in JavaScript.
I need a way, in javascript, to check if a string starts with http, https, or ftp. If it doesn't start with one of those I need to prepend the string with http://. indexOf won't work for me I don't think as I need either http, https or ftp. Also I don't want something like google.com/?q=http://google.com to trigger that as being valid as it doesn't start with an http whereas indexOf would trigger that as being true (if I'm not entirely mistaken).
The closest PHP regex I've found is this:
function addhttp($url) {
if (!preg_match("~^(?:f|ht)tps?://~i", $url)) {
$url = "http://" . $url;
}
return $url;
}
Source: How to add http if its not exists in the url
I just don't know how to convert that to javascript. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

export const getValidUrl = (url = "") => {
let newUrl = window.decodeURIComponent(url);
newUrl = newUrl.trim().replace(/\s/g, "");
if(/^(:\/\/)/.test(newUrl)){
return `http${newUrl}`;
}
if(!/^(f|ht)tps?:\/\//i.test(newUrl)){
return `http://${newUrl}`;
}
return newUrl;
};
Tests:
expect(getValidUrl('https://www.test.com')).toBe('https://www.test.com');
expect(getValidUrl('http://www.test.com')).toBe('http://www.test.com');
expect(getValidUrl(' http : / / www.test.com')).toBe('http://www.test.com');
expect(getValidUrl('ftp://www.test.com')).toBe('ftp://www.test.com');
expect(getValidUrl('www.test.com')).toBe('http://www.test.com');
expect(getValidUrl('://www.test.com')).toBe('http://www.test.com');
expect(getValidUrl('http%3A%2F%2Fwww.test.com')).toBe('http://www.test.com');
expect(getValidUrl('www . test.com')).toBe('http://www.test.com');

This should work:
var pattern = /^((http|https|ftp):\/\/)/;
if(!pattern.test(url)) {
url = "http://" + url;
}
jsFiddle

var url = "http://something.com"
if( url.indexOf("http") == 0 ) {
alert("yeah!");
} else {
alert("No no no!");
}

Non-Regex declarative way:
const hasValidUrlProtocol = (url = '') =>
['http://', 'https://', 'ftp://'].some(protocol => url.startsWith(protocol))

This should work:
var re = /^(http|https|ftp)/

Refining previous answers a bit more, I used new RegExp(...) to avoid messy escapes, and also added an optional s.
var pattern = new RegExp('^(https?|ftp)://');
if(!pattern.test(url)) {
url = "http://" + url;
}
var pattern = new RegExp('^(https?|ftp)://');
console.log(pattern.test('http://foo'));
console.log(pattern.test('https://foo'));
console.log(pattern.test('ftp://foo'));
console.log(pattern.test('bar'));

Best readability I'd say is to use .startsWith('theString').
The code below checks for both http://, https:// and ftp:// and sets okUrl to a boolean true if any of them comply, by using the || which means or.
When you know if the url contains none of those strings, then just just add http:// to the start of the string either with literals (${})
let url = 'google.com'
const urlOK = url.startsWith('http://') || url.startsWith('https://') || url.startsWith('ftp://')
if (!urlOk) url = `http://${url}`
// => 'http://google.com'
or with simple string concat, which can be done in various ways, for example:
url = 'http://' + url
Read more about it, and test it, here:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/String/startsWith

Improving regex for parsing YouTube / Vimeo URLs

I've made a function (in JavaScript) that takes an URL from either YouTube or Vimeo. It figures out the provider and ID for that particular video (demo: http://jsfiddle.net/csjwf/).
function parseVideoURL(url) {
var provider = url.match(/http:\/\/(:?www.)?(\w*)/)[2],
id;
if(provider == "youtube") {
id = url.match(/http:\/\/(?:www.)?(\w*).com\/.*v=(\w*)/)[2];
} else if (provider == "vimeo") {
id = url.match(/http:\/\/(?:www.)?(\w*).com\/(\d*)/)[2];
} else {
throw new Error("parseVideoURL() takes a YouTube or Vimeo URL");
}
return {
provider : provider,
id : id
}
}
It works, however as a regex Novice, I'm looking for ways to improve it. The input I'm dealing with, typically looks like this:
http://vimeo.com/(id)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=(id)&blahblahblah.....
1) Right now I'm doing three separate matches, would it make sense to try and do everything in one single expression? If so, how?
2) Could the existing matches be more concise? Are they unnecessarily complex? or perhaps insufficient?
3) Are there any YouTube or Vimeo URL's that would fail being parsed? I've tried quite a few and so far it seems to work pretty well.
To summarize: I'm simply looking for ways improve the above function. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Here's my attempt at the regex, which covers most updated cases:
function parseVideo(url) {
// - Supported YouTube URL formats:
// - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My2FRPA3Gf8
// - http://youtu.be/My2FRPA3Gf8
// - https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/My2FRPA3Gf8
// - Supported Vimeo URL formats:
// - http://vimeo.com/25451551
// - http://player.vimeo.com/video/25451551
// - Also supports relative URLs:
// - //player.vimeo.com/video/25451551
url.match(/(https?\/\/)(player.|www.)?(vimeo\.com|youtu(be\.com|\.be|be\.googleapis\.com))\/(video\/|embed\/|watch\?v=|v\/)?([A-Za-z0-9._%-]*)(\&\S+)?/);
var type = null;
if (RegExp.$3.indexOf('youtu') > -1) {
type = 'youtube';
} else if (RegExp.$3.indexOf('vimeo') > -1) {
type = 'vimeo';
}
return {
type: type,
id: RegExp.$6
};
}

Regex is wonderfully terse but can quickly get complicated.
http://jsfiddle.net/8nagx2sk/
function parseYouTube(str) {
// link : //youtube.com/watch?v=Bo_deCOd1HU
// share : //youtu.be/Bo_deCOd1HU
// embed : //youtube.com/embed/Bo_deCOd1HU
var re = /\/\/(?:www\.)?youtu(?:\.be|be\.com)\/(?:watch\?v=|embed\/)?([a-z0-9_\-]+)/i;
var matches = re.exec(str);
return matches && matches[1];
}
function parseVimeo(str) {
// embed & link: http://vimeo.com/86164897
var re = /\/\/(?:www\.)?vimeo.com\/([0-9a-z\-_]+)/i;
var matches = re.exec(str);
return matches && matches[1];
}
Sometimes simple code is nicer to your fellow developers.
https://jsfiddle.net/vkg02mhp/1/
// protocol and www nuetral
function getVideoId(str, prefixes) {
const cleaned = str.replace(/^(https?:)?\/\/(www\.)?/, '');
for(const prefix of prefixes) {
if (cleaned.startsWith(prefix))
return cleaned.substr(prefix.length)
}
return undefined;
}
function getYouTubeId(url) {
return getVideoId(url, [
'youtube.com/watch?v=',
'youtu.be/',
'youtube.com/embed/'
]);
}
function getVimeoId(url) {
return getVideoId(url, [
'vimeo.com/'
]);
}
Which do you prefer to update?

I am not sure about your question 3), but provided that your induction on the url forms is correct, the regexes can be combined into one as follows:
/http:\/\/(?:www.)?(?:(vimeo).com\/(.*)|(youtube).com\/watch\?v=(.*?)&)/
You will get the match under different positions (1st and 2nd matches if vimeo, 3rd and 4th matches if youtube), so you just need to handle that.
Or, if you are quite sure that vimeo's id only includes numbers, then you can do:
/http:\/\/(?:www.)?(vimeo|youtube).com\/(?:watch\?v=)?(.*?)(?:\z|&)/
and the provider and the id will apprear under 1st and 2nd match, respcetively.

Here is my regex
http://jsfiddle.net/csjwf/1/

For Vimeo, Don't rely on Regex as Vimeo tends to change/update their URL pattern every now and then. As of October 2nd, 2017, there are in total of six URL schemes Vimeo supports.
https://vimeo.com/*
https://vimeo.com/*/*/video/*
https://vimeo.com/album/*/video/*
https://vimeo.com/channels/*/*
https://vimeo.com/groups/*/videos/*
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/*/*
Instead, use their API to validate vimeo URLs. Here is this oEmbed (doc) API which takes an URL, checks its validity and return a object with bunch of video information(check out the dev page). Although not intended but we can easily use this to validate whether a given URL is from Vimeo or not.
So, with ajax it would look like this,
var VIMEO_BASE_URL = "https://vimeo.com/api/oembed.json?url=";
var yourTestUrl = "https://vimeo.com/23374724";
$.ajax({
url: VIMEO_BASE_URL + yourTestUrl,
type: 'GET',
success: function(data) {
if (data != null && data.video_id > 0)
// Valid Vimeo url
else
// not a valid Vimeo url
},
error: function(data) {
// not a valid Vimeo url
}
});

about sawa's answer :
a little update on the second regex :
/http:\/\/(?:www\.)?(vimeo|youtube)\.com\/(?:watch\?v=)?(.*?)(?:\z|$|&)/
(escaping the dots prevents from matching url of type www_vimeo_com/… and $ added…)
here is the same idea for matching the embed urls :
/http:\/\/(?:www\.|player\.)?(vimeo|youtube)\.com\/(?:embed\/|video\/)?(.*?)(?:\z|$|\?)/

FWIW, I just used the following to validate and parse both YouTube and Vimeo URLs in an app. I'm sure you could add parentheses to parse out the specific things you're looking for...
/^(?:https?:\/\/)?(?:www\.)?(?:youtu\.be\/|youtube\.com\/(?:embed\/|v\/|watch\?v=|watch\?.+&v=))((\w|-){11})(?:\S+)?$|^(https?:\/\/)?(www.)?(player.)?vimeo.com\/([a-z]*\/)*([0-9]{6,11})[?]?.*$/
^^ This is just a combination of 2 separate expressions using | (or) to join them. Here are the original 2 expressions separately:
/^(?:https?:\/\/)?(?:www\.)?(?:youtu\.be\/|youtube\.com\/(?:embed\/|v\/|watch\?v=|watch\?.+&v=))((\w|-){11})(?:\S+)?$/
/^(https?:\/\/)?(www.)?(player.)?vimeo.com\/([a-z]*\/)*([0-9]{6,11})[?]?.*$/
I'm no expert, but it seems to work according to Rubular. Hopefully this helps someone out in the future.

3) Your regex does not match https url's. I haven't tested it, but I guess the "http://" part would become "http(s)?://". Note that this would change the matching positions of the provider and id.

Just in case here is a php version
/*
* parseVideo
* #param (string) $url
* mi-ca.ch 27.05.2016
* parse vimeo & youtube id
* format url for iframe embed
* https://regex101.com/r/lA0fP4/1
*/
function parseVideo($url) {
$re = "/(http:|https:|)\\/\\/(player.|www.)?(vimeo\\.com|youtu(be\\.com|\\.be|be\\.googleapis\\.com))\\/(video\\/|embed\\/|watch\\?v=|v\\/)?([A-Za-z0-9._%-]*)(\\&\\S+)?/";
preg_match($re, $url, $matches);
if(strrpos($matches[3],'youtu')>-1){
$type='youtube';
$src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/'.$matches[6];
}else if(strrpos($matches[3],'vimeo')>-1){
$type="vimeo";
$src='https://player.vimeo.com/video/'.$matches[6];
}else{
return false;
}
return array(
'type' => $type // return youtube or vimeo
,'id' => $matches[6] // return the video id
,'src' => $src // return the src for iframe embed
);
}

I had a task to enable adding a dropbox videos. So the same input should take href, check it and transform to the playable link which I can then insert in .
const getPlayableUrl = (url) => {
// Check youtube and vimeo
let firstCheck = url.match(/(http:|https:|)\/\/(player.|www.)?(vimeo\.com|youtu(be\.com|\.be|be\.googleapis\.com))\/(video\/|embed\/|watch\?v=|v\/)?([A-Za-z0-9._%-]*)(\&\S+)?/);
if (firstCheck) {
if (RegExp.$3.indexOf('youtu') > -1) {
return "//www.youtube.com/embed/" + RegExp.$6;
} else if (RegExp.$3.indexOf('vimeo') > -1) {
return 'https://player.vimeo.com/video/' + RegExp.$6
}
} else {
// Check dropbox
let candidate = ''
if (url.indexOf('.mp4') !== -1) {
candidate = url.slice(0, url.indexOf('.mp4') + 4)
} else if (url.indexOf('.m4v') !== -1) {
candidate = url.slice(0, url.indexOf('.m4v') + 4)
} else if (url.indexOf('.webm') !== -1) {
candidate = url.slice(0, url.indexOf('.webm') + 5)
}
let secondCheck = candidate.match(/(http:|https:|)\/\/(player.|www.)?(dropbox\.com)\/(s\/|embed\/|watch\?v=|v\/)?([A-Za-z0-9._%-]*\/)?(.*)/);
if (secondCheck) {
return 'https://dropbox.com/' + RegExp.$4 + RegExp.$5 + RegExp.$6 + '?raw=1'
} else {
throw Error("Not supported video resource.");
}
}
}

I based myself the previous answers but I needed more out the regex.
Maybe it worked in 2011 but in 2019 the syntax has changed a bit. So this is a refresh.
The regex will allow us to detect weather the url is Youtube or Vimeo.
I've added Capture group to easily retrieve the videoID.
If ran with Case insensitive setting please remove the (?i).
(?:(?i)(?:https:|http:)?\/\/)?(?:(?i)(?:www\.youtube\.com\/(?:embed\/|watch\?v=)|youtu\.be\/|youtube\.googleapis\.com\/v\/)(?<YoutubeID>[a-z0-9-_]{11,12})|(?:vimeo\.com\/|player\.vimeo\.com\/video\/)(?<VimeoID>[0-9]+))
https://regex101.com/r/PVdjg0/2

Use this Regex devs:This works like Makhan(react js,Javascript)
^(http\:\/\/|https\:\/\/)?((www\.)?(vimeo\.com\/)([0-9]+)$)|((www\.youtube\.com|youtu\.be)\/.+$)

How to detect whether a string is in URL format using javascript?

I think the question title seems to explain eveything.
I want to detect whether a string is in URL format or not using javascript.
Any help appreciated.

Try this-
function isUrl(s) {
var regexp = /(ftp|http|https):\/\/(\w+:{0,1}\w*#)?(\S+)(:[0-9]+)?(\/|\/([\w#!:.?+=&%#!\-\/]))?/
return regexp.test(s);
}
usage: if (isUrl("http://www.page.com")) alert("is correct") else
alert("not correct");

function IsURL(url) {
var strRegex = "^((https|http|ftp|rtsp|mms)?://)"
+ "?(([0-9a-z_!~*'().&=+$%-]+: )?[0-9a-z_!~*'().&=+$%-]+#)?" //ftp的user#
+ "(([0-9]{1,3}\.){3}[0-9]{1,3}" // IP形式的URL- 199.194.52.184
+ "|" // 允许IP和DOMAIN（域名）
+ "([0-9a-z_!~*'()-]+\.)*" // 域名- www.
+ "([0-9a-z][0-9a-z-]{0,61})?[0-9a-z]\." // 二级域名
+ "[a-z]{2,6})" // first level domain- .com or .museum
+ "(:[0-9]{1,4})?" // 端口- :80
+ "((/?)|" // a slash isn't required if there is no file name
+ "(/[0-9a-z_!~*'().;?:#&=+$,%#-]+)+/?)$";
var re=new RegExp(strRegex);
return re.test(url);
}
Debuggex Demo (Improved version which matches also 'localhost')

try something like this:
function isUrl(s) {
var regexp = /(ftp|http|https):\/\/(\w+:{0,1}\w*#)?(\S+)(:[0-9]+)? (\/|\/([\w#!:.?+=&%#!\-\/]))?/
return regexp.test(s);
}

One for the future using the URL constructor and a basic try catch statement, it is supported in most modern browsers. Obviously no IE support...
const isUrl = (str) => {
try {
new URL(str);
return true;
} catch () {
return false;
}
}
If the URL is valid it will get parsed by the constructor and return true.
If the string is not a valid URL the constructor will chuck a syntax error that will get caught and return false.

Try this code. This expression is more complete and takes into account IP address:
function checkUrl(s) {
var regexp = /^(?:http(s)?:\/\/)?[\w.-]+(?:\.[\w\.-]+)+[\w\-\._~:/?#[\]#!\$&'\(\)\*\+,;=.]+$/
return regexp.test(s); }

You can use a regular expression for checking the string
^s?https?:\/\/[-_.!~*'()a-zA-Z0-9;\/?:\#&=+\$,%#]+$
Regular Expressions and Javascript

Had the same task, but all of regex that I found online to check validity of a URL were failed in some test cases.
Here is the regex that worked everything:
/^(http:\/\/www\.|https:\/\/www\.|www\.)?[a-z0-9]+([\-\.]{1}[a-z0-9]+)*\.[a-z]{2,5}(:[0-9]{1,5})?(\/.*)?/
However, If the URL was like: google.com It accepted it as valid (which in my specific case, was considered as invalid)
It worked the best I had found. Worked like a charm!

When given the option, I prefer the simplest solution.
Use _.startsWith(string, 'http') if:
You don't mind if URL is invalid
You're sure the URL being checked will always start with 'http'
You don't expect the string to be another value that might start also with 'http'

Trying to Validate URL Using JavaScript

I want to validate a URL and display message. Below is my code:
$("#pageUrl").keydown(function(){
$(".status").show();
var url = $("#pageUrl").val();
if(isValidURL(url)){
$.ajax({
type: "POST",
url: "demo.php",
data: "pageUrl="+ url,
success: function(msg){
if(msg == 1 ){
$(".status").html('<img src="images/success.gif"/><span><strong>SiteID:</strong>12345678901234456</span>');
}else{
$(".status").html('<img src="images/failure.gif"/>');
}
}
});
}else{
$(".status").html('<img src="images/failure.gif"/>');
}
});
function isValidURL(url){
var RegExp = /(ftp|http|https):\/\/(\w+:{0,1}\w*#)?(\S+)(:[0-9]+)?(\/|\/([\w#!:.?+=&%#!\-\/]))?/;
if(RegExp.test(url)){
return true;
}else{
return false;
}
}
My problem is now it will show an error message even when entering a proper URL until it matches regular expression, and it return true even if the URL is something like "http://wwww".
I appreciate your suggestions.

Someone mentioned the Jquery Validation plugin, seems overkill if you just want to validate the url, here is the line of regex from the plugin:
return this.optional(element) || /^(https?|ftp):\/\/(((([a-z]|\d|-|\.|_|~|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])|(%[\da-f]{2})|[!\$&'\(\)\*\+,;=]|:)*#)?(((\d|[1-9]\d|1\d\d|2[0-4]\d|25[0-5])\.(\d|[1-9]\d|1\d\d|2[0-4]\d|25[0-5])\.(\d|[1-9]\d|1\d\d|2[0-4]\d|25[0-5])\.(\d|[1-9]\d|1\d\d|2[0-4]\d|25[0-5]))|((([a-z]|\d|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])|(([a-z]|\d|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])([a-z]|\d|-|\.|_|~|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])*([a-z]|\d|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])))\.)+(([a-z]|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])|(([a-z]|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])([a-z]|\d|-|\.|_|~|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])*([a-z]|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])))\.?)(:\d*)?)(\/((([a-z]|\d|-|\.|_|~|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])|(%[\da-f]{2})|[!\$&'\(\)\*\+,;=]|:|#)+(\/(([a-z]|\d|-|\.|_|~|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])|(%[\da-f]{2})|[!\$&'\(\)\*\+,;=]|:|#)*)*)?)?(\?((([a-z]|\d|-|\.|_|~|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])|(%[\da-f]{2})|[!\$&'\(\)\*\+,;=]|:|#)|[\uE000-\uF8FF]|\/|\?)*)?(\#((([a-z]|\d|-|\.|_|~|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])|(%[\da-f]{2})|[!\$&'\(\)\*\+,;=]|:|#)|\/|\?)*)?$/i.test(value);
Here is where they got it from: http://projects.scottsplayground.com/iri/
Pointed out by #nhahtdh This has been updated to:
// Copyright (c) 2010-2013 Diego Perini, MIT licensed
// https://gist.github.com/dperini/729294
// see also https://mathiasbynens.be/demo/url-regex
// modified to allow protocol-relative URLs
return this.optional( element ) || /^(?:(?:(?:https?|ftp):)?\/\/)(?:\S+(?::\S*)?#)?(?:(?!(?:10|127)(?:\.\d{1,3}){3})(?!(?:169\.254|192\.168)(?:\.\d{1,3}){2})(?!172\.(?:1[6-9]|2\d|3[0-1])(?:\.\d{1,3}){2})(?:[1-9]\d?|1\d\d|2[01]\d|22[0-3])(?:\.(?:1?\d{1,2}|2[0-4]\d|25[0-5])){2}(?:\.(?:[1-9]\d?|1\d\d|2[0-4]\d|25[0-4]))|(?:(?:[a-z\u00a1-\uffff0-9]-*)*[a-z\u00a1-\uffff0-9]+)(?:\.(?:[a-z\u00a1-\uffff0-9]-*)*[a-z\u00a1-\uffff0-9]+)*(?:\.(?:[a-z\u00a1-\uffff]{2,})).?)(?::\d{2,5})?(?:[/?#]\S*)?$/i.test( value );
source: https://github.com/jzaefferer/jquery-validation/blob/c1db10a34c0847c28a5bd30e3ee1117e137ca834/src/core.js#L1349

It's not practical to parse URLs using regex. A full implementation of the RFC1738 rules would result in an enormously long regex (assuming it's even possible). Certainly your current expression fails many valid URLs, and passes invalid ones.
Instead:
a. use a proper URL parser that actually follows the real rules. (I don't know of one for JavaScript; it would probably be overkill. You could do it on the server side though). Or,
b. just trim away any leading or trailing spaces, then check it has one of your preferred schemes on the front (typically ‘http://’ or ‘https://’), and leave it at that. Or,
c. attempt to use the URL and see what lies at the end, for example by sending it am HTTP HEAD request from the server-side. If you get a 404 or connection error, it's probably wrong.
it return true even if url is something like "http://wwww".
Well, that is indeed a perfectly valid URL.
If you want to check whether a hostname such as ‘wwww’ actually exists, you have no choice but to look it up in the DNS. Again, this would be server-side code.

function validateURL(textval) {
var urlregex = /^(https?|ftp):\/\/([a-zA-Z0-9.-]+(:[a-zA-Z0-9.&%$-]+)*#)*((25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|[1-9][0-9]?)(\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|1[0-9]{2}|[1-9]?[0-9])){3}|([a-zA-Z0-9-]+\.)*[a-zA-Z0-9-]+\.(com|edu|gov|int|mil|net|org|biz|arpa|info|name|pro|aero|coop|museum|[a-zA-Z]{2}))(:[0-9]+)*(\/($|[a-zA-Z0-9.,?'\\+&%$#=~_-]+))*$/;
return urlregex.test(textval);
}
This can return true for URLs like:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1303872/url-validation-using-javascript
or:
http://regexlib.com/DisplayPatterns.aspx?cattabindex=1&categoryId=2

I written also a URL validation function base on rfc1738 and rfc3986 to check http and https urls. I try to hold this modular, so it can be better maintained and adapted to own requirements.
The RegExp in one line is show at end of this post.
The RegExp accept HTTP and HTTPS URLs with some international domain or IPv4 number. IPv6 is not supported yet.
window.isValidURL = (function() {// wrapped in self calling function to prevent global pollution
//URL pattern based on rfc1738 and rfc3986
var rg_pctEncoded = "%[0-9a-fA-F]{2}";
var rg_protocol = "(http|https):\\/\\/";
var rg_userinfo = "([a-zA-Z0-9$\\-_.+!*'(),;:&=]|" + rg_pctEncoded + ")+" + "#";
var rg_decOctet = "(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1][0-9][0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|[0-9])"; // 0-255
var rg_ipv4address = "(" + rg_decOctet + "(\\." + rg_decOctet + "){3}" + ")";
var rg_hostname = "([a-zA-Z0-9\\-\\u00C0-\\u017F]+\\.)+([a-zA-Z]{2,})";
var rg_port = "[0-9]+";
var rg_hostport = "(" + rg_ipv4address + "|localhost|" + rg_hostname + ")(:" + rg_port + ")?";
// chars sets
// safe = "$" | "-" | "_" | "." | "+"
// extra = "!" | "*" | "'" | "(" | ")" | ","
// hsegment = *[ alpha | digit | safe | extra | ";" | ":" | "#" | "&" | "=" | escape ]
var rg_pchar = "a-zA-Z0-9$\\-_.+!*'(),;:#&=";
var rg_segment = "([" + rg_pchar + "]|" + rg_pctEncoded + ")*";
var rg_path = rg_segment + "(\\/" + rg_segment + ")*";
var rg_query = "\\?" + "([" + rg_pchar + "/?]|" + rg_pctEncoded + ")*";
var rg_fragment = "\\#" + "([" + rg_pchar + "/?]|" + rg_pctEncoded + ")*";
var rgHttpUrl = new RegExp(
"^"
+ rg_protocol
+ "(" + rg_userinfo + ")?"
+ rg_hostport
+ "(\\/"
+ "(" + rg_path + ")?"
+ "(" + rg_query + ")?"
+ "(" + rg_fragment + ")?"
+ ")?"
+ "$"
);
// export public function
return function (url) {
if (rgHttpUrl.test(url)) {
return true;
} else {
return false;
}
};
})();
RegExp in one line:
var rg = /^(http|https):\/\/(([a-zA-Z0-9$\-_.+!*'(),;:&=]|%[0-9a-fA-F]{2})+#)?(((25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1][0-9][0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|[0-9])(\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1][0-9][0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|[0-9])){3})|localhost|([a-zA-Z0-9\-\u00C0-\u017F]+\.)+([a-zA-Z]{2,}))(:[0-9]+)?(\/(([a-zA-Z0-9$\-_.+!*'(),;:#&=]|%[0-9a-fA-F]{2})*(\/([a-zA-Z0-9$\-_.+!*'(),;:#&=]|%[0-9a-fA-F]{2})*)*)?(\?([a-zA-Z0-9$\-_.+!*'(),;:#&=\/?]|%[0-9a-fA-F]{2})*)?(\#([a-zA-Z0-9$\-_.+!*'(),;:#&=\/?]|%[0-9a-fA-F]{2})*)?)?$/;

In a similar situation I got away with this:
someUtils.validateURL = function(url) {
var parser = document.createElement('a');
try {
parser.href = url;
return !!parser.hostname;
} catch (e) {
return false;
}
};
i.e. why invent the wheel if browsers can do it for you? But, of course, this will only work in the browser.
there are various parts of parsed URL exactly how browser would interpret it:
parser.protocol; // => "http:"
parser.hostname; // => "example.com"
parser.port; // => "8080"
parser.pathname; // => "/path/"
parser.search; // => "?search=test"
parser.hash; // => "#hash"
parser.host; // => "example.com:3000"
Using these you can improve your validating function depending on the requirements. The only drawback is that it will accept relative URLs and use current page server's host and port. But you can use it for your advantage, by re-assembling the URL from parts and always passing it in full to your AJAX service.
What validateURL won't accept is invalid URL, e.g. http:\:8883 will return false, but :1234 is valid and is interpreted as http://pagehost.example.com/:1234 i.e. as a relative path.
UPDATE
This approach is no longer working with Chrome and other WebKit browsers. Even when URL is invalid, hostname is filled with some value, e.g. taken from base. It still helps to parse parts of URL, but will not allow to validate one.
Possible better no-own-parser approach is to use var parsedURL = new URL(url) and catch exceptions. See e.g. URL API. Supported by all major browsers and NodeJS, although still marked experimental.

best regex I found from http://angularjs.org/
var urlregex = /^(ftp|http|https):\/\/(\w+:{0,1}\w*#)?(\S+)(:[0-9]+)?(\/|\/([\w#!:.?+=&%#!\-\/]))?$/;

This is what worked for me:
function validateURL(value) {
return /^(https?|ftp):\/\/(((([a-z]|\d|-|\.|_|~|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])|(%[\da-f]{2})|[!\$&'\(\)\*\+,;=]|:)*#)?(((\d|[1-9]\d|1\d\d|2[0-4]\d|25[0-5])\.(\d|[1-9]\d|1\d\d|2[0-4]\d|25[0-5])\.(\d|[1-9]\d|1\d\d|2[0-4]\d|25[0-5])\.(\d|[1-9]\d|1\d\d|2[0-4]\d|25[0-5]))|((([a-z]|\d|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])|(([a-z]|\d|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])([a-z]|\d|-|\.|_|~|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])*([a-z]|\d|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])))\.)+(([a-z]|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])|(([a-z]|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])([a-z]|\d|-|\.|_|~|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])*([a-z]|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])))\.?)(:\d*)?)(\/((([a-z]|\d|-|\.|_|~|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])|(%[\da-f]{2})|[!\$&'\(\)\*\+,;=]|:|#)+(\/(([a-z]|\d|-|\.|_|~|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])|(%[\da-f]{2})|[!\$&'\(\)\*\+,;=]|:|#)*)*)?)?(\?((([a-z]|\d|-|\.|_|~|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])|(%[\da-f]{2})|[!\$&'\(\)\*\+,;=]|:|#)|[\uE000-\uF8FF]|\/|\?)*)?(\#((([a-z]|\d|-|\.|_|~|[\u00A0-\uD7FF\uF900-\uFDCF\uFDF0-\uFFEF])|(%[\da-f]{2})|[!\$&'\(\)\*\+,;=]|:|#)|\/|\?)*)?$/i.test(value);
}
from there is is just a matter of calling the function to get a true or false back:
validateURL(urltovalidate);

I know it's quite an old question but since it does not have any accepted answer, I suggest you to use the URI.js framework: https://github.com/medialize/URI.js
You can use it to check for malformed URI using a try/catch block:
function isValidURL(url)
{
try {
(new URI(url));
return true;
}
catch (e) {
// Malformed URI
return false;
}
}
Of course it will consider something like "%#" as a well formed relative URI... So I suggest you read the URI.js API to perform more checks, for example if you want to make sure that the user entered a well formed absolute URL you may do like this:
function isValidURL(url)
{
try {
var uri = new URI(url);
// URI has a scheme and a host
return (!!uri.scheme() && !!uri.host());
}
catch (e) {
// Malformed URI
return false;
}
}

Import in an npm package like
https://www.npmjs.com/package/valid-url
and use it to validate your url.

You can use the URL API that is recently standard. Browser support is sketchy at best, see the link. new URL(str) is guaranteed to throw TypeError for invalid URLs.
As stated above, http://wwww is a valid URL.

The URL API can be used to validate the structure of a URL string.
An error is thrown when trying to serialise an invalid URL string into a URL object. This could be abstracted into a helper function (Typescript snippet below):
function isValidURL(URL: string) : boolean {
try {
new URL(string);
return true;
} catch (err) { return false; }
}
isValidURL('https://www.google.com'); // returns true
isValidURL('localhost:3000'); // returns true
isValidURL('not-a-valid-url'); // returns false
isValidURL('google.com'); // returns false (see footnote)
If you strictly want HTTP / web links to be valid, we can simply add a condition to the return statement:
...
const url = new URL(string);
return url.protocol === 'https:' || url.protocol === 'http:';
...
Granted, this approach comes with a few caveats:
No support for the URL API in Internet Explorer (could be fixed with a polyfill)
Without additional checks, URLs without either a protocol or port are seen as invalid (e.g. google.com is invalid but google.com:3000 is OK). This may be an unintended behaviour for some usecases.

If you're looking for a more reliable regex, check out RegexLib. Here's the page you'd probably be interested in:
http://regexlib.com/Search.aspx?k=url
As for the error messages showing while the person is still typing, change the event from keydown to blur and then it will only check once the person moves to the next element.

var RegExp = (/^HTTP|HTTP|http(s)?:\/\/(www\.)?[A-Za-z0-9]+([\-\.]{1}[A-Za-z0-9]+)*\.[A-Za-z]{2,40}(:[0-9]{1,40})?(\/.*)?$/);

My solution:
function isValidUrl(t)
{
return t.match(/^(http|https|ftp):\/\/(([A-Z0-9][A-Z0-9_-]*)(\.[A-Z0-9][A-Z0-9_-]*)+)(:(\d+))?\/?/i)
}

Demo : http://jsbin.com/uzimeb/1/edit
function checkURL(value) {
var urlregex = new RegExp("^(http|https|ftp)\://([a-zA-Z0-9\.\-]+(\:[a-zA-Z0-9\.&%\$\-]+)*#)*((25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1]{1}[0-9]{2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{1}|[1-9])\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1]{1}[0-9]{2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{1}|[1-9]|0)\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1]{1}[0-9]{2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{1}|[1-9]|0)\.(25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[0-1]{1}[0-9]{2}|[1-9]{1}[0-9]{1}|[0-9])|([a-zA-Z0-9\-]+\.)*[a-zA-Z0-9\-]+\.(com|edu|gov|int|mil|net|org|biz|arpa|info|name|pro|aero|coop|museum|[a-zA-Z]{2}))(\:[0-9]+)*(/($|[a-zA-Z0-9\.\,\?\'\\\+&%\$#\=~_\-]+))*$");
if (urlregex.test(value)) {
return (true);
}
return (false);
}

I have found a great resource for comparing different solutions:
https://mathiasbynens.be/demo/url-regex
According to that page, only solution from diegoperini passes all tests. Here is that regex:
_^(?:(?:https?|ftp)://)(?:\S+(?::\S*)?#)?(?:(?!10(?:\.\d{1,3}){3})(?!127(?:\.\d{1,3}){3})(?!169\.254(?:\.\d{1,3}){2})(?!192\.168(?:\.\d{1,3}){2})(?!172\.(?:1[6-9]|2\d|3[0-1])(?:\.\d{1,3}){2})(?:[1-9]\d?|1\d\d|2[01]\d|22[0-3])(?:\.(?:1?\d{1,2}|2[0-4]\d|25[0-5])){2}(?:\.(?:[1-9]\d?|1\d\d|2[0-4]\d|25[0-4]))|(?:(?:[a-z\x{00a1}-\x{ffff}0-9]+-?)*[a-z\x{00a1}-\x{ffff}0-9]+)(?:\.(?:[a-z\x{00a1}-\x{ffff}0-9]+-?)*[a-z\x{00a1}-\x{ffff}0-9]+)*(?:\.(?:[a-z\x{00a1}-\x{ffff}]{2,})))(?::\d{2,5})?(?:/[^\s]*)?$_iuS

I checked a lot of url validators in google and no one works for me. For example I'd like to see valid on links like 'aa.com'. I like silly check for dot sign in string.
function isValidUri(str) {
var dotIndex = str.indexOf('.');
return (dotIndex > 0 && dotIndex < str.length - 2);
}
It should not stay on beginning and end of string (for now we don't have top level domain names with one character).

Here's a regular expression which might fit the bill (it's very long):
/^(?:\u0066\u0069\u006C\u0065\u003A\u002F{2}(?:\u002F{2}(?:(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D\u002E\u005F\u007E\u0021\u0024\u0026\u0027\u0028\u0029\u002A\u002B\u002C\u003B\u003D]|\u0025[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066][\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066])*\u0040)?(?:\u005B(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){6}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035])\u002E){3}(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035]))|\u003A{2}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){5}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035])\u002E){3}(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035]))|(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4})?\u003A{2}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){4}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035])\u002E){3}(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035]))|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A)?[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4})?\u003A{2}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){3}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035])\u002E){3}(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035]))|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){0,2}[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4})?\u003A{2}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){2}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035])\u002E){3}(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035]))|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){0,3}[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4})?\u003A{2}[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035])\u002E){3}(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035]))|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){0,4}[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4})?\u003A{2}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035])\u002E){3}(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035]))|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){0,5}[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4})?\u003A{2}[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){0,6}[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4})?\u003A{2})\u005D|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035])\u002E){3}(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035])|(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039](?:(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D]+)?[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039])?|(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039](?:(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D]+)?[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039])?\u002E)+[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039](?:(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D]+)?[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039])?))(?:\u003A(?:\u0030-\u0035\u0030-\u0039{0,4}|\u0036\u0030-\u0034\u0030-\u0039{3}|\u0036\u0035\u0030-\u0034\u0030-\u0039{2}|\u0036\u0035\u0035\u0030-\u0032\u0030-\u0039|\u0036\u0035\u0035\u0033\u0030-\u0035))?(?:\u002F(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D\u002E\u005F\u007E\u0021\u0024\u0026\u0027\u0028\u0029\u002A\u002B\u002C\u003B\u003D\u003A\u0040]|\u0025[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066][\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066])*)*|\u002F(?:(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D\u002E\u005F\u007E\u0021\u0024\u0026\u0027\u0028\u0029\u002A\u002B\u002C\u003B\u003D\u003A\u0040]|\u0025[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066][\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066])+(?:\u002F(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D\u002E\u005F\u007E\u0021\u0024\u0026\u0027\u0028\u0029\u002A\u002B\u002C\u003B\u003D\u003A\u0040]|\u0025[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066][\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066])*)*)?|(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D\u002E\u005F\u007E\u0021\u0024\u0026\u0027\u0028\u0029\u002A\u002B\u002C\u003B\u003D\u003A\u0040]|\u0025[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066][\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066])+(?:\u002F(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D\u002E\u005F\u007E\u0021\u0024\u0026\u0027\u0028\u0029\u002A\u002B\u002C\u003B\u003D\u003A\u0040]|\u0025[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066][\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066])*)*)|[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A][\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002B\u002D\u002E]*\u003A(?:\u002F{2}(?:(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D\u002E\u005F\u007E\u0021\u0024\u0026\u0027\u0028\u0029\u002A\u002B\u002C\u003B\u003D]|\u0025[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066][\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066])*\u0040)?(?:\u005B(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){6}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035])\u002E){3}(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035]))|\u003A{2}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){5}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035])\u002E){3}(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035]))|(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4})?\u003A{2}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){4}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035])\u002E){3}(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035]))|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A)?[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4})?\u003A{2}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){3}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035])\u002E){3}(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035]))|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){0,2}[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4})?\u003A{2}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){2}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035])\u002E){3}(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035]))|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){0,3}[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4})?\u003A{2}[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035])\u002E){3}(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035]))|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){0,4}[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4})?\u003A{2}(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035])\u002E){3}(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035]))|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){0,5}[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4})?\u003A{2}[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4}\u003A){0,6}[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066]{1,4})?\u003A{2})\u005D|(?:(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035])\u002E){3}(?:[\u0030-\u0039]|[\u0031-\u0039][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0031[\u0030-\u0039]{2}|\u0032[\u0030-\u0034][\u0030-\u0039]|\u0032\u0035[\u0030-\u0035])|(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039](?:(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D]+)?[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039])?|(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039](?:(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D]+)?[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039])?\u002E)+[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039](?:(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D]+)?[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039])?))(?:\u003A(?:\u0030-\u0035\u0030-\u0039{0,4}|\u0036\u0030-\u0034\u0030-\u0039{3}|\u0036\u0035\u0030-\u0034\u0030-\u0039{2}|\u0036\u0035\u0035\u0030-\u0032\u0030-\u0039|\u0036\u0035\u0035\u0033\u0030-\u0035))?(?:\u002F(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D\u002E\u005F\u007E\u0021\u0024\u0026\u0027\u0028\u0029\u002A\u002B\u002C\u003B\u003D\u003A\u0040]|\u0025[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066][\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066])*)*|\u002F(?:(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D\u002E\u005F\u007E\u0021\u0024\u0026\u0027\u0028\u0029\u002A\u002B\u002C\u003B\u003D\u003A\u0040]|\u0025[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066][\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066])+(?:\u002F(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D\u002E\u005F\u007E\u0021\u0024\u0026\u0027\u0028\u0029\u002A\u002B\u002C\u003B\u003D\u003A\u0040]|\u0025[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066][\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066])*)*)?|(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D\u002E\u005F\u007E\u0021\u0024\u0026\u0027\u0028\u0029\u002A\u002B\u002C\u003B\u003D\u003A\u0040]|\u0025[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066][\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066])+(?:\u002F(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D\u002E\u005F\u007E\u0021\u0024\u0026\u0027\u0028\u0029\u002A\u002B\u002C\u003B\u003D\u003A\u0040]|\u0025[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066][\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066])*)*)(?:\u003F(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D\u002E\u005F\u007E\u0021\u0024\u0026\u0027\u0028\u0029\u002A\u002B\u002C\u003B\u003D\u003A\u0040\u002F\u003F]|\u0025[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066][\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066])*)?(?:\u0023(?:[\u0041-\u005A\u0061-\u007A\u0030-\u0039\u002D\u002E\u005F\u007E\u0021\u0024\u0026\u0027\u0028\u0029\u002A\u002B\u002C\u003B\u003D\u003A\u0040\u002F\u003F]|\u0025[\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066][\u0030-\u0039\u0041-\u0046\u0061-\u0066])*)?)$/
There are some caveats to its usage, namely it does not validate URIs which contain additional information after the user name (e.g. "username:password"). Also, only IPv6 addresses can be contained within the IP literal syntax and the "IPvFuture" syntax is currently ignored and will not validate against this regular expression. Port numbers are also constrained to be between 0 and 65,535. Also, only the file scheme can use triple slashes (e.g. "file:///etc/sysconfig") and can ignore both the query and fragment parts of a URI. Finally, it is geared towards regular URIs and not IRIs, hence the extensive focus on the ASCII character set.
This regular expression could be expanded upon, but it's already complex and long enough as it is. I also cannot guarantee it's going to be "100% accurate" or "bug free", but it should correctly validate URIs for all schemes.
You will need to do additional verification for any scheme-specific requirements or do URI normalization as this regular expression will validate a very broad range of URIs.

Try edit your isValidURL function as follows:
function isValidURL(url) {
var encodedURL = encodeURIComponent(url);
var isValid = false;
$.ajax({
url: "http://query.yahooapis.com/v1/public/yql?q=select%20*%20from%20html%20where%20url%3D%22" + encodedURL + "%22&format=json",
type: "get",
async: false,
dataType: "json",
success: function(data) {
isValid = data.query.results != null;
},
error: function(){
isValid = false;
}
});
return isValid;
}
This should do the trick.