I have this string: #test or #test?params=something

var regExp = /(^.*)?\?/; 
var matches = regExp.exec($(this).data('target'));
var target = matches[1];
console.log(target);

I always need to get only #test. The function I pasted returns an error if no question mark is found. The goal is to always return #test whether there are additional params or not. How do I make a regex that returns this?

I have this string: #test or #test?params=something

var regExp = /(^.*)?\?/; 
var matches = regExp.exec($(this).data('target'));
var target = matches[1];
console.log(target);

I always need to get only #test. The function I pasted returns an error if no question mark is found. The goal is to always return #test whether there are additional params or not. How do I make a regex that returns this?

• javascript
• regex

• 1 As rule of thumb - you should use direct string modification methods (like split, strpos, substring etc) instead of regex, when there's no specific need for regex. I would go with method suggested by James. – user1702401 Commented Dec 19, 2014 at 11:36

5 Answers 5

Is that string direct from the current page's URL?

If so, you can simply use:

window.location.hash.split('?')[0]

If you're visiting http://example./#test?params=something, the above code will return "#test".

Tests

example./#test                     -> "#test"
example./#test?params=something    -> "#test"
example./foo#test                  -> "#test"
example.                           -> ""

^(.*?)(?=\?|$)

You can try this.See demo.

https://regex101./r/vN3sH3/25

Simple alternative:

hash = str.substr(0, (str + "?").indexOf("?"));

You can use:

var regExp = /^([^?]+)/;

This will always return string before first ? whether or not ? is present in input.

RegEx Demo

Either I'm missing something or simply:

 ^#\w+

Seems to do the job for both(this and this) scenarios