JavaScript String Library - Hitting a Minor Roadblock
- by OneNerd
Ok - am trying to create a string library that contains a handful of useful things missing from JavaScript. Here is what I have so far:
;function $__STRING__$(in_string) {
/* internal functions */
this.s = in_string;
this.toString = function(){return this.s;};
/******* these functions CAN be chained (they return the $__STRING__$ object) ******/
this.uppercase = function(){this.s = this.s.toUpperCase(); return this;};
this.lowercase = function(){this.s = this.s.toLowerCase(); return this;};
this.trim = function(){this.s = this.s.replace(/^\s+|\s+$/g,""); return this;};
this.ltrim = function(){this.s = this.s.replace(/^\s+/,""); return this;};
this.rtrim = function(){this.s = this.s.replace(/\s+$/,""); return this;};
this.striptags = function(){this.s = this.s.replace(/<\/?[^>]+(>|$)/g, ""); return this;};
this.escapetags = function(){this.s = this.s.replace(/</g,"<").replace(/>/g,">"); return this;};
this.unescapetags = function(){this.s = this.s.replace(/</g,"<").replace(/>/g,">"); return this;};
this.underscorize = function(){this.s = this.s.replace(/ /g,"_"); return this;};
this.dasherize = function(){this.s = this.s.replace(/ /g,"-"); return this;};
this.spacify = function(){this.s = this.s.replace(/_/g," "); return this;};
this.left = function(length){this.s = this.s.substring(length,0); return this;};
this.right = function(length){this.s = this.s.substring(this.s.length,this.s.length-length); return this;};
this.shorten = function(length){if(this.s.length<=length){return this.s;}else{this.left(this.s,length)+"..."; return this;}};
this.mid = function(start,length){return this.s.substring(start,(length+start));};
this._down = function(){return this.s;}; // breaks chain, but lets you run core js string functions
/******* these functions CANNOT be chained (they do not return the $__STRING__$ object) ******/
this.contains = function(needle){if(this.s.indexOf(needle)!==-1){return true;}else{return false;}};
this.startswith = function(needle){if(this.left(this.s,needle.length)==needle){return true;}else{return false;}};
this.endswith = function(needle){if(this.right(this.s,needle.length)==needle){return true;}else{return false;};};
}
function $E(in_string){return new $__STRING__$(in_string);}
String.prototype._enhance = function(){return new $__STRING__$(this);};
String.prototype._up = function(){return new $__STRING__$(this);};
It works fairly well, and I can chain commands etc.
I set it up so I can cast a string as an enhanced string these 2 ways:
$E('some string');
'some string'._enhance();
However, each time I want to use a built-in string method, I need to convert it back to a string first. So for now, I put in _down() and _up() methods like so:
alert( $E("hello man").uppercase()._down().replace("N", "Y")._up().dasherize() );
alert( "hello man"._enhance().uppercase()._down().replace("N", "Y")._up().dasherize() );
It works fine, but what I really want to do it be able to use all of the built-in functions a string can use. I realize I can just replicate each function inside my object, but I was hoping there was a simpler way.
So question is, is there an easy way to do that?
Thanks -
