scan :: String

scan(pattern, iterator) -> string Allows iterating over every occurrence of the given pattern (which can be a string or a regular expression). Returns the original string.

Internally just calls gsub() passing it pattern and iterator as arguments.

Examples

'apple, pear & orange'.scan(/\w+/, alert);

// -> 'apple pear orange' (and displays 'apple', 'pear' and 'orange' in

three successive alert dialogs)

Can be used to populate an array:

var fruits = [];

'apple, pear & orange'.scan(/\w+/, function(match){ fruits.push(match[0])});

fruits.inspect()

// -> ['apple', 'pear', 'orange']

or even to work on the DOM:

'failure-message, success-message & spinner'.scan(/(\w|-)+/, Element.toggle)

// -> 'failure-message, success-message & spinner'

(and toggles the visibility of each DOM element)

Note

Do not use the "g" flag on the regex as this will create an infinite loop.

Prototype API 1.5.0 - prototypejs.org