How to escape a string which will be added as a ?key=value parameter in a url?

How to escape a string which will be added as a ?key=value parameter in a url?

[Marcin Borkowski]

Hi all,

I have a bunch of keys and values, and I want to construct a url with
a ?key=value&key2=value2 syntax.  Is there a function which would
properly escape characters like ?, =, & for that?

TIA,

-- 
Marcin Borkowski
http://octd.wmi.amu.edu.pl/en/Marcin_Borkowski
Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
Adam Mickiewicz University

Re: How to escape a string which will be added as a ?key=value parameter in a url?

[Michael Heerdegen]

Marcin Borkowski <mbork@mbork.pl> writes:

> I have a bunch of keys and values, and I want to construct a url with
> a ?key=value&key2=value2 syntax.  Is there a function which would
> properly escape characters like ?, =, & for that?

Maybe `url-hexify-string'?

Michael.

Re: How to escape a string which will be added as a ?key=value parameter in a url?

[Yuri Khan]

On Mon, Sep 28, 2015 at 2:20 AM, Michael Heerdegen
<michael_heerdegen@web.de> wrote:
> Marcin Borkowski <mbork@mbork.pl> writes:
>
>> I have a bunch of keys and values, and I want to construct a url with
>> a ?key=value&key2=value2 syntax.  Is there a function which would
>> properly escape characters like ?, =, & for that?
>
> Maybe `url-hexify-string'?

More like url-build-query-string.

Blindly substituting the value for %s in a format string, as Emanuel
suggests, is definitely not the right thing.

Re: How to escape a string which will be added as a ?key=value parameter in a url?

[Emanuel Berg]

Yuri Khan <yuri.v.khan@gmail.com> writes:

> Blindly substituting the value for %s in a format
> string, as Emanuel suggests, is definitely not the
> right thing.

Here is another example:

1. Load this file:

       http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573/conf/emacs-init/isbn.el

2. Then, with the below Biblatex entry, put point at
   the beginning of the ISBN data field (i.e.,
   at/before the "0").

3. Do

       M-x isbn RET RET

...and observe what cool things you can do outside the
realm of schoolbook scholasticism!

@book{artificial-intelligence-and-the-design,
  title      = {Artificial Intelligence and the Design of Expert Systems},
  author     = {George Luger and William Stubblefield},
  publisher  = {Benjamin-Cummings},
  year       = 1989,
  ISBN       = 0805301399
}

-- 
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

Re: How to escape a string which will be added as a ?key=value parameter in a url?

[Yuri Khan]

On Tue, Sep 29, 2015 at 6:47 AM, Emanuel Berg <embe8573@student.uu.se> wrote:
> Yuri Khan <yuri.v.khan@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> Blindly substituting the value for %s in a format
>> string, as Emanuel suggests, is definitely not the
>> right thing.
>
> Here is another example:
>        http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573/conf/emacs-init/isbn.el
>
> ...and observe what cool things you can do outside the
> realm of schoolbook scholasticism!

Look, Emanuel, we all know string concatenation works when you
absolutely know that your substituted values do not contain any funny
characters. Marcin specifically asked for a function that is robust in
presence of characters which are conventionally used as key/value/pair
separators in URI query strings.

See also a small excerpt from the biography of one boy named Robert:
https://xkcd.com/327/

Re: How to escape a string which will be added as a ?key=value parameter in a url?

[Emanuel Berg]

Yuri Khan <yuri.v.khan@gmail.com> writes:

> Look, Emanuel, we all know string concatenation
> works when you absolutely know that your substituted
> values do not contain any funny characters.

I also know that it works because I use those
functions every day.

> See also a small excerpt from the biography of one
> boy named Robert: https://xkcd.com/327/

OK, now I've read it. Seekwell injection joke. ":D"

Now, how about returning the favor by reading this?
It might affect your programming and life in a more
intellectual-emotional-physical way - compared to
xkcd, that is.

@book{metabarons,
  title      = {The Metabarons: Path of the Warrior},
  author     = {Alexandro Jodorowsky; Juan Gimenez},
  publisher  = {Humanoids},
  year       = 2002,
  ISBN       = {193065247X}
}

-- 
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

Re: How to escape a string which will be added as a ?key=value parameter in a url?

[tomas]

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On Tue, Sep 29, 2015 at 02:47:37AM +0200, Emanuel Berg wrote:

[...]

>        http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573/conf/emacs-init/isbn.el

Nifty :-)

regards
- -- t
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=66B1
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Re: How to escape a string which will be added as a ?key=value parameter in a url?

[Emanuel Berg]

<tomas@tuxteam.de> writes:

>> http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573/conf/emacs-init/isbn.el
>
> Nifty :-)

Ain't it the truth :)

Remember,

    Don't hate the interface,
    *become* the interface.

-- 
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

Re: How to escape a string which will be added as a ?key=value parameter in a url?

[Emanuel Berg]

Marcin Borkowski <mbork@mbork.pl> writes:

> I have a bunch of keys and values, and I want to
> construct a url with a ?key=value&key2=value2
> syntax. Is there a function which would properly
> escape characters like ?, =, & for that?

Check out this file - there is a lot of
constructing/manipulating URLs for Google, TPB, YT,
Urban dictionary, wikis, and more:

    http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573/conf/emacs-init/w3m/w3m-unisearch.el

-- 
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573