180957 - unable to use regexp in install.js script

Status: RESOLVED INVALID

(Core Graveyard :: Installer: XPInstall Engine, defect)

Description

[Henrik Gemal]

I have an install.js script inside a xpi package that have this js:
 var re = /(.*?)\.(\d+)$/;
 re.test("1.0.1.2002111900");

The script dies with the following:
Error: can't convert Error to string
Error: re.test is not a function
Source File: 
Line: 10

isn't it possible to use regexp inside a js script in a xpi package?

Comment 1

[Henrik Gemal]

while this works... weird!

myProductRegVersion = "1.0.1.2002111900"
var re = new String(myProductRegVersion);
re.search(/(.*?)\.(\d+)$/);

Comment 2

[Andrew Schultz]

> var re = /(.*?)\.(\d+)$/;

var re = "/(.*?)\.(\d+)$/";
will probably get you more mileage.  And I agree with the error message. 
re.test is not a function.

Comment 3

[HJ]

Henrik, are you trying to compare the used mozilla version?

You can do that with this example:

const NEED_MOZ_BUILD = 2002101708;
if (buildID < NEED_MOZ_BUILD)
  foo
else bar

Comment 4

[Daniel Veditz [:dveditz]]

comment 2: brush up on regular expressions. no quotes around regexp literals and
RegExp objects most definitely have a test function.

Comment 5

[Andrew Schultz]

-var re = /(.*?)\.(\d+)$/;
+var re = /(.*)\.(\d+)$/;

the '?' has nothing to act on.

Comment 6

[Wladimir Palant]

Thanks Henrik, you saved my day :)

The workaround is in fact: new RegExp("(.*?)\\.(\\d+)$")
This one will has a test() method and everything.

Somehow a regexp literal isn't a real regexp in install.js, just as a string literal isn't a real string. Creating them explicitely with the "new" operator works however.

Comment 7

[Brian Crowder]

Can anyone confirm that this bug is either bogus (as I suspect, in agreement with comment #5) or fixed?

Comment 8

[Henrik Gemal]

not a bug