Why doesn't using the search method to find a . work the way I expect in JavaScript? -

in js code, i'm trying validate email address.

var validateemail = function () {     var email = $("email").value;     var symbol = email.search("@");     var domain = email.substring(email.indexof('@')).substr(1);     var validdomain = domain.search(".");      if (symbol == -1) {         alert(email + " not valid email address.");     } else if (validdomain == -1) {         alert(email + "is not valid domain name.");     } else {         alert(email + " valid email address.");     }  }; 

i'm sure there better way validate email address, way i'm doing practice js properties , methods. learning simple basic stuff. not sure if example consider best practice.

the problem:

var validdomain = domain.search("."); 

is not pulling period string. can point out problem i'm having here.

here's jsfiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/udv7q/

the main problem search expects regular expression passed. if argument isn't one, it's implicitly converted one. . special character in regular expressions, you'd need escape (you might use regex literal).

var validdomain = domain.search(/\./); 

demo: http://jsfiddle.net/h4hx5/

note simple validation doesn't ensure input valid email. there's specification defines valid email is, , it's quite bit more complex this. if works you, that's great; it's hard validate email :)

reference:

• https://developer.mozilla.org/en-us/docs/web/javascript/reference/global_objects/string/search