javascript operator

[scrsadmin]

I normall write in VBscript but i was given a javascript and asked to fix a problem with the output. As i am reading through the script i don't understand som of the syntax.
Can someone tell me what does these do? I understand that it is assgining something to the variables but i done't understand what it is doing with the / and \ and /^.

dnRE = /dn: \w, \w/i;

cnRE = /^cn: (.*), (.*)/;

givenRE = /^givenname: (.*)/;
snRE = /^sn: (.*)/;
mailRE = /^mail: (\S+)/;
//testRE = /@test\.state\.nc\.us/i;
testRE = /@test\.nc\.gov/i;

 

[Bong]

A regular expression pattern is enclosed between "/"s. Within a regular expression, the "\" is the "escape" code, meaning that the following character is to be interpreted as a special character. The "^" anchors the pattern to the start of the search string. The "i" following the closing "/" means "ignore case".

So the first RE: /dn: \w, \w/i seems to me to mean:
Find the characters, "dn:", followed by a space, followed by any alphanumeric, followed by a comma, followed by a space, followed by any alphanumeric, ignoring case.

_________________
Bob Rashkin

 

[scrsadmin]

Okay so then what does this do
cnRE = /^cn: (.*), (.*)/;

givenRE = /^givenname: (.*)/;

If i understand this right the value cn: with a space is what is will be matched against. But then what is the
(.*), (.*)
do?

 

[scrsadmin]

does the givenRE = /^givenname: (.*)/;
mean to match givename: space and any character except newline?
and then does cnRE = /^cn: (.*), (.*)/;
mean to match cn: space any character except newline comma space any character except newline?

 

[Bong]

does the givenRE = /^givenname: (.*)/;
mean to match givename: space and any character except newline?

Actually: "givenname: at the start, "space", and any number of any character except newline.

Likewise on your second question. That is, ".*" means "0 or more" of ".".

_________________
Bob Rashkin