& in URL query String

[Kevin manoj]

I have a javascript function like following:
---
function gotoProvince(region)
{

location.href = 'http://www.XXX.XXX/shopping/productdetail.jsp?regionToggle=true&languageToggle=true&content=/portlets/personal/wireless/product_details.jsp&metaKey=PrsShpWls_Content&wlcs_catalog_item_sku=66282&INT=MOB_SA_Q4_BBPearl_LM_wlpbest®ion=' + region + '&language=en';

}
---
A JSP file writes out the html code and javascript function. This function is to switch the province selection.

The wierd thing is that it works fine in IE6, but it did not work in Firefox. In firefox, it seem that it treat & as ampersand and amp; as a part of query parameter.

Fox example, the above link:
'amp;language' becomes the parameter key, and en becomes the parameter value

Why firefox and IE6 interpret the query string in a different way?

Thanks in advance

[Ben Souther]

& is not the proper URL escape sequence for an ampersand.
%26 is.

& is the HTML escape sequence.
[ January 22, 2008: Message edited by: Ben Souther ]

[Eric Pascarello]

Using & in JavaScript does not have to be escaped like in html markup.

Eric

[Kevin manoj]

Thanks for quick reply. The answer is very helpful.


Thanks sincerely again

[Eugenio Pacheco]

Hi,

I'm having a similar problem. I'm trying to send a querystring such as:

document.sendin.dst.value = "http://myserver.com/balance.php?un=" + document.login.username.value + "&link=1";

On IE it works perfectly, on FireFox it shows the following at the address bar:

http://myserver.com/balance.php?un=username&link=1

I read what was said in this post and I tried changing from & to & and to %26, neither one worked.

Thanks in advance for any help given.

Eugenio Pacheco

[Ben Souther]

That looks like a valid query string.
What problem are you having?

[Eugenio Pacheco]

Hi,

I'm sorry, I made a mistake, on FireFox it shows:

http://myserver.com/balance.php?un=username&link=1

That's the problem.

Regards,

Eugenio Pacheco

[Eugenio Pacheco]

Hi,

It's weird... In the post I'm not being able to show "& amp ;"... That's what shows instead of & directly... It shows the "& amp ;" before link on the address:

http://myserver.com/balance.php?un=username"& amp ;"link=1 (no spaces and no quotes)

Regards,

Eugenio Pacheco

[Bear Bibeault]

Originally posted by Eugenio Pacheco:
It's weird... In the post I'm not being able to show "& amp ;"... That's what shows instead of & directly...

Of course any HTML entity you type in is going to get interpreted by the browser for display.

It looks like something is HTML-encoding your query string. How is the query string being generated?

[Eugenio Pacheco]

Hi,

To generate the string it takes the value of a hidden field inside a form:

document.sendin.dst.value = "http://myserver.com/balance.php?un=" + document.login.username.value + "&link=1";

That produces the result fine on IE6, but it shows & amp ; instead of just &.

Regards,

Eugenio Pacheco

[Bear Bibeault]

WHat are you doing with the url string after it is created?

[Eugenio Pacheco]

Hi,

I use that value in a meta tag for refresh.

The really weird thing is that on IE6 it works perfectly on FireFox it doesn't.

Thanks for the help.

Eugenio Pacheco

[Bear Bibeault]

How is it getting there? Something is encoding the value prior to use.

[Ben Souther]

Originally posted by Eugenio Pacheco:
Hi,

I use that value in a meta tag for refresh.

The really weird thing is that on IE6 it works perfectly on FireFox it doesn't.

Thanks for the help.

Eugenio Pacheco

That's not really weird.
Browser incompatibility is a common issue in web development.