# split-string [](https://www.npmjs.com/package/split-string) [](https://npmjs.org/package/split-string) [](https://npmjs.org/package/split-string) [](https://travis-ci.org/jonschlinkert/split-string)
> Split a string on a character except when the character is escaped.
Please consider following this project's author, [Jon Schlinkert](https://github.com/jonschlinkert), and consider starring the project to show your :heart: and support.
## Install
Install with [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/):
```sh
$ npm install --save split-string
```
Why use this?
Although it's easy to split on a string:
```js
console.log('a.b.c'.split('.'));
//=> ['a', 'b', 'c']
```
It's more challenging to split a string whilst respecting escaped or quoted characters.
**Bad**
```js
console.log('a\\.b.c'.split('.'));
//=> ['a\\', 'b', 'c']
console.log('"a.b.c".d'.split('.'));
//=> ['"a', 'b', 'c"', 'd']
```
**Good**
```js
var split = require('split-string');
console.log(split('a\\.b.c'));
//=> ['a.b', 'c']
console.log(split('"a.b.c".d'));
//=> ['a.b.c', 'd']
```
See the [options](#options) to learn how to choose the separator or retain quotes or escaping.
## Usage
```js
var split = require('split-string');
split('a.b.c');
//=> ['a', 'b', 'c']
// respects escaped characters
split('a.b.c\\.d');
//=> ['a', 'b', 'c.d']
// respects double-quoted strings
split('a."b.c.d".e');
//=> ['a', 'b.c.d', 'e']
```
**Brackets**
Also respects brackets [unless disabled](#optionsbrackets):
```js
split('a (b c d) e', ' ');
//=> ['a', '(b c d)', 'e']
```
## Options
### options.brackets
**Type**: `object|boolean`
**Default**: `undefined`
**Description**
If enabled, split-string will not split inside brackets. The following brackets types are supported when `options.brackets` is `true`,
```js
{
'<': '>',
'(': ')',
'[': ']',
'{': '}'
}
```
Or, if object of brackets must be passed, each property on the object must be a bracket type, where the property key is the opening delimiter and property value is the closing delimiter.
**Examples**
```js
// no bracket support by default
split('a.{b.c}');
//=> [ 'a', '{b', 'c}' ]
// support all basic bracket types: "<>{}[]()"
split('a.{b.c}', {brackets: true});
//=> [ 'a', '{b.c}' ]
// also supports nested brackets
split('a.{b.{c.d}.e}.f', {brackets: true});
//=> [ 'a', '{b.{c.d}.e}', 'f' ]
// support only the specified brackets
split('[a.b].(c.d)', {brackets: {'[': ']'}});
//=> [ '[a.b]', '(c', 'd)' ]
```
### options.sep
**Type**: `string`
**Default**: `.`
The separator/character to split on.
**Example**
```js
split('a.b,c', {sep: ','});
//=> ['a.b', 'c']
// you can also pass the separator as string as the last argument
split('a.b,c', ',');
//=> ['a.b', 'c']
```
### options.keepEscaping
**Type**: `boolean`
**Default**: `undefined`
Keep backslashes in the result.
**Example**
```js
split('a.b\\.c');
//=> ['a', 'b.c']
split('a.b.\\c', {keepEscaping: true});
//=> ['a', 'b\.c']
```
### options.keepQuotes
**Type**: `boolean`
**Default**: `undefined`
Keep single- or double-quotes in the result.
**Example**
```js
split('a."b.c.d".e');
//=> ['a', 'b.c.d', 'e']
split('a."b.c.d".e', {keepQuotes: true});
//=> ['a', '"b.c.d"', 'e']
split('a.\'b.c.d\'.e', {keepQuotes: true});
//=> ['a', '\'b.c.d\'', 'e']
```
### options.keepDoubleQuotes
**Type**: `boolean`
**Default**: `undefined`
Keep double-quotes in the result.
**Example**
```js
split('a."b.c.d".e');
//=> ['a', 'b.c.d', 'e']
split('a."b.c.d".e', {keepDoubleQuotes: true});
//=> ['a', '"b.c.d"', 'e']
```
### options.keepSingleQuotes
**Type**: `boolean`
**Default**: `undefined`
Keep single-quotes in the result.
**Example**
```js
split('a.\'b.c.d\'.e');
//=> ['a', 'b.c.d', 'e']
split('a.\'b.c.d\'.e', {keepSingleQuotes: true});
//=> ['a', '\'b.c.d\'', 'e']
```
## Customizer
**Type**: `function`
**Default**: `undefined`
Pass a function as the last argument to customize how tokens are added to the array.
**Example**
```js
var arr = split('a.b', function(tok) {
if (tok.arr[tok.arr.length - 1] === 'a') {
tok.split = false;
}
});
console.log(arr);
//=> ['a.b']
```
**Properties**
The `tok` object has the following properties:
* `tok.val` (string) The current value about to be pushed onto the result array
* `tok.idx` (number) the current index in the string
* `tok.str` (string) the entire string
* `tok.arr` (array) the result array
## Release history
### v3.0.0 - 2017-06-17
**Added**
* adds support for brackets
## About
Contributing
Pull requests and stars are always welcome. For bugs and feature requests, [please create an issue](../../issues/new).
Running Tests
Running and reviewing unit tests is a great way to get familiarized with a library and its API. You can install dependencies and run tests with the following command:
```sh
$ npm install && npm test
```
Building docs
_(This project's readme.md is generated by [verb](https://github.com/verbose/verb-generate-readme), please don't edit the readme directly. Any changes to the readme must be made in the [.verb.md](.verb.md) readme template.)_
To generate the readme, run the following command:
```sh
$ npm install -g verbose/verb#dev verb-generate-readme && verb
```
### Related projects
You might also be interested in these projects:
* [deromanize](https://www.npmjs.com/package/deromanize): Convert roman numerals to arabic numbers (useful for books, outlines, documentation, slide decks, etc) | [homepage](https://github.com/jonschlinkert/deromanize "Convert roman numerals to arabic numbers (useful for books, outlines, documentation, slide decks, etc)")
* [randomatic](https://www.npmjs.com/package/randomatic): Generate randomized strings of a specified length using simple character sequences. The original generate-password. | [homepage](https://github.com/jonschlinkert/randomatic "Generate randomized strings of a specified length using simple character sequences. The original generate-password.")
* [repeat-string](https://www.npmjs.com/package/repeat-string): Repeat the given string n times. Fastest implementation for repeating a string. | [homepage](https://github.com/jonschlinkert/repeat-string "Repeat the given string n times. Fastest implementation for repeating a string.")
* [romanize](https://www.npmjs.com/package/romanize): Convert numbers to roman numerals (useful for books, outlines, documentation, slide decks, etc) | [homepage](https://github.com/jonschlinkert/romanize "Convert numbers to roman numerals (useful for books, outlines, documentation, slide decks, etc)")
### Contributors
| **Commits** | **Contributor** |
| --- | --- |
| 28 | [jonschlinkert](https://github.com/jonschlinkert) |
| 9 | [doowb](https://github.com/doowb) |
### Author
**Jon Schlinkert**
* [github/jonschlinkert](https://github.com/jonschlinkert)
* [twitter/jonschlinkert](https://twitter.com/jonschlinkert)
### License
Copyright © 2017, [Jon Schlinkert](https://github.com/jonschlinkert).
Released under the [MIT License](LICENSE).
***
_This file was generated by [verb-generate-readme](https://github.com/verbose/verb-generate-readme), v0.6.0, on November 19, 2017._