Remove illegal URL characters with JavaScript

Question

Hi,

I have an array filled with strings, a value can for example be "not updated for > days". I use the values in the array to create some url's and need to remove the /\<> and other illegal URL characters. How do I easiest do this?

I started with

var Name0 = title[0].substring(1).replace(" ", "%20").replace("/", "") + '.aspx';
var Name1 = title[1].substring(1).replace(" ", "%20").replace("/", "") + '.aspx';
and so on but can I do this in a better way?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

You could use the encodeURIComponent function which will properly URL encode the value.

Answer 2

Have you had a look at encodeURIComponent?

Example usage

var encoded = window.encodeURIComponent("http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3486625/remove-illegal-url-characters-with-javascript/3486631#3486631");

// encoded contains "http%3A%2F%2Fstackoverflow.com%2Fquestions%2F3486625%2Fremove-illegal-url-characters-with-javascript%2F3486631%233486631"

Answer 3

If you wish to keep the symbols in the URI, but encode them:

encodedURI = encodeURIComponent(crappyURI);

If you wish to build 'friendly' URIs such as those on blogs:

niceURI = crappyURI.replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9-_]/g, '');