regex - JavaScript: split doesn't work in IE?

Question

Is there a reason why the following piece of code doesn't work in IE? While with FF and other sane browsers it splits the string by the given expression, in IE it simply doesn't work.

var str = "abc<font id="something">def</font>gh";
alert(str.split(/(<.*?>|.)/).length);

Thank you.

Answer 1

you could add the code below to you program and it will work.

var split;
// Avoid running twice; that would break the `nativeSplit` reference
split = split || function (undef) {

var nativeSplit = String.prototype.split,
    compliantExecNpcg = /()??/.exec("")[1] === undef, // NPCG: nonparticipating capturing group
    self;

self = function (str, separator, limit) {
    // If `separator` is not a regex, use `nativeSplit`
    if (Object.prototype.toString.call(separator) !== "[object RegExp]") {
        return nativeSplit.call(str, separator, limit);
    }
    var output = [],
        flags = (separator.ignoreCase ? "i" : "") +
                (separator.multiline  ? "m" : "") +
                (separator.extended   ? "x" : "") + // Proposed for ES6
                (separator.sticky     ? "y" : ""), // Firefox 3+
        lastLastIndex = 0,
        // Make `global` and avoid `lastIndex` issues by working with a copy
        separator = new RegExp(separator.source, flags + "g"),
        separator2, match, lastIndex, lastLength;
    str += ""; // Type-convert
    if (!compliantExecNpcg) {
        // Doesn't need flags gy, but they don't hurt
        separator2 = new RegExp("^" + separator.source + "$(?!\s)", flags);
    }
    /* Values for `limit`, per the spec:
     * If undefined: 4294967295 // Math.pow(2, 32) - 1
     * If 0, Infinity, or NaN: 0
     * If positive number: limit = Math.floor(limit); if (limit > 4294967295) limit -= 4294967296;
     * If negative number: 4294967296 - Math.floor(Math.abs(limit))
     * If other: Type-convert, then use the above rules
     */
    limit = limit === undef ?
        -1 >>> 0 : // Math.pow(2, 32) - 1
        limit >>> 0; // ToUint32(limit)
    while (match = separator.exec(str)) {
        // `separator.lastIndex` is not reliable cross-browser
        lastIndex = match.index + match[0].length;
        if (lastIndex > lastLastIndex) {
            output.push(str.slice(lastLastIndex, match.index));
            // Fix browsers whose `exec` methods don't consistently return `undefined` for
            // nonparticipating capturing groups
            if (!compliantExecNpcg && match.length > 1) {
                match[0].replace(separator2, function () {
                    for (var i = 1; i < arguments.length - 2; i++) {
                        if (arguments[i] === undef) {
                            match[i] = undef;
                        }
                    }
                });
            }
            if (match.length > 1 && match.index < str.length) {
                Array.prototype.push.apply(output, match.slice(1));
            }
            lastLength = match[0].length;
            lastLastIndex = lastIndex;
            if (output.length >= limit) {
                break;
            }
        }
        if (separator.lastIndex === match.index) {
            separator.lastIndex++; // Avoid an infinite loop
        }
    }
    if (lastLastIndex === str.length) {
        if (lastLength || !separator.test("")) {
            output.push("");
        }
    } else {
        output.push(str.slice(lastLastIndex));
    }
    return output.length > limit ? output.slice(0, limit) : output;
};

// For convenience
String.prototype.split = function (separator, limit) {
    return self(this, separator, limit);
};

return self;
}();