jQuery :contains() selector regex for matching text within elements

jQuery contains() selector simply matches text within selectors. It’s also case sensitive, so we’ve very limitation for selecting or finding elements match approximately.

i.e.

<a href="http://www.vikaskbh.com">Vikas Bhagwagar</a>

1	<a href="http://www.vikaskbh.com">Vikas Bhagwagar</a>

jQuery

if($('a:contains("Vikas")').length) {
console.log("my link exists");
}

if($('a:contains("Vikas")').length) {

console.log("my link exists");

}

How about links those are inserted dynamically into DOM and we want to make sure if they exist before manipulation of some action?

i.e.

<a href="http://www.example1.com">Example 1</a>
<a href="http://www.assignment1.com">Assignment 1</a>
<a href="http://www.example2.com">Example 2</a>
<a href="http://www.assignment2.com">Assignment 2</a>

<a href="http://www.example1.com">Example 1</a>

<a href="http://www.assignment1.com">Assignment 1</a>

<a href="http://www.example2.com">Example 2</a>

<a href="http://www.assignment2.com">Assignment 2</a>

What If we want to find, links containing text “Example” or “Assignment” exist?
If yes, how many?

Here jQuery contains() selector won’t work because it needs explicit arguments like $(‘a:contains(“Example 1”)’)

So, here regular expression can do the job.

Regular expression for matching link text.

var valid_links_regex = "example|assignment";

1	var valid_links_regex = "example\|assignment";

Matching with Text nodes

var re = new RegExp(valid_links_regex, 'ig');
if(TEXT.match(re)) {
  // your code here
}

var re = new RegExp(valid_links_regex, 'ig');

if(TEXT.match(re)) {

// your code here

}

Using regular expression with jQuery anchor selector

$('a').each(function(k,v){
    var re = new RegExp(valid_links_regex, 'ig');
	if($(this).text().match(re)) {
		// do something
	}
});

$('a').each(function(k,v){

var re = new RegExp(valid_links_regex, 'ig');

if($(this).text().match(re)) {

// do something

}

});

Final Code

Find number of links that matches regular expression

var findMyLinks = function () {
    var valid_links_regex = "example|assignment";
    var links = []
    $('a').each(function (k, v) {
        var re = new RegExp(valid_links_regex, 'ig');
        if ($(this).text().match(re)) {
            links.push($(this));
        }
    });
    return links;
}

var findMyLinks = function () {

var valid_links_regex = "example|assignment";

var links = []

$('a').each(function (k, v) {

var re = new RegExp(valid_links_regex, 'ig');

if ($(this).text().match(re)) {

links.push($(this));

}

});

return links;

}