Preserved Topic: JS Regular Expression problem (Page 1 of 1)

I have this textarea, I need to have users enter text into.
I need to check for, among other things, 3 digit numbers, then replace them with <span class='red'>3 digit number</span>.
The first 3 digit number in the string converts fine, my problem comes with any 3 digit numbers that come later in the string (any past the 1st 3 digit number). My regular expression just seems to ignore them. I thought regular expressions change all instances of the sub-string, not just the first. Here is some code(newText is the string we are testing):

//set regex

var reNum = /\d\d\d/;



//check for 3digit numbers



if (reNum.test(newText)){

Num = newText.match(reNum);

for(i=0; i<Num.length; i++){

var reNumNew = '/'+Num[i]+'/';

var NumPlus = ' <span class="red">'+Num[i]+'</span> ';

NewNumText = newText.replace(reNumNew,NumPlus);

newText = NewNumText;

}

}



//continue on to next test, similar to the 3 digit test

One of my big confusions is, if I put an alert in there, at the beginning of the for loop, that returns Num.length, it always returns '1', regardless of how many 3 digit numbers are in the string. 0 3 digit numbers or 100 3 digit numbers, always 1.

This has been making me crazy for a day and a half...I've tried every twist and turn and tactic I can think of to make this work and I simply can't.
I know it must be something simple...
Anybody with a new set of eyes want to help?

Thanks
mobrul

the regex you want is

/\d{3}/g

the "g" tells it to keep going after the first match.

in fact, you could prolly do the whole thing in one line of code:

oldString = oldString.replace(/(\d{3})/g, "<span class=\"red\">$1</span>");

as a separate item, i would recommend using a different class name, perhaps one that is more descriptive of the numbers rather than the style which is to be applied.



[This message has been edited by hlaford (edited 06-11-2002).]

you are a genius!
Thank you for the help.
It turns out I had to use the $& instead of $1, but you certainly pointed me in the right direction. I was trying too hard...much easier way.
Thanks.
mobrul