Problem with \\ and \

[vayumahesh]

Hi,

I have the following code (into a variable say, responseText)

document.updateAccessGroup.dataLocUpd.value='\\crwd0004\grpdata'

When I execute the above code using
evaluate(responseText)

I get the output as \crwd0004grpdata (stripped away one slash in the beginning and the remaining slashes)

Also, If I have \\crwd0004\grpdata\ (notice the extra slash at the end), I get Unterminated String Constant error.

Please help.

Thanks
vmrao

[hamstu]

In JavaScript, the slash '\' character is known as an escape character. Alone it means nothing. But it's very useful when you combine it with another character. For example, consider the following string:

var mystring = "I like to use "quotes" in my strings.";

It looks innocent enough, but it throws an error when you try to use it. The reason is that JavaScript sees the second " quote as the end of the string, and the rest of the text as invalid code.

The problem is easily fixed by escaping the quote:

var mystring = "I like to use \"quotes\" in my strings.";

Now the string works, and appears as expected.

To show a literal backslash (as in your problem), you'll need to do it twice. So for your string:

document.updateAccessGroup.dataLocUpd.value='\\\\crwd0004\\grpdata'

[vayumahesh]

Thanks for your detailed reply.

The problem is the string "\\crwd0004\grpdata" is coming from a dynamic variable.

I tried responseText.replace("\","\\") and I get a "Invalid Character" error.

What should be the replace statement ?

Thanks
vmrao

[AutisticCuckoo]

responseText.replace("\\", "\\\\")

[vayumahesh]

I tried that and it is replacing only the first occurence. How do I rewrite the replace function to do it for all occurences of '\'.

Also, I see that first occurence of "\\" got modified to "\\\" after applying the replace function. But, the output still has only one "\" instead of "\\" after the evaluate method.

Thanks
vmrao

[AutisticCuckoo]

responseText.replace(/\\/g, "\\\\")

[vayumahesh]

Thank You very much. That worked.

vmrao