Javascript replace url with string

Question

I have a string of url encoded characters.

wondering if there is a javascript function that can replace all the url encoded characters with normal string characters.

i know i can use the replace function, but it only replaces one certain character an not all at once

for example, I am looking for one function that will replace all the url encoded characters in this string:

string urlEncoded = '1%20day%20%40work!%20Where%20are%20you%3F'

and give me this string:

string replaced = '1 day @ work! Where are you?'

thanks a lot

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 21 '12 at 09:20

0

string replaced = decodeURIComponent(urlEncoded);

There is also just decodeURI but this does not cope with "special" characters, such as & ? ! # etc

answered Jul 21 '12 at 09:20

freefaller

Karl-Johan Sjögren · Accepted Answer · 2012-07-21T09:39:13.103

0

Use decodeURIComponent(string) for that purpose.

string urlEncoded = '1%20day%20%40work!%20Where%20are%20you%3F';
string replaced = decodeURIComponent(urlEncoded);
alert(replaced);

edited Jul 21 '12 at 09:39

answered Jul 21 '12 at 09:20

2

Please refrain from linking to w3school, see http://w3fools.com for why. The page you link to *might* have correct information, but the site is full of incorrect and misleading information, and linking to the site gives them credibility they do **not** deserve – freefaller Jul 21 '12 at 09:37
You are right @freefaller, I checked the information so that it was correct before posting but it was mainly laziness from my side that I took the first hit on Google. Updated to a link on Mozilla Developer Network instead that has the same info. – Karl-Johan Sjögren Jul 21 '12 at 09:40
1

If you have Google account then you should be able to block all results from them, problem solved! (**If** you have a Google account) – freefaller Jul 21 '12 at 09:42
Good idea, added it to my blocklist :) – Karl-Johan Sjögren Jul 21 '12 at 09:45
Yes if you encoded string have encoded spaces (%20) or newlines (%0D%0A) the will be properly decoded. – Karl-Johan Sjögren Jul 21 '12 at 10:16

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 21 '12 at 09:20

0

Use decodeURIComponent(urlEncoded)

answered Jul 21 '12 at 09:20

Dmitry Poroh

score -1 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 21 '12 at 09:20

-1

You are looking for unescape

var decoded = unescape(urlEncoded);

answered Jul 21 '12 at 09:20

nico

escape()/unescape() shouldn't be used for URIs though, see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/75980/best-practice-escape-or-encodeuri-encodeuricomponent for more information about this. – Karl-Johan Sjögren Jul 21 '12 at 09:22
@Karl-JohanSjögren: Now, he is not mentioning URLs anywhere, is he? – nico Jul 21 '12 at 09:23
@Karl-JohanSjögren: *URL encoding* is the encoding technique, it does not in any way mean that he is encoding URLs. In fact it seems pretty clear from the example that he is encoding a generic string. – nico Jul 21 '12 at 09:48

4 Answers4