string.js
, or simply S
is a lightweight (< 2k Gzipped) JavaScript library for the browser or for Node.js that provides extra String methods. Originally, it modified the String prototype. But I quickly learned that in JavaScript, this is considered poor practice.
Motivation
Personally, I prefer the cleanliness of the way code looks when it appears to be native methods. i.e. when you modify native Javascript prototypes. However, if any app dependency required string.js
, then the app's string prototype in every module would be modified as well. This could be troublesome. So I settled on creating a wrapper a la jQuery style. For those of you prototype hatin' fools, such as myself, there is the method clobberPrototype()
.
Here's a list of alternative frameworks:
Why wasn't I happy with any of them? They are all static methods that don't seem to support chaining in a clean way 'OR' they have an odd dependency. Sugar is the notable exception.
Installation
npm install --production string
Usage
Node.js
var S = require('string');
Originally, I was using $s
but glancing over the code, it was easy to confuse $s
for string.js with $
for jQuery. Feel free to use the most convenient variable for you.
Browsers
<script src="https://raw.github.com/jprichardson/string.js/master/lib/string.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://raw.github.com/jprichardson/lib/string.js/master/string.min.js"></script>
A global variable window.S
or simply S
is created.
Both
var doesIt = S('my cool string').left(2).endsWith('y');
Access the wrapped string using s
variable or toString()
var name = S('Your name is JP').right(2).s;
is the same as…
var name = S('Your name is JP').right(2).toString();
Still like the clean look of calling these methods directly on native Strings? No problem. Call clobberPrototype()
. Make sure to not call this at the module level, at it'll effect the entire application lifecycle. You should really only use this at the method level. The one exception being if your application will not be a dependency of another application.
S.clobberPrototype();
var name = 'Your name is JP'.right(2);
S.restorePrototype();
Methods
See test file for more details.
I use the same nomenclature as Objective-C regarding methods. + means static
or class
method. - means non-static
or instance
method.
- camelize()
Remove any underscores or dashes and convert a string into camel casing.
Example:
S('data_rate').camelize().s;
S('background-color').camelize().s;
S('-moz-something').camelize().s;
S('_car_speed_').camelize().s;
S('yes_we_can').camelize().s;
- capitalize()
Capitalizes the first character of a string.
Example:
S('jon').capitalize().s;
S('JP').capitalize().s;
+ clobberPrototype()
Modifies String.prototype
to have all of the methods found in string.js.
Example:
S.clobberPrototype();
- collapseWhitespace()
Converts all adjacent whitespace characters to a single space.
Example:
var str = S(' String \t libraries are \n\n\t fun\n! ').collapseWhitespace().s;
- contains(ss)
Returns true if the string contains ss
.
Alias: include()
Example:
S('JavaScript is one of the best languages!').contains('one');
- dasherize()
Returns a converted camel cased string into a string delimited by dashes.
Examples:
S('dataRate').dasherize().s;
S('CarSpeed').dasherize().s;
S('yesWeCan').dasherize().s;
S('backgroundColor').dasherize().s;
- decodeHtmlEntities
Decodes HTML entities into their string representation.
S('Ken Thompson & Dennis Ritchie').decodeHtmlEntities().s;
S('3 < 4').decodeHtmlEntities().s;
- endsWith(ss)
Returns true if the string ends with ss
.
Example:
S("hello jon").endsWith('jon');
- include(ss)
Returns true if the string contains the ss
.
Alias: contains()
Example:
S('JavaScript is one of the best languages!').include('one');
- isAlpha()
Return true if the string contains only letters.
Example:
S("afaf").isAlpha();
S('fdafaf3').isAlpha();
S('dfdf--dfd').isAlpha();
- isAlphaNumeric()
Return true if the string contains only letters and numbers
Example:
S("afaf35353afaf").isAlphaNumeric();
S("FFFF99fff").isAlphaNumeric();
S("99").isAlphaNumeric();
S("afff").isAlphaNumeric();
S("Infinity").isAlphaNumeric();
S("-Infinity").isAlphaNumeric();
S("-33").isAlphaNumeric();
S("aaff..").isAlphaNumeric();
- isEmpty()
Return true if the string is solely composed of whitespace
Example:
S(' ').isEmpty();
S('\t\t\t ').isEmpty();
S('\n\n ').isEmpty();
- isLower()
Return true if the character or string is lowercase
Example:
S('a').isLower();
S('z').isLower();
S('B').isLower();
S('hijp').isLower();
S('hi jp').isLower();
S('HelLO').isLower();
- isNumeric()
Return true if the string only contains digits
Example:
S("3").isNumeric();
S("34.22").isNumeric();
S("-22.33").isNumeric();
S("NaN").isNumeric();
S("Infinity").isNumeric();
S("-Infinity").isNumeric();
S("JP").isNumeric();
S("-5").isNumeric();
S("000992424242").isNumeric();
- isUpper()
Returns true if the character or string is uppercase
Example:
S('a').isUpper()
S('z').isUpper()
S('B').isUpper()
S('HIJP').isUpper()
S('HI JP').isUpper()
S('HelLO').isUpper()
- ltrim()
Return the string with leading and whitespace removed
Example:
S(' How are you?').ltrim().s;
- left(n)
Return the substring denoted by n
positive left-most characters.
Example:
S('My name is JP').left(2).s;
S('Hi').left(0).s;
S('My name is JP').left(-2).s;
- repeat(n)
Returns a string repeated n
times.
Alias: times()
Example:
S(' ').repeat(5).s;
S('*').repeat(3).s;
- replaceAll(ss, newstr)
Return the new string with all occurrences of ss
replaced with newstr
.
Example:
S(' does IT work? ').replaceAll(' ', '_').s;
S('Yes it does!').replaceAll(' ', '').s;
+ restorePrototype()
Restore the original String prototype. Typically used in conjunction with clobberPrototype()
.
Example:
S.restorePrototype();
- right(n)
Return the substring denoted by n
positive right-most characters.
Example:
S('I AM CRAZY').right(2).s;
S('Does it work? ').right(4).s;
S('Hi').right(0).s;
S('My name is JP').right(-2).s;
- rtrim()
Return the string with trailing whitespace removed.
Example:
S('How are you? ').rtrim().s;
- s
Alias: toString()
The encapsulated native string representation of an S
object.
Example:
S('my name is JP.').capitalize().s;
var a = "Hello " + S('joe!');
S("Hello").toString() === S("Hello").s;
- startsWith(prefix)
Return true if the string starts with prefix
.
Example:
S("JP is a software engineer").startsWith("JP");
S('wants to change the world').startsWith("politicians");
- times(n)
Returns a string repeated n
times.
Alias: repeat()
Example:
S(' ').times(5).s
S('*').times(3).s
- trim()
Return the string with leading and trailing whitespace removed. Reverts to native trim()
if it exists.
Example:
S('hello ').trim().s;
S(' hello ').trim().s;
S('\nhello').trim().s;
S('\nhello\r\n').trim().s;
S('\thello\t').trim().s;
- toString()
Alias: s
Return the string representation of an S
object. Not really necessary to use. However, JS engines will look at an object and display its toString()
result.
Example:
S('my name is JP.').capitalize().toString();
var a = "Hello " + S('joe!');
S("Hello").toString() === S("Hello").s;
- underscore()
Returns converted camel cased string into a string delimited by underscores.
Example:
S('dataRate').underscore().s;
S('CarSpeed').underscore().s;
S('yesWeCan').underscore().s;
I will definitely add more methods, I'll be adding them on as-needed basis.
Quirks
decodeHtmlEntities()
converts
to 0x0a (160) and not 0x20 (20). Most browsers consider 0xa to be whitespace characters, Internet Explorer does not despite it being part of the ECMA standard. Google Closure does a good job of normalizing this behavior. This may need to fixed in string.js
at some point in time.
Testing
Node.js
Install the dev dependencies:
$ npm install string
Then navigate to the installed directory:
$ cd node_modules/string/
Run test package:
$ cake test
Browser
Click Here
Credits
I have looked at the code by the creators in the libraries mentioned in Motivation. As noted in the source code, I've specifically used code from Google Closure (Google Inc), Underscore String Esa-Matti Suuronen, and php.js (http://phpjs.org/authors/index).
License
Triple licensed under MIT/X11, Apache v2, and LGPL. If you use this, pick which one works for you and your software. Attribution is always nice.
Copyright (c) 2012 JP Richardson