Node.js / JavaScript: get all parts of URL path hierarchy

Question

I'm aware that you can get the query string of a URL like:

var url = require("url");

...

http.createServer((req,res) => console.log(url.parse(req.url).query))

But that's only if the variables are in a query-string format:

example.com/index.html?key=val&key2=val2

etc...

But what if I wanted to get the "variables" in the form of values if the url was in a format:

example.com/key/val/key2/val2

?

I could just split the array for /'s and then map it accordingly:

var pathParts = request.url.split("/").filter(x => x.length > 0).map(x => x.split("%20").join(" "));

but that would fail for a URL like this:

example.com/url/http://google.com

So how can I get each of the values separated by / as a unique array element, even if there are nested /'s ?

You should urlencode your strings anyway, that way it would be example.com/url/http%3A%2F%2Fgoogle.com — Michał Sadowski
– Michał Sadowski, Commented Mar 13, 2019 at 9:53
@MichałSadowski Oh cool, how do I do that? (and then decode?) — B''H Bi'ezras -- Boruch Hashem
– B''H Bi'ezras -- Boruch Hashem, Commented Mar 13, 2019 at 9:55
@MichałSadowski I realized about the encodeURIComponent and decodeUriComponent, but I realized it still doesn't help me: because I need to separate each value by one / at a time, how can I separate example.com/key/http: //yahoo.com/key2/http: //google.com (without the spaces) — B''H Bi'ezras -- Boruch Hashem
– B''H Bi'ezras -- Boruch Hashem, Commented Mar 13, 2019 at 10:00

Michał Sadowski · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-13 10:14:09Z

1

First, when you create a url you need to encode every part of it using encodeURIComponent(). This way you will get an url that is, for example: example.com/url1/http%3A%2F%2Fgoogle.com/url2/http%3A%2F%2Fbing.com. Then reading it back is as simple as using:

let requestArray = request.url.split("/")
let requestDecodedArray = requestArray.map((el)=>decodeURIComponent(el))

answered Mar 13, 2019 at 10:14

Michał Sadowski

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5 Comments

B''H Bi'ezras -- Boruch Hashem Over a year ago

When I run encodeURIComponent on a string like this question: (take out space after "https "): encodeURIComponent("https ://stackoverflow.com/questions/55138803/node-js-javascript-get-all-parts-of-url-parth-hierchy/55139317#55139317") it encodes every "/" and doesn't differentiate between them at all, try it in the console

Michał Sadowski Over a year ago

@bluejayke that's why you need to run it before composing the url, on every part of it, instead on it whole.

B''H Bi'ezras -- Boruch Hashem Over a year ago

How should I do that, the user is the one who inputs the URL to their browser and I get it from request.url

Michał Sadowski Over a year ago

Users generally don't input URL directly, but get it, for example, from links; otherwise you would never know what kind of input you will get. You need to solve it from UI perspective, but I bet it's gonna be done during link href composing.

B''H Bi'ezras -- Boruch Hashem Over a year ago

I want to just use the URL as a variable

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