jquery - JQuery Regexp Starts with

Question

I didnt write the code below but ive added an if to it, to check for a value called starts, if starts is set to 1, I only want to return results that start with the value, i tried searching RegEx exp and swapped out the 'i' for a 'a' or '\A' but neither work, what character do i need in there for a starts with?

Thanks

function searchTable(inputVal, tablename,starts) {
    var table = $(tablename);
    table.find('tr:not(.header)').each(function (index, row) {
        var allCells = $(row).find('td');
        if (allCells.length > 0) {
            var found = false;
            allCells.each(function (index, td) {
                if (starts = 1) {
                    var regExp = new RegExp(inputVal, 'i');
                } else {
                    var regExp = new RegExp(inputVal, 'i');
                }

                if (regExp.test($(td).text())) {
                    found = true;
                    return false;
                }
            });
            if (found == true) $(row).show().removeClass('exclude'); else $(row).hide().addClass('exclude');
        }
    });
}

Answer 1

You need to use the caret ^ at the beginning of your regexp (it matches the position "beginning of a string or a line"). But that's not a modifier. The i pour replaced stands for "case insensitive".

So...

var regExp = new RegExp((starts ? '^' : '') + inputVal, 'i');