AJAX unique URL

Question

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How does facebook rewrite the source URL of a page in the browser address bar?

Maybe this is a silly question, and I apologize if it's a simple one, but I'm not sure if I'm getting the terminology correct so I haven't been able to find any results with google.

I'm looking to change/modify the current page's URL (or specifically it's GET variables) using AJAX. I didn't think this was at all possible but it appears to be done in Facebook.

For instance when I'm on my facebook profile the url is written:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=xxxxx&sk=wall

Then if I click on the info link below my profile picture it changes to:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=xxxxx&sk=info

And there is no page refresh (as far as I can see).

So what's the deal, how is this done?

See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3849758/how-does-facebook-rewrite-the-source-url-of-a-page-in-the-browser-address-bar — Crescent Fresh, Mar 10 '11 at 01:14

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 09:58

0

AFAIK you cannot change the URL without a refresh except to add a hashtag anchor. You can use the location.replace method:

http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/met_loc_replace.asp

Updated to reflect @Crescent Fresh's link

Looks like there is another option with HTML 5's history.pushState() (currently only supported by Webkit):

How does facebook rewrite the source URL of a page in the browser address bar?

edited May 23 '17 at 09:58

Community

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answered Mar 10 '11 at 01:04

Abdullah Jibaly

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I don't think that this is what facebook does. Firstly there is no hash in the link as you can see and unless I'm just missing it, I really don't see any refresh. I'm about to go through the source and try to figure it out. But if anyone already knows the answer please post it. – Barak Gall Mar 10 '11 at 01:09
Wrong; see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3849758/how-does-facebook-rewrite-the-source-url-of-a-page-in-the-browser-address-bar – Lightness Races in Orbit Mar 10 '11 at 01:30
I'd make Tomalak's response the answer but it's just a comment. Thanks you guys. – Barak Gall Mar 10 '11 at 03:21

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 10 '11 at 01:09

0

The page URL query-string cannot be modified without a new request, but its "fragment identifier" (the part after the #) can, with javascript (thus Ajax).

You can even leverage that using ScriptManager's EnableHistory property.

<asp:ScriptManager ID="ScriptManager1" runat="server" EnableHistory="true" onnavigate="ScriptManager1_Navigate" />

and

protected void Button_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
   //Do something.
   // ...

   //Then "remember the state".
   ScriptManager1.AddHistoryPoint("SomeState", "SomeStateValue"); 
}

protected void ScriptManager1_Navigate(object sender, HistoryEventArgs e)
{
  //Get the state back.
  String statevalue = e.State["SomeState"];
  // ...
}

answered Mar 10 '11 at 01:09

tiago2014

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Wrong; see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3849758/how-does-facebook-rewrite-the-source-url-of-a-page-in-the-browser-address-bar – Lightness Races in Orbit Mar 10 '11 at 01:32
@tiangoinu: It's not syntax sugar at all; it's a core language feature. Anyway, your claim that it cannot be done is clear simply wrong. – Lightness Races in Orbit Mar 10 '11 at 10:42
@Tomalak You are right in all counts. I was just kidding about syntax sugar, sorry it came out bad. Here, take a beer. – tiago2014 Mar 10 '11 at 11:19

AJAX unique URL

2 Answers2