function readOnly(count){ }
Sign Up ›
Starting November 20, the site will be set to read-only. On December 4, 2023,
forum discussions will move to the Trailblazer Community.
Learn More

Browse by Topic
ShowAll Questionssorted byDate Posted
+ Start a Discussion
sgkmillssgkmills 

EncodingUtil.urlEncode method not returning what I expected

I am trying to use the method EncodingUtil.urlEncode as shown below to encode a string passed into my method 'checkProduct'.  For example, if I call checkProduct('Jelly Beans'), I am expecting that the econdedURL would equal https://somewhere.com/something/Jelly%20Beans.  I am not getting that.  I am getting https://somewhere.com/something/Jelly++Beans.

 

What I need is for any of the spaces to be converted to %20.  I thought this is what the urlEncode method would do?  Any help would be appreciated.

 

public String checkProduct(String target) {
  	
 String URL = 'https://somewhere.com/something/';
 String encodedURL;
 System.debug('URL= ' + URL);
 encodedURL = URL + EncodingUtil.urlEncode(target, 'UTF-8');
 System.debug('encodedURL= ' + encodedURL);

)
 


tlaportetlaporte
+ should work the same as %20 in a urlEncoded string.  Example:
 
http://www.google.com/search?q=Book+Worm
 
http://www.google.com/search?q=Book%20Worm
 
Is something actually breaking when you attempt to use the +'d URL? 


sgkmillssgkmills
The problem is the '+' can be used in the string and is a valid character to search on.  For example, if I passed 'Jelly+Beans', it doesn't mean 'Jelly Beans' to the server it means 'Jelly+Beans'.
 
I used the replace method on the string to strip out the spaces and change them to %20, but was trying to avoid other encoding issues with special characters so this is why I was trying to use urlEncode.
 
Please let me know if there is any other way.
 
Thanks 


SuperfellSuperfell
The server is broken, the spec says + is the correct encoding of a space character (and that a real + character should be % encoded). If you can't get the server fixed, then you'll need to write your own version of the encoding function.


MiddhaMiddha
Simon, i am facing the same issue. I am using oAuth authentication and it expects space as %20 and + as %2B.


If i try to send space encoded as +, it rejects my authentication.


 


Is there a way in APEX that i can encode the string which gives me the above values. The last option i see is replacing the spaces with %20.


sgkmillssgkmills
Not sure this message is for me.


Arav144Arav144
Hi, even I faced the same issue while encoding a constant value which is to be appened into my end point. I tried to do EncodingUtil.Urlencode(target, 'UTF-8'), but it was giving ' + ' when I saw the debug message for endpoint.
I tried with  contastValue.replaceAll( '  ', '%20 ');, it worked for me.

 


Sean Carter 3Sean Carter 3
Just a note, the specification for authenticating requests in Amazon S3 states the following:

The space character is a reserved character and must be encoded as "%20" (and not as "+").
So providing an option for encoding using "%20" would be quite useful.  As it is, I had to write my own UriEncode function.

Reference:  http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/API/sigv4-query-string-auth.html


Barry PericBarry Peric
I was having a similar issues with linebreaks causing failed posts. The following replaceall fixed it without needing to write anything custom.

e.g.
String messageData = "abc , 123, \n\n\n abc123";

messageData = (String)EncodingUtil.urlEncode(messageData, 'UTF-8').replaceAll('\\+','%20');