Javascript Lookbehind with Global Search Overlapped

The reverse approach looks simpler. This approach is best for short numeric patterns like this.

function revStr(str) {
    return str.split('').reverse().join('');
}

var s = "--1--01001--1087---";
var rxp = /\d(?=[01])/g;

var result = revStr(revStr(s).replace(rxp, "#"));
document.write(result);
      

        
        
        
      

    

Logics:

• \d(?=[01])
  
  is the reverse regex for (?<=[01])\d
  
  
• We invert the input string with the function revStr(s)
  
  
• We return the replacement result again to get the final result.

Note

If you want both a variable width look and feel in JavaScript, I can recommend reading JavaScript Regex Lookbehind Redux by Stephen Levitan, where you can find a sample function showing how to implement this behavior using XRegExp . Here are the functions:

// Simulating infinite-length leading lookbehind in JavaScript. Uses XRegExp.
// Captures within lookbehind are not included in match results. Lazy
// repetition in lookbehind may lead to unexpected results.

(function (XRegExp) {

    function prepareLb(lb) {
        // Allow mode modifier before lookbehind
        var parts = /^((?:\(\?[\w$]+\))?)\(\?<([=!])([\s\S]*)\)$/.exec(lb);
        return {
            // $(?!\s) allows use of (?m) in lookbehind
            lb: XRegExp(parts ? parts[1] + "(?:" + parts[3] + ")$(?!\\s)" : lb),
            // Positive or negative lookbehind. Use positive if no lookbehind group
            type: parts ? parts[2] === "=" : !parts
        };
    }

    XRegExp.execLb = function (str, lb, regex) {
        var pos = 0, match, leftContext;
        lb = prepareLb(lb);
        while (match = XRegExp.exec(str, regex, pos)) {
            leftContext = str.slice(0, match.index);
            if (lb.type === lb.lb.test(leftContext)) {
                return match;
            }
            pos = match.index + 1;
        }
        return null;
    };

    XRegExp.testLb = function (str, lb, regex) {
        return !!XRegExp.execLb(str, lb, regex);
    };

    XRegExp.searchLb = function (str, lb, regex) {
        var match = XRegExp.execLb(str, lb, regex);
        return match ? match.index : -1;
    };

    XRegExp.matchAllLb = function (str, lb, regex) {
        var matches = [], pos = 0, match, leftContext;
        lb = prepareLb(lb);
        while (match = XRegExp.exec(str, regex, pos)) {
            leftContext = str.slice(0, match.index);
            if (lb.type === lb.lb.test(leftContext)) {
                matches.push(match[0]);
                pos = match.index + (match[0].length || 1);
            } else {
                pos = match.index + 1;
            }
        }
        return matches;
    };

    XRegExp.replaceLb = function (str, lb, regex, replacement) {
        var output = "", pos = 0, lastEnd = 0, match, leftContext;
        lb = prepareLb(lb);
        while (match = XRegExp.exec(str, regex, pos)) {
            leftContext = str.slice(0, match.index);
            if (lb.type === lb.lb.test(leftContext)) {
                // Doesn't work correctly if lookahead in regex looks outside of the match
                output += str.slice(lastEnd, match.index) + XRegExp.replace(match[0], regex, replacement);
                lastEnd = match.index + match[0].length;
                if (!regex.global) {
                    break;
                }
                pos = match.index + (match[0].length || 1);
            } else {
                pos = match.index + 1;
            }
        }
        return output + str.slice(lastEnd);
    };

}(XRegExp));

      

        
        
        
      

    

Each of these functions takes three arguments: a string to search for, a lookbehind pattern as a string (can use XRegExp syntax extensions), and a basic regular expression. XRegExp.replaceLb

takes a fourth argument for the replacement value, which can be a string or a function.

Below are examples of use:

XRegExp.execLb("Fluffy cat", "(?i)(?<=fluffy\\W+)", XRegExp("(?i)(?<first>c)at"));
// -> ["cat", "c"]
// Result has named backref: result.first -> "c"

XRegExp.execLb("Fluffy cat", "(?i)(?<!fluffy\\W+)", /cat/i);
// -> null

XRegExp.testLb("Fluffy cat", "(?i)(?<=fluffy\\W+)", /cat/i);
// -> true

XRegExp.testLb("Fluffy cat", "(?i)(?<!fluffy\\W+)", /cat/i);
// -> false

XRegExp.searchLb("Catwoman fluffy cat", "(?i)(?<=fluffy\\W+)", /cat/i);
// -> 18

XRegExp.searchLb("Catwoman fluffy cat", "(?i)(?<!fluffy\\W+)", /cat/i);
// -> 0

XRegExp.matchAllLb("Catwoman cats are fluffy cats", "(?i)(?<=fluffy\\W+)", /cat\w*/i);
// -> ["cats"]

XRegExp.matchAllLb("Catwoman cats are fluffy cats", "(?i)(?<!fluffy\\W+)", /cat\w*/i);
// -> ["Catwoman", "cats"]

XRegExp.replaceLb("Catwoman fluffy cat is a cat", "(?i)(?<=fluffy\\W+)", /cat/ig, "dog");
// -> "Catwoman fluffy dog is a cat"

XRegExp.replaceLb("Catwoman fluffy cat is a cat", "(?i)(?<!fluffy\\W+)", /cat/ig, "dog");
// -> "dogwoman fluffy cat is a dog"

XRegExp.replaceLb("Catwoman fluffy cat is a cat", "(?i)(?<!fluffy\\W+)", /cat/ig, function ($0) {
    var first = $0.charAt(0);
    return first === first.toUpperCase() ? "Dog" : "dog";
});
// -> "Dogwoman fluffy cat is a dog"