replace all occurrence of :) with sometext in javascript regex

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my string is ...

XML

var patt1='/:)/g';
alert(':):):)'.replace(patt1,"*"));

o/p =

:):):)

I want o/p

***

How to do?
I am newbie in regex...

please help to solve this :)

Posted 18-Feb-13 1:29am

Aarti Meswania

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Manfred Rudolf Bihy · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-18T01:52:00

Hi Aarti,

there are actually two issues with your example.

There is no need for quotes around your pattern literal. Regular Expressions are first class citizens in JavaScript. Look here Regular Expression Cheat Sheet[^] or here W3 Schools RegExp Object[^]
Certain characters in Regular Expressions have a special meaning so they'll have to be escaped if you want the character interpreted literally.

Here a fully working example I cooked up for you:

XML

<html>
    <body>
        <h1>Test</h1>
    </body>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        var patt1=/\:\)/g; //Notice how there are no quotes and the : and ) are escaped by a \
        alert(":):):)".replace(patt1,"*"));
    </script>
</html>

The alert message shows three asterisks!

Regards,

— Manfred