Adobe ColdFusion 8

URLEncodedFormat

Description

Generates a URL-encoded string. For example, it replaces spaces with %20, and non-alphanumeric characters with equivalent hexadecimal escape sequences. Passes arbitrary strings within a URL (ColdFusion automatically decodes URL parameters that are passed to a page).

Returns

A copy of a string, URL-encoded.

Category

Conversion functions, Other functions, String functions

Function syntax

URLEncodedFormat(string [, charset ])

See also

URLDecode; "Tags and functions for globalizing applications" in the ColdFusion Developer's Guide

History

ColdFusion MX 6.1: Changed the default encoding to be the response character encoding.

ColdFusion MX: Added the charset parameter.

Parameters

Parameter

Description
string

A string or a variable that contains one
charset

The character encoding in which the string is encoded. Optional.

The following list includes commonly used values:

  • utf-8
  • iso-8859-1
  • windows-1252
  • us-ascii
  • shift_jis
  • iso-2022-jp
  • euc-jp
  • euc-kr
  • big5
  • euc-cn
  • utf-16

For more information on character encoding, see: www.w3.org/International/O-charset.html.

The default value is the character encoding of the response. See cfcontent.

Usage

URL encoding formats some characters with a percent sign and the two-character hexadecimal representation of the character. For example, a character whose code is 129 is encoded as %81. A space is encoded with a plus sign.

Query strings in HTTP are always URL-encoded.

Example

<h3>URLEncodedFormat Example</h3>
<cfif IsDefined("url.myExample")>
    <p>The url variable url.myExample was passed from the previous link ... 
    its value is:
    <br><b>"<cfoutput>#url.myExample#</cfoutput>"</b>
</cfif>
<p>This function returns a URL encoded string.
<cfset s = "My url-encoded string has special characters & other stuff">
<p> <A HREF = "urlencodedformat.cfm?myExample=<cfoutput>#URLEncodedFormat(s)#
</cfoutput>">Click me</A>