Replace text by ignoring case

[priteshdesai]

I want to write a program in JS where I can make the text typed by user into short form.
for example:
and - &
are - r
see you - c u

I have used the str = str.replace(/ and /g, " & "); method till now but this method wont work for the same text typed in different case.
eg.
And, AND, anD wont be converted.
How can I convert those?

[amrosama]

instead of : str = str.replace(/ and /g, " & ");
use: str = str.toLowerCase().replace(/ and /g, " & ");
and theres also "str.toUpperCase();"

[priteshdesai]

instead of : str = str.replace(/ and /g, " & ");
use: str = str.toLowerCase().replace(/ and /g, " & ");
and theres also "str.toUpperCase();"

I don't want to change the case of the letters, I just want to change all possible combinations of that word into a different, short word...
Your suggestion did this:
Input: and And
Output: & and
I wanted this to be the output:
& &

[chili5]

Force the entire string into lowercase, use split to make it into an array.

Then iterate through the array:

if (arn[i] == "and") {
       document.write("&");
}

That is a poor way of doing it though.

I would use a map structure where the key is what you want to replace, and the value is what you are replacing it with.

Example:

map.put("and","&");
map.put("are","r");

Then you can force the string into lowercase, and iterate through the array. Checking if the word is in the map and if it is make the change.

I'm not sure if there is a map object in javascript, but that is a quick and easy way to do it.