I know there are other questions with the same title but I couldn't find an answer within them.

I have a string that could be /action or /action{key:value} I'm trying to get action, key and value in variables.

I've tried several regexps that are variations of this one: /^\/(.*?)(\{(.*)\:(.*)\})?/

/^\/(.*?)\{(.*)\:(.*)\}/ matches /action{key:value} but not /action

/^\/(.*)(\{(.*)\:(.*)\})?/ (declaring the capture group as optional) matches /action but not /action{key:value} (it captures everything)

So if I declare the first group as lazy :

/^\/(.*?)(\{(.*)\:(.*)\})?/ it doesn't match anything anymore.

I know I'm close to the solution but I'm sure misunderstanding something basic :)

I know there are other questions with the same title but I couldn't find an answer within them.

I have a string that could be /action or /action{key:value} I'm trying to get action, key and value in variables.

I've tried several regexps that are variations of this one: /^\/(.*?)(\{(.*)\:(.*)\})?/

/^\/(.*?)\{(.*)\:(.*)\}/ matches /action{key:value} but not /action

/^\/(.*)(\{(.*)\:(.*)\})?/ (declaring the capture group as optional) matches /action but not /action{key:value} (it captures everything)

So if I declare the first group as lazy :

/^\/(.*?)(\{(.*)\:(.*)\})?/ it doesn't match anything anymore.

I know I'm close to the solution but I'm sure misunderstanding something basic :)

• javascript
• regex
• regex-group

Share Improve this question Follow asked Jan 28, 2019 at 10:05 MrVoodooMrVoodoo 1,08311 gold badge1717 silver badges2525 bronze badges 1

• @SebastianProske Well, second example captures everything in the first capture group. Meaning /action{key:value} is captured as a whole and not in separate groups. – MrVoodoo Commented Jan 28, 2019 at 10:11

Add a ment  | 

1 Answer 1

Sorted by: Reset to default 6

Put the whole {...} part in an optional non-capturing group, while keeping the first group lazy:

^\/(.*?)(?:{(.*)\:(.*)})?$
        ^^^             ^

https://regex101./r/S4DAy3/1

Or use a negative character set, excluding {s:

^\/([^{]+)(?:{(.*)\:(.*)})?$