Скачать или смотреть Create Valid Links with Regex: Excluding Words with Three Dots

Learn how to modify your regex function to create links around URLs while excluding words that contain three dots to prevent invalid links.
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Create Valid Links with Regex: Excluding Words with Three Dots

Creating hyperlinks from URLs in your text can greatly enhance user experience. However, when this text contains truncated words marked by three dots, also known as ellipses, it can lead to invalid links. In this guide, we will explore a regex solution that allows you to create links while effectively skipping those problematic words.

The Problem

You may have come across instances where you want to automatically convert certain URLs in a string into clickable links. Consider the following JavaScript function that accomplishes this goal:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

This function works perfectly for transforming valid URLs; however, it does not account for cases where the URL is followed by three dots (e.g., http://example.com...). You will still want the text to appear correctly without generating broken links.

The Solution

To address the problem of excluding words with three dots, we need to modify our regex. Here’s the updated function:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Breaking Down the Regex

Matching Protocols: The regex starts with (http|https|ftp|ftps), which matches any common URL protocols.

Identifying URL Format: It continues with /{2}[^\s]+ to ensure it captures valid characters following the protocol until a space or new line.

Domain Extension Check: Adding [a-z]{2,3} ensures the URL ends with a valid domain extension.

Exclusivity for Three Dots: The key aspect here is using (?=\s|$), which asserts that the URL should be followed by either a whitespace or the end of the string, helping to bypass those that end with three dots.

Examples Explained

Valid Link:

Input: This is http://stackoverflow.com

Output: This is <a href="http://stackoverflow.com">http://stackoverflow.com</a>

Invalid Link with Ellipses:

Input: This is http://stackoverflow.co...

Output: This is http://stackoverflow.co... (No link is generated)

Multiple URLs:

When multiple URLs are present, such as in str2, all valid links will convert while skipping any that include three dots.

Conclusion

By modifying our regex function to consider the presence of three dots, we can create a robust link generation tool that ensures valid, clickable links. Testing various string inputs confirms that both URLs and usability are preserved. With this updated regex, you can improve user navigation without running into link-related issues.

Implement this change in your text processing and enjoy a cleaner, more functional linking experience!