convert regex string to regex object in javascript

Use regex-parser:

const parseRegex = require("regex-parser")

parseRegex("/^hi$/g")
// => /^hi$/g

Two problems:

• You need to escape the backslash.
• You need to remove the forward slashes on the beginning and end of string.

Corrected code:

var pattern = "^[A-Za-z\\s]+$";
var str = "Some Name";
pattern = new RegExp(pattern);
if(pattern.test(str))
{
    alert('valid');
}
else
{
    alert('invalid');
}

http://jsfiddle.net/wn9scv3m/3/