Non-standard
This feature is non-standard and is not on a standards track. Do not use it on production sites facing the Web: it will not work for every user. There may also be large incompatibilities between implementations and the behavior may change in the future.
The non-standard lastMatch property is a static and read-only property of regular expressions that contains the last matched characters. RegExp.$& is an alias for this property.
Syntax
RegExp.lastMatch RegExp['$&']
Description
The lastMatch property is static, it is not a property of an individual regular expression object. Instead, you always use it as RegExp.lastMatch or RegExp['$&'].
The value of the lastMatch property is read-only and modified whenever a successful match is made.
You can not use the shorthand alias with the dot property accessor (RegExp.$&), because the parser expects an expression with "&" in that case and a SyntaxError is thrown. Use the bracket notation for property access.
Examples
Using lastMatch and $&
var re = /hi/g;
re.test("hi there!");
RegExp.lastMatch; // "hi"
RegExp['$&']; // "hi"
Specifications
Non-standard. Not part of any current specification.
Browser compatibility
| Feature | Chrome | Firefox (Gecko) | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) |
| Feature | Android | Chrome for Android | Firefox Mobile (Gecko) | IE Mobile | Opera Mobile | Safari Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) | (Yes) |