REreplace[NoCase](): string only? Or can a function be the replacement?

<cfset esapi = createObject("java", "org.owasp.esapi.ESAPI") />

<cfset foo = "&ndash;,&mdash;,&iexcl;,&iquest;,&quot;,&ldquo;&##9744;" />

<cfoutput>

    #esapi.encoder().canonicalize(foo)#

</cfoutput>

WolfShade wrote: So I tried several variations of: REreplaceNoCase( str, '&##(\d);', '#chr(\1)#', 'all' )  <!--- and more, but I'm kind of tired, so I'm only giving one example --->  None worked.

A neat solution, borrowed from Java:

  <cfset transformedString = str.replaceAll("\&##?<name1>\d+?<name2>;", "${name1}")>

Maybe something like this:

public string function myCustomReplace( required string str ){

  local.pattern = "&##(\d);";

  local.items = reMatch(local.pattern,arguments.str);

  for(local.item in local.items){

   local.replacementValue = val(reReplace(local.item,local.pattern,"\1"));

   arguments.str = replace(arguments.str,local.item,chr(local.replacementValue),"ALL");

  }

  return arguments.str;

}

Not tested; may have typos but you should be able to get the gist.

WolfShade wrote: Hello, all, According to Adobe documentation, REreplace() (ergo, REreplaceNoCase(), too) requires three arguments: the target string; the regex match; and the value to replace that match with.  The docs also state that the third argument is a string.  Nothing is mentioned of using a function for the third argument. But in JavaScript (ex: str.replace(x,y)), while the prefix str is the target string, the two arguments that go inside the parenthesis are the regex or substring match, and the replacement - which can be either a string, or a function. The reason I bring this to attention is because in the past I have needed (and now would like) to write something that will convert HTML entities into the character said entity is supposed to represent.  But I have had no success by using just a string as the replacement. For example:  Say I have a string, such as "This is a test&#59; this is only a test."  (Yeah, I know, VERY basic.)  Well, I don't always know that what I need to replace will be &#59;.  It could be &#XXXX;, for all I know.  But I do know that (at least most if not all the time) &#59; in CF is chr(59). So I tried several variations of:

REreplaceNoCase( str, '&##(\d);', '#chr(\1)#', 'all' )  <!--- and more, but I'm kind of tired, so I'm only giving one example --->

None worked.  Then (today) it occurred to me - a function might be able to do it.  But the docs indicate that only a string can be the replacement for REreplace[NoCase](). Frustrating. Okay.. now I'm not sure where I'm going with this, coz it really isn't a question.  But I guess that I'm wondering if Adobe has any plans to update REreplace() so that a function can be used as the replacement.  Or, if anyone knows of an alternative.

You could just write a simple Coldfusion function that does what you want. Something like

<cfset testString = "This is a test&##59; this is only a test.">

<cfoutput>#replaceNoCaseCustom(testString)#</cfoutput>

<cffunction name="replaceNoCaseCustom" returntype="string">

    <cfargument name="inputString" type="string">

    <cfset var outputString = arguments.inputString>

    <cfloop from="58" to="62" index="indx">

    <cfset outputString = replaceNoCase(outputString,"&##" & chr(indx) & ";", chr(indx), "all")>

    </cfloop>

    <cfreturn outputString>

</cffunction>

I think a lot of the functions like this Adobe simply puts a thin wrapper over an underlying java function. If java has an equivalent, I'm sure CF won't be long. In the meantime - again if java has an equivalent to what you are asking - you can call java directly (it might take a little reverse engineering).