[javascript] Javascript + Regex = Nothing to repeat error?

I'm new to Regex and I'm trying to work it into one of my new projects to see if I can learn it and add it to my repitoire of skills. However, I'm hitting a roadblock here.

I'm trying to see if the user's input has illegal characters in it by using the .search function as so:

if (name.search("[\[\]\?\*\+\|\{\}\\\(\)\@\.\n\r]") != -1) {
    ...
}

However, when I try to execute the function this line is contained it, it throws the following error for that specific line:

Uncaught SyntaxError: Invalid regular expression: /[[]?*+|{}\()@.

]/: Nothing to repeat

I can't for the life of me see what's wrong with my code. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

For Google travelers: this stupidly unhelpful error message is also presented when you make a type and double up the + regex operator:

Okay:

\w+

Not okay:

\w++

Firstly, in a character class [...] most characters don't need escaping - they are just literals.

So, your regex should be:

"[\[\]?*+|{}\\()@.\n\r]"

This compiles for me.

for example I faced this in express node.js when trying to create route for paths not starting with /internal

app.get(`\/(?!internal).*`, (req, res)=>{

and after long trying it just worked when passing it as a RegExp Object using new RegExp()

app.get(new RegExp("\/(?!internal).*"), (req, res)=>{

this may help if you are getting this common issue in routing

Well, in my case I had to test a Phone Number with the help of regex, and I was getting the same error,

Invalid regular expression: /+923[0-9]{2}-(?!1234567)(?!1111111)(?!7654321)[0-9]{7}/: Nothing to repeat'

So, what was the error in my case was that + operator after the / in the start of the regex. So enclosing the + operator with square brackets [+], and again sending the request, worked like a charm.

Following will work:

/[+]923[0-9]{2}-(?!1234567)(?!1111111)(?!7654321)[0-9]{7}/

This answer may be helpful for those, who got the same type of error, but their chances of getting the error from this point of view, as mine! Cheers :)

Building off of @Bohemian, I think the easiest approach would be to just use a regex literal, e.g.:

if (name.search(/[\[\]?*+|{}\\()@.\n\r]/) != -1) {
    // ... stuff ...
}

Regex literals are nice because you don't have to escape the escape character, and some IDE's will highlight invalid regex (very helpful for me as I constantly screw them up).