regex javascript - match multiple search terms ignoring their order

Question

I would like to find all the matches of given strings (divided by spaces) in a string. (The way for example, iTunes search box works).

That, for example, both "ab de" and "de ab" will return true on "abcde" (also "bc e a" or any order should return true)

If I replace the white space with a wild card, "ab*de" would return true on "abcde", but not "de*ab". [I use * and not Regex syntax just for this explanation]

I could not find any pure Regex solution for that. The only solution I could think of is spliting the search term and run multiple Regex.

Is it possible to find a pure Regex expression that will cover all these options ?

Answer 1

Returns true when all parts (divided by , or ' ') of a searchString occur in text. Otherwise false is returned.

filter(text, searchString) {
    const regexStr = '(?=.*' + searchString.split(/\,|\s/).join(')(?=.*') + ')';
    const searchRegEx = new RegExp(regexStr, 'gi');
    return text.match(searchRegEx) !== null;
}

Answer 2

I'm pretty sure you could come up with a regex to do what you want, but it may not be the most efficient approach.

For example, the regex pattern (?=.*bc)(?=.*e)(?=.*a) will match any string that contains bc, e, and a.

var isMatch = 'abcde'.match(/(?=.*bc)(?=.*e)(?=.*a)/) != null; // equals true

var isMatch = 'bcde'.match(/(?=.*bc)(?=.*e)(?=.*a)/) != null; // equals false

You could write a function to dynamically create an expression based on your search terms, but whether it's the best way to accomplish what you are doing is another question.