Definition and Usage
The search() method is used to search a string for a specified value.
This method supports regular expressions. You can learn about the
RegExp object in our JavaScript tutorial.
Syntax
stringObject.search(searchstring) |
| Parameter | Description |
| searchstring | Required. The value to search for in a string. To perform a case-insensitive search add an 'i' flag |
Tips and Notes
Note: search() is case sensitive.
Note: The search() method returns the position of the specified value in the string. If no match was found it returns -1.
Example 1 - Standard Search
In the following example we will search for the word "Potter":
<script type="text/javascript"> var str="Harry Potter";
document.write(str.search(/Potter/)); </script> |
The output of the code above will be:
Note: In the following example the word "Potter" will not be found (because the search() method is case sensitive):
<script type="text/javascript"> var str="Harry Potter!";
document.write(str.search(/potter/)); </script> |
The output of the code above will be:
Example 2 - Case-insensitive Search
In the following example we will perform a case-insensitive search:
<script type="text/javascript"> var str="Harry Potter";
document.write(str.search(/potter/i)); </script> |
The output of the code above will be:
