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javascriptarraysstringemoji

Is there still no easy way to split strings with compound emojis into an array?

There are many good (and bad) ways to split a string into an array in JavaScript.

E.g. in ES6 by just using the spread operator:

let str = "example 1";
let arr = [...str];
console.log(arr); 
// ['e', 'x', 'a', 'm', 'p', 'l', 'e', ' ', '1']

A lot of them still work when there is an emoji included

let str = "example 2 👦";
let arr = [...str];
console.log(arr); 
//  ['e', 'x', 'a', 'm', 'p', 'l', 'e', ' ', '2', ' ', '👦']

However all solutions I found so far (e.g. 1, 2) fail if there are compound emojis in the string

let str = "example 3 🏃‍♀️ 👨‍👨‍👧‍👧";
let arr = [...str];
console.log(arr); 
// ['e', 'x', 'a', 'm', 'p', 'l', 'e', ' ', '3', ' ', '🏃', '‍', '♀', '️', ' ', '👨', '‍', '👨', '‍', '👧', '‍', '👧']

There is grapheme-splitter, but this has not been updated in years. Also, I would prefer finding a way without needing to include external libraries/packages.

This approach detects (many, not all) compound emojis correct, but does not separate the text parts. (And I do not understand how it works yet, so I could adjust it.)

let str = "example 3 🏃‍♀️ 👨‍👨‍👧‍👧";
  let regex = /([\uD800-\uDBFF][\uDC00-\uDFFF](?:[\u200D\uFE0F][\uD800-\uDBFF][\uDC00-\uDFFF]){2,}|\uD83D\uDC69(?:\u200D(?:(?:\uD83D\uDC69\u200D)?\uD83D\uDC67|(?:\uD83D\uDC69\u200D)?\uD83D\uDC66)|\uD83C[\uDFFB-\uDFFF])|\uD83D\uDC69\u200D(?:\uD83D\uDC69\u200D)?\uD83D\uDC66\u200D\uD83D\uDC66|\uD83D\uDC69\u200D(?:\uD83D\uDC69\u200D)?\uD83D\uDC67\u200D(?:\uD83D[\uDC66\uDC67])|\uD83C\uDFF3\uFE0F\u200D\uD83C\uDF08|(?:\uD83C[\uDFC3\uDFC4\uDFCA]|\uD83D[\uDC6E\uDC71\uDC73\uDC77\uDC81\uDC82\uDC86\uDC87\uDE45-\uDE47\uDE4B\uDE4D\uDE4E\uDEA3\uDEB4-\uDEB6]|\uD83E[\uDD26\uDD37-\uDD39\uDD3D\uDD3E\uDDD6-\uDDDD])(?:\uD83C[\uDFFB-\uDFFF])\u200D[\u2640\u2642]\uFE0F|\uD83D\uDC69(?:\uD83C[\uDFFB-\uDFFF])\u200D(?:\uD83C[\uDF3E\uDF73\uDF93\uDFA4\uDFA8\uDFEB\uDFED]|\uD83D[\uDCBB\uDCBC\uDD27\uDD2C\uDE80\uDE92])|(?:\uD83C[\uDFC3\uDFC4\uDFCA]|\uD83D[\uDC6E\uDC6F\uDC71\uDC73\uDC77\uDC81\uDC82\uDC86\uDC87\uDE45-\uDE47\uDE4B\uDE4D\uDE4E\uDEA3\uDEB4-\uDEB6]|\uD83E[\uDD26\uDD37-\uDD39\uDD3C-\uDD3E\uDDD6-\uDDDF])\u200D[\u2640\u2642]\uFE0F|\uD83C\uDDFD\uD83C\uDDF0|\uD83C\uDDF6\uD83C\uDDE6|\uD83C\uDDF4\uD83C\uDDF2|\uD83C\uDDE9(?:\uD83C[\uDDEA\uDDEC\uDDEF\uDDF0\uDDF2\uDDF4\uDDFF])|\uD83C\uDDF7(?:\uD83C[\uDDEA\uDDF4\uDDF8\uDDFA\uDDFC])|\uD83C\uDDE8(?:\uD83C[\uDDE6\uDDE8\uDDE9\uDDEB-\uDDEE\uDDF0-\uDDF5\uDDF7\uDDFA-\uDDFF])|(?:\u26F9|\uD83C[\uDFCB\uDFCC]|\uD83D\uDD75)(?:\uFE0F\u200D[\u2640\u2642]|(?:\uD83C[\uDFFB-\uDFFF])\u200D[\u2640\u2642])\uFE0F|(?:\uD83D\uDC41\uFE0F\u200D\uD83D\uDDE8|\uD83D\uDC69(?:\uD83C[\uDFFB-\uDFFF])\u200D[\u2695\u2696\u2708]|\uD83D\uDC69\u200D[\u2695\u2696\u2708]|\uD83D\uDC68(?:(?:\uD83C[\uDFFB-\uDFFF])\u200D[\u2695\u2696\u2708]|\u200D[\u2695\u2696\u2708]))\uFE0F|\uD83C\uDDF2(?:\uD83C[\uDDE6\uDDE8-\uDDED\uDDF0-\uDDFF])|\uD83D\uDC69\u200D(?:\uD83C[\uDF3E\uDF73\uDF93\uDFA4\uDFA8\uDFEB\uDFED]|\uD83D[\uDCBB\uDCBC\uDD27\uDD2C\uDE80\uDE92]|\u2764\uFE0F\u200D(?:\uD83D\uDC8B\u200D(?:\uD83D[\uDC68\uDC69])|\uD83D[\uDC68\uDC69]))|\uD83C\uDDF1(?:\uD83C[\uDDE6-\uDDE8\uDDEE\uDDF0\uDDF7-\uDDFB\uDDFE])|\uD83C\uDDEF(?:\uD83C[\uDDEA\uDDF2\uDDF4\uDDF5])|\uD83C\uDDED(?:\uD83C[\uDDF0\uDDF2\uDDF3\uDDF7\uDDF9\uDDFA])|\uD83C\uDDEB(?:\uD83C[\uDDEE-\uDDF0\uDDF2\uDDF4\uDDF7])|[#\*0-9]\uFE0F\u20E3|\uD83C\uDDE7(?:\uD83C[\uDDE6\uDDE7\uDDE9-\uDDEF\uDDF1-\uDDF4\uDDF6-\uDDF9\uDDFB\uDDFC\uDDFE\uDDFF])|\uD83C\uDDE6(?:\uD83C[\uDDE8-\uDDEC\uDDEE\uDDF1\uDDF2\uDDF4\uDDF6-\uDDFA\uDDFC\uDDFD\uDDFF])|\uD83C\uDDFF(?:\uD83C[\uDDE6\uDDF2\uDDFC])|\uD83C\uDDF5(?:\uD83C[\uDDE6\uDDEA-\uDDED\uDDF0-\uDDF3\uDDF7-\uDDF9\uDDFC\uDDFE])|\uD83C\uDDFB(?:\uD83C[\uDDE6\uDDE8\uDDEA\uDDEC\uDDEE\uDDF3\uDDFA])|\uD83C\uDDF3(?:\uD83C[\uDDE6\uDDE8\uDDEA-\uDDEC\uDDEE\uDDF1\uDDF4\uDDF5\uDDF7\uDDFA\uDDFF])|\uD83C\uDFF4\uDB40\uDC67\uDB40\uDC62(?:\uDB40\uDC77\uDB40\uDC6C\uDB40\uDC73|\uDB40\uDC73\uDB40\uDC63\uDB40\uDC74|\uDB40\uDC65\uDB40\uDC6E\uDB40\uDC67)\uDB40\uDC7F|\uD83D\uDC68(?:\u200D(?:\u2764\uFE0F\u200D(?:\uD83D\uDC8B\u200D)?\uD83D\uDC68|(?:(?:\uD83D[\uDC68\uDC69])\u200D)?\uD83D\uDC66\u200D\uD83D\uDC66|(?:(?:\uD83D[\uDC68\uDC69])\u200D)?\uD83D\uDC67\u200D(?:\uD83D[\uDC66\uDC67])|\uD83C[\uDF3E\uDF73\uDF93\uDFA4\uDFA8\uDFEB\uDFED]|\uD83D[\uDCBB\uDCBC\uDD27\uDD2C\uDE80\uDE92])|(?:\uD83C[\uDFFB-\uDFFF])\u200D(?:\uD83C[\uDF3E\uDF73\uDF93\uDFA4\uDFA8\uDFEB\uDFED]|\uD83D[\uDCBB\uDCBC\uDD27\uDD2C\uDE80\uDE92]))|\uD83C\uDDF8(?:\uD83C[\uDDE6-\uDDEA\uDDEC-\uDDF4\uDDF7-\uDDF9\uDDFB\uDDFD-\uDDFF])|\uD83C\uDDF0(?:\uD83C[\uDDEA\uDDEC-\uDDEE\uDDF2\uDDF3\uDDF5\uDDF7\uDDFC\uDDFE\uDDFF])|\uD83C\uDDFE(?:\uD83C[\uDDEA\uDDF9])|\uD83C\uDDEE(?:\uD83C[\uDDE8-\uDDEA\uDDF1-\uDDF4\uDDF6-\uDDF9])|\uD83C\uDDF9(?:\uD83C[\uDDE6\uDDE8\uDDE9\uDDEB-\uDDED\uDDEF-\uDDF4\uDDF7\uDDF9\uDDFB\uDDFC\uDDFF])|\uD83C\uDDEC(?:\uD83C[\uDDE6\uDDE7\uDDE9-\uDDEE\uDDF1-\uDDF3\uDDF5-\uDDFA\uDDFC\uDDFE])|\uD83C\uDDFA(?:\uD83C[\uDDE6\uDDEC\uDDF2\uDDF3\uDDF8\uDDFE\uDDFF])|\uD83C\uDDEA(?:\uD83C[\uDDE6\uDDE8\uDDEA\uDDEC\uDDED\uDDF7-\uDDFA])|\uD83C\uDDFC(?:\uD83C[\uDDEB\uDDF8])|(?:\u26F9|\uD83C[\uDFCB\uDFCC]|\uD83D\uDD75)(?:\uD83C[\uDFFB-\uDFFF])|(?:\uD83C[\uDFC3\uDFC4\uDFCA]|\uD83D[\uDC6E\uDC71\uDC73\uDC77\uDC81\uDC82\uDC86\uDC87\uDE45-\uDE47\uDE4B\uDE4D\uDE4E\uDEA3\uDEB4-\uDEB6]|\uD83E[\uDD26\uDD37-\uDD39\uDD3D\uDD3E\uDDD6-\uDDDD])(?:\uD83C[\uDFFB-\uDFFF])|(?:[\u261D\u270A-\u270D]|\uD83C[\uDF85\uDFC2\uDFC7]|\uD83D[\uDC42\uDC43\uDC46-\uDC50\uDC66\uDC67\uDC70\uDC72\uDC74-\uDC76\uDC78\uDC7C\uDC83\uDC85\uDCAA\uDD74\uDD7A\uDD90\uDD95\uDD96\uDE4C\uDE4F\uDEC0\uDECC]|\uD83E[\uDD18-\uDD1C\uDD1E\uDD1F\uDD30-\uDD36\uDDD1-\uDDD5])(?:\uD83C[\uDFFB-\uDFFF])|\uD83D\uDC68(?:\u200D(?:(?:(?:\uD83D[\uDC68\uDC69])\u200D)?\uD83D\uDC67|(?:(?:\uD83D[\uDC68\uDC69])\u200D)?\uD83D\uDC66)|\uD83C[\uDFFB-\uDFFF])|(?:[\u261D\u26F9\u270A-\u270D]|\uD83C[\uDF85\uDFC2-\uDFC4\uDFC7\uDFCA-\uDFCC]|\uD83D[\uDC42\uDC43\uDC46-\uDC50\uDC66-\uDC69\uDC6E\uDC70-\uDC78\uDC7C\uDC81-\uDC83\uDC85-\uDC87\uDCAA\uDD74\uDD75\uDD7A\uDD90\uDD95\uDD96\uDE45-\uDE47\uDE4B-\uDE4F\uDEA3\uDEB4-\uDEB6\uDEC0\uDECC]|\uD83E[\uDD18-\uDD1C\uDD1E\uDD1F\uDD26\uDD30-\uDD39\uDD3D\uDD3E\uDDD1-\uDDDD])(?:\uD83C[\uDFFB-\uDFFF])?|(?:[\u231A\u231B\u23E9-\u23EC\u23F0\u23F3\u25FD\u25FE\u2614\u2615\u2648-\u2653\u267F\u2693\u26A1\u26AA\u26AB\u26BD\u26BE\u26C4\u26C5\u26CE\u26D4\u26EA\u26F2\u26F3\u26F5\u26FA\u26FD\u2705\u270A\u270B\u2728\u274C\u274E\u2753-\u2755\u2757\u2795-\u2797\u27B0\u27BF\u2B1B\u2B1C\u2B50\u2B55]|\uD83C[\uDC04\uDCCF\uDD8E\uDD91-\uDD9A\uDDE6-\uDDFF\uDE01\uDE1A\uDE2F\uDE32-\uDE36\uDE38-\uDE3A\uDE50\uDE51\uDF00-\uDF20\uDF2D-\uDF35\uDF37-\uDF7C\uDF7E-\uDF93\uDFA0-\uDFCA\uDFCF-\uDFD3\uDFE0-\uDFF0\uDFF4\uDFF8-\uDFFF]|\uD83D[\uDC00-\uDC3E\uDC40\uDC42-\uDCFC\uDCFF-\uDD3D\uDD4B-\uDD4E\uDD50-\uDD67\uDD7A\uDD95\uDD96\uDDA4\uDDFB-\uDE4F\uDE80-\uDEC5\uDECC\uDED0-\uDED2\uDEEB\uDEEC\uDEF4-\uDEF8]|\uD83E[\uDD10-\uDD3A\uDD3C-\uDD3E\uDD40-\uDD45\uDD47-\uDD4C\uDD50-\uDD6B\uDD80-\uDD97\uDDC0\uDDD0-\uDDE6])|(?:[#\*0-9\xA9\xAE\u203C\u2049\u2122\u2139\u2194-\u2199\u21A9\u21AA\u231A\u231B\u2328\u23CF\u23E9-\u23F3\u23F8-\u23FA\u24C2\u25AA\u25AB\u25B6\u25C0\u25FB-\u25FE\u2600-\u2604\u260E\u2611\u2614\u2615\u2618\u261D\u2620\u2622\u2623\u2626\u262A\u262E\u262F\u2638-\u263A\u2640\u2642\u2648-\u2653\u2660\u2663\u2665\u2666\u2668\u267B\u267F\u2692-\u2697\u2699\u269B\u269C\u26A0\u26A1\u26AA\u26AB\u26B0\u26B1\u26BD\u26BE\u26C4\u26C5\u26C8\u26CE\u26CF\u26D1\u26D3\u26D4\u26E9\u26EA\u26F0-\u26F5\u26F7-\u26FA\u26FD\u2702\u2705\u2708-\u270D\u270F\u2712\u2714\u2716\u271D\u2721\u2728\u2733\u2734\u2744\u2747\u274C\u274E\u2753-\u2755\u2757\u2763\u2764\u2795-\u2797\u27A1\u27B0\u27BF\u2934\u2935\u2B05-\u2B07\u2B1B\u2B1C\u2B50\u2B55\u3030\u303D\u3297\u3299]|\uD83C[\uDC04\uDCCF\uDD70\uDD71\uDD7E\uDD7F\uDD8E\uDD91-\uDD9A\uDDE6-\uDDFF\uDE01\uDE02\uDE1A\uDE2F\uDE32-\uDE3A\uDE50\uDE51\uDF00-\uDF21\uDF24-\uDF93\uDF96\uDF97\uDF99-\uDF9B\uDF9E-\uDFF0\uDFF3-\uDFF5\uDFF7-\uDFFF]|\uD83D[\uDC00-\uDCFD\uDCFF-\uDD3D\uDD49-\uDD4E\uDD50-\uDD67\uDD6F\uDD70\uDD73-\uDD7A\uDD87\uDD8A-\uDD8D\uDD90\uDD95\uDD96\uDDA4\uDDA5\uDDA8\uDDB1\uDDB2\uDDBC\uDDC2-\uDDC4\uDDD1-\uDDD3\uDDDC-\uDDDE\uDDE1\uDDE3\uDDE8\uDDEF\uDDF3\uDDFA-\uDE4F\uDE80-\uDEC5\uDECB-\uDED2\uDEE0-\uDEE5\uDEE9\uDEEB\uDEEC\uDEF0\uDEF3-\uDEF8]|\uD83E[\uDD10-\uDD3A\uDD3C-\uDD3E\uDD40-\uDD45\uDD47-\uDD4C\uDD50-\uDD6B\uDD80-\uDD97\uDDC0\uDDD0-\uDDE6])\uFE0F)/;
  let arr = str.split(regex).filter(Boolean);
  console.log(arr); // ['example 3 ', '🏃‍♀️', ' ', '👨‍👨‍👧‍👧']

And it is pretty "ugly" imho. Maybe this could be made prettier by using Emoji Properties?

Since emojis are ubiquitous nowadays, I feel like there must be an easy way to split strings with compound emojis into an array.

Solution

  • There is no short solution code for this, as Unicode has become more and more complex. You can look at what unicode.org itself is providing as EBNF and Regex. At the time of writing, it reads:

    Regex

    \p{RI} \p{RI} 
| \p{Emoji} 
  ( \p{EMod} 
  | \x{FE0F} \x{20E3}? 
  | [\x{E0020}-\x{E007E}]+ \x{E007F} )?
  (\x{200D} \p{Emoji}
    ( \p{EMod} 
    | \x{FE0F} \x{20E3}? 
    | [\x{E0020}-\x{E007E}]+ \x{E007F} )?
  )*

    Translated to JavaScript that regular expression is:

    /\p{RI}\p{RI}|\p{Emoji}(\p{EMod}|\u{FE0F}\u{20E3}?|[\u{E0020}-\u{E007E}]+\u{E007F})?(\u{200D}\p{Emoji}(\p{EMod}|\u{FE0F}\u{20E3}?|[\u{E0020}-\u{E007E}]+\u{E007F})?)*/gu

    If you also want to match any other character, then just append |. to the regex, and add the s modifier so that the dot wildcard also matches new line characters.

    With your input example:

    let regex = /\p{RI}\p{RI}|\p{Emoji}(\p{EMod}|\u{FE0F}\u{20E3}?|[\u{E0020}-\u{E007E}]+\u{E007F})?(\u{200D}\p{Emoji}(\p{EMod}|\u{FE0F}\u{20E3}?|[\u{E0020}-\u{E007E}]+\u{E007F})?)*|./gus;

let str = "example 3 🏃‍♀️ 👨‍👨‍👧‍👧";

document.write('<pre>'+str.match(regex).join('\n'));

    NB: I had to use document.write instead of console.log here, because the console implementation provided by Stack Snippets is not up to the task.

    Now, there is some criticism to this regular expression, which has resulted in many different flavours. For instance, in this answer, the following adaptation and extension is proposed to deal with some problems:

    /\p{RI}\p{RI}|\p{Emoji}(\p{EMod}+|\u{FE0F}\u{20E3}?|[\u{E0020}-\u{E007E}]+\u{E007F})?(\u{200D}\p{Emoji}(\p{EMod}+|\u{FE0F}\u{20E3}?|[\u{E0020}-\u{E007E}]+\u{E007F})?)+|\p{EPres}(\p{EMod}+|\u{FE0F}\u{20E3}?|[\u{E0020}-\u{E007E}]+\u{E007F})?|\p{Emoji}(\p{EMod}+|\u{FE0F}\u{20E3}?|[\u{E0020}-\u{E007E}]+\u{E007F})/gu

    Again, you can just append |. to the regex (and add the s modifier) to make it match normal characters as well.