markRegExp locking up

When using markRegExp, some “partial matching” regular expressions will cause the browser to lock up.

For example, using this demo for reference:

• When a regular expression of /(lorem|ipsum)/gi is entered into the input; the result is as expected.
• As you delete letters from the end of the second word… you’ll get to this point: /(lorem|i)/gi.
• Then, deleting the last letter i will give you this regular expression: /(lorem|)/gi which locks up the browser.

I’ve tested this from the console with the same result.

$(".context").unmark().markRegExp(/(lorem|)/gi);

It probably isn’t in an infinite loop, it’s just trying to match an enormous number of empty strings:

'Lorem ipsum dolor sit āmet'.match(/(lorem|)/gi)
// results: ["Lorem", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", "", ""]

[Mottie]

Use /\S/ or /.+/.

[Mottie]

Finally done! Check out the tablesorter mark widget demo.