is a query string with a / in it valid?

Question

Due to a miscommunication with an affiliate partner we're working with the URL they call on our server has been mixed up.

This is the URL they are supposed to call on our server :

 /AAAAAAAA/?b=CCCCCCC

unfotunately it was implemented in their system as this

 ?b=CCCCCCC/AAAAAAA

I can easily parse out the components, but I'm worried that a query string parameter with / in it is not actually a valid URL.

Is a / in a URL actually valid - or should I be concerned. Under what circumstances may an unencoded / cause problems in a query string.

Answer 1

Although I've never had a problem, they're not technically allowed as per RFC 2396:

Within a query component, the characters ";", "/", "?", ":", "@", "&", "=", "+", ",", and "$" are reserved.

But as I said...I've never run into any issues. I think it's a problem with older browsers more than anything, but maybe someone can shed some more light on a problem this causes?

Answer 2

Slash is a "reserved character" in the query part of a URL per RFC 2396 section 3.4, so according to section 2.2 it has to be encoded. That is, a query part can contain %2F but shouldn't contain /.