XRegExp: An Extended JavaScript Regex Constructor

I have recently written an extended JavaScript regular expression constructor which I’ve called XRegExp. This script is very small (the minified version weighs in at 937 bytes), and it adds support for two simple but powerful additional flags beyond those JavaScript supports natively:

• s – Dot matches all (a.k.a., single-line) mode.
• x – Free-spacing and comments mode.

It also allows you to use these flags with the RegExp constructor itself after running one line of code. Additionally, XRegExp improves some minor cross-browser regex syntax consistency issues.

Full deets and extensive documentation is available at XRegExp: JavaScript Regular Expression Constructor, or you can just download the script (with comments, or minified).

Regexes built using XRegExp are identical in speed to those built using the native RegExp constructor, support all of JavaScript’s regex syntax and regex-related methods, and should work in JavaScript 1.5+ browsers (tested in IE 5.5–7, Firefox 2, and Opera 9).