Can I do string formatting in Javascript?

Question

Possible Duplicate:
JavaScript equivalent to printf/string.format

I am creating code like this:

var ds = "ds=" + encodeURIComponent($('#DataSource').val());
var ex = "ex=" + encodeURIComponent($('#EID').val());
var to = "to=" + encodeURIComponent($('#TID').val());
var st = "st=" + encodeURIComponent($('#SID').val());
window.location.href = '/person?' + ds + "&" + ex + "&" + to + "&" + st;

Is there some way in Javascript that I could use formatting to make the code look a bit cleaner? Also do I need to encode each element or can I just encode the variable abc?

Built-in.. NO. But you can find an implementation at http://stackoverflow.com/questions/610406/javascript-equivalent-to-printf-string-format/4673436#4673436 — Gabriele Petrioli, Oct 31 '11 at 10:18

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 31 '11 at 10:17

1

There's not a lot you can do, really. You could alias the encodeURIComponent method and use an array with join() if you're looking for something a little neater:

var e = encodeURIComponent, 
    arr = [
        "ds=" + e($('#DataSource').val()),
        "ex=" + e($('#EID').val()),
        "to=" + e($('#TID').val()),
        "st=" + e($('#SID').val())
    ];

window.location.href = '/person?' + arr.join("&");

answered Oct 31 '11 at 10:17

Andy E

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I like the idea of arr.join but do I need to do the encode on each element or could I just do it on the elements after they are joined up? – Samantha J T Star Oct 31 '11 at 10:19
1

@SamanthaJ you need to encode each element other wise `&` is encoded. – Raynos Oct 31 '11 at 10:22
1

Thank you Andy. I tried your suggestion and it works great. Thank you also to everyone else. I learned a lot from this post. – Samantha J T Star Oct 31 '11 at 10:27

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 31 '11 at 10:17

Use <form> and put your input tags in them and you can call $('formContainer').serialize();

Its better to use name-value pairs(query strings), while sending data to URI. provide names as id to all of the input tags that you wish to capture. You will get something like:

/person/DataSource=ds&EID=ex&TID=to&SID=st

-HTH

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 31 '11 at 10:17

0

Why don't you just write:

window.location.href = encodeURIComponent('/person?' + 
    $('#DataSource').val() + "&" 
    + $('#EID').val() + "&" + $('#TID').val() + "&"
    + $('#SID').val());

answered Oct 31 '11 at 10:17

itsjavi

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this will encode the `/`, `&` and `?` as well.. – Gabriele Petrioli Oct 31 '11 at 10:20
I was meaning some string format function that I see in other languages. – Samantha J T Star Oct 31 '11 at 10:20
Oops, that's right Gaby. Sorry Samantha, don't use this ;) – itsjavi Oct 31 '11 at 10:22

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited May 23 '17 at 09:59

0

Take a look at sprintf()

Also this can help: JavaScript equivalent to printf/string.format

edited May 23 '17 at 09:59

Community

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answered Oct 31 '11 at 10:18

Pedram Behroozi

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score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 31 '11 at 10:21

var str = "/person?ds=%x&ex=%x&to=%x&st=%x";

var tokens = [
  $("#DataSource").val(),
  $("#EID").val(),
  $("#TID").val(),
  $("#SID").val()
];

tokens.forEach(function (token) {
  str = str.replace("%x", encodeURIComponent(token));
});

location.href = str;

This will absolutely fall over if you have %x in your token string.

If you want a more generic solution try underscore.string

Can I do string formatting in Javascript?

5 Answers5