I have a String that contains a line of html code eg. '<b>1995</b>'. Let's say this String could also contain '<b>1997</b>' or '<b>1999</b>' etc. I want to use a replace method to remove the tags but leave the years. Is there a way to implement a wildcard character to do this, something like:

first_string = "First year is <b>1997</b> and second year is <b>1999</b>"
second_string = first_string.replace(/<b>19.*<\/b>/g, 19.*)

Any help would be much appreciated

I have a String that contains a line of html code eg. '<b>1995</b>'. Let's say this String could also contain '<b>1997</b>' or '<b>1999</b>' etc. I want to use a replace method to remove the tags but leave the years. Is there a way to implement a wildcard character to do this, something like:

first_string = "First year is <b>1997</b> and second year is <b>1999</b>"
second_string = first_string.replace(/<b>19.*<\/b>/g, 19.*)

Any help would be much appreciated

• javascript
• regex
• string

Share Improve this question Follow edited Jun 9, 2010 at 15:41 SilentGhost 321k6767 gold badges310310 silver badges294294 bronze badges asked Jun 9, 2010 at 15:33 RuthRuth 5,8261212 gold badges3939 silver badges4545 bronze badges

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Sorted by: Reset to default 7

first_string.replace(/<b>(19\d{2})<\/b>/g, '$1')