Javascript Regex to match JSDoc string parameter description

Question

Given a JSDoc string, for example:

*\n * This is a doc string\n * @param withArg description of withArg\n * @param withArg2 description of withArg2 \n

I am trying to extract the argument names and description in an app running on Node 8.

This regex: /@param(\s?\w*)(.*?)\\n/ seems to work in a Regex editor. See https://regex101.com/r/uJz0Km/2/.

But when ran like this:

const matchParamsAndDescriptionRegex = /@param(\s?\w*)(.*?)\\n/g;
const matches = matchParamsAndDescriptionRegex.exec(value);

it returns null. Can you guys spot what's wrong ?

Thanks a lot

Answer 1

You must have regular LF symbols in your original string, not two-char sequences of \ and n.

Use

/@param\s*\w*(.*)/g

See the regex demo where

• @param - matches @param
• \s*\w* - matches 0+ whitespaces and then 0+ word chars
• (.*) - captures into Group 1 any zero or more chars.

Sample JS demo:

var s = "*\n * This is a doc string\n * @param withArg description of withArg\n * @param withArg2 description of withArg2 \n"
var rx = /@param\s*\w*(.*)/g;
var res=[], m;
while (m = rx.exec(s)) {
  res.push(m[1].trim());
}
console.log(res);