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JavaScript - split string by new line character

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Created by:
Gigadude
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In this article, we're going to have a look at the problem of how to split string to separate lines in JavaScript.

Note: by default in JavaScript \n newline character should be used, but modern applications exchange information with external endpoints that forces programmers to deal with different cases - this article provides quick solutuioins for the problem.

Quick solution:

// ONLINE-RUNNER:browser;

var string = 'line 1\n' +
             'line 2';

var lines = string.split(/\r?\n/);  // <--------- splits string

console.log(lines);

Note: the above solution was inspired with new line characters that are used on MacOS, Linux and Windows.

 

Alternative quick solutions 

  • It works on all operating systems (even older one):
// ONLINE-RUNNER:browser;

var string = 'line 1\r\n' +                   // \r\n - used as new line symbol
             'line 2\n' +                     // \n   - used as new line symbol
             'line 3';

var lines = string.split(/\r\n|\n\r|\n|\r/);  // split by:     \r\n  \n\r  \n  or  \r

console.log(lines);                           // array items:  line 1, line 2, line 3
  • It is an alternative approach that uses \R equivalent:
// ONLINE-RUNNER:browser;

var string = 'line 1\r\n' +         // \r\n - used as new line symbol
             'line 2\n' +           // \n   - used as new line symbol
             'line 3';

// https://dirask.com/posts/JavaScript-R-equivalent-in-RegEx-D9a2rD
//
var lines = string.split(/\u000D\u000A|[\u000A\u000B\u000C\u000D\u0085\u2028\u2029]/);

console.log(lines);                 // array items:  line 1, line 2, line 3

 

Look at below problem description and examples to see how it works in practice.

1. Problem overview

Different operating systems have different newline symbols.

There are a few most commonly used new line separations:

\nMultics, Unix and Unix-like systems (Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, AIX, Xenix, etc.), BeOS, Amiga, RISC OS, and others.
\r\nAtari TOS, Microsoft Windows, DOS (MS-DOS, PC DOS, etc.), DEC TOPS-10, RT-11, CP/M, MP/M, OS/2, Symbian OS, Palm OS, Amstrad CPC, and most other early non-Unix and non-IBM operating systems.
\rCommodore 8-bit machines (C64, C128), Acorn BBC, ZX Spectrum, TRS-80, Apple II series, Oberon, the classic Mac OS, MIT Lisp Machine and OS-9
\n\rAcorn BBC and RISC OS spooled text output.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newline

 

2. Problem solutions

2.1. Universal new lines splitting example

It is possible to propose some universal regular expression that lest to get a very good splitting result.

It is necessary to use \r\n|\n\r|\n|\r as a pattern.

Go to this article to see details and runnable example.

2.2. Alternative new lines splitting example using \R equivalent

Some modern regular expression implementations provide \R predefined character class,
e.g. Java, Notepad++, etc.

Most JavaScript engines don't support \R yet - so, it is required some trick.

Go to this article to see details and runnable example.

2.3. Microsoft Windows new lines splitting example

// ONLINE-RUNNER:browser;

var string = 'line 1\r\n' +
             'line 2\r\n' +
             'line 3\r\n' +
             'line 4\r\n' +
             'line 5';

var lines = string.split('\r\n');

console.log(lines);

Systems: Atari TOS, Microsoft Windows, DOS (MS-DOS, PC DOS, etc.), DEC TOPS-10, RT-11, CP/M, MP/M, OS/2, Symbian OS, Palm OS, Amstrad CPC, and most other early non-Unix and non-IBM operating systems.

2.4. Unix/Linux new lines splitting example

// ONLINE-RUNNER:browser;

var string = 'line 1\n' +
             'line 2\n' +
             'line 3\n' +
             'line 4\n' +
             'line 5';

var lines = string.split('\n');

console.log(lines);

Systems: Multics, Unix and Unix-like systems (Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, AIX, Xenix, etc.), BeOS, Amiga, RISC OS, and others.

2.5.  The classic Mac OS/OS-9 new lines splitting example

// ONLINE-RUNNER:browser;

var string = 'line 1\r' +
             'line 2\r' +
             'line 3\r' +
             'line 4\r' +
             'line 5';

var lines = string.split('\r');

console.log(lines);

Systems: Commodore 8-bit machines (C64, C128), Acorn BBC, ZX Spectrum, TRS-80, Apple II series, Oberon, the classic Mac OS, MIT Lisp Machine and OS-9

 

See also

  1. JavaScript - universal new lines splitting symbol example

  2. JavaScript - \R equivalent in RegEx
  3. Node.js - split string by new line character (JavaScript)

Alternative titles

  1. js split lines
  2. JavaScript split on newline
  3. JavaScript split by newline
  4. JavaScript split line break
  5. split by new line in JavaScript
  6. JavaScript - make array from string by newline character
  7. JavaScript - split string into array by new line character
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