1 | # url-parse
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2 |
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3 | [](https://www.npmjs.com/package/url-parse)[](https://github.com/unshiftio/url-parse/actions?query=workflow%3ACI+branch%3Amaster)[](https://coveralls.io/r/unshiftio/url-parse?branch=master)
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4 |
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5 | [](https://saucelabs.com/u/url-parse)
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6 |
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7 | **`url-parse` was created in 2014 when the WHATWG URL API was not available in
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8 | Node.js and the `URL` interface was supported only in some browsers. Today this
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9 | is no longer true. The `URL` interface is available in all supported Node.js
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10 | release lines and basically all browsers. Consider using it for better security
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11 | and accuracy.**
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12 |
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13 | The `url-parse` method exposes two different API interfaces. The
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14 | [`url`](https://nodejs.org/api/url.html) interface that you know from Node.js
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15 | and the new [`URL`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/URL/URL)
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16 | interface that is available in the latest browsers.
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17 |
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18 | In version `0.1` we moved from a DOM based parsing solution, using the `<a>`
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19 | element, to a full Regular Expression solution. The main reason for this was
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20 | to make the URL parser available in different JavaScript environments as you
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21 | don't always have access to the DOM. An example of such environment is the
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22 | [`Worker`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/API/Worker) interface.
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23 | The RegExp based solution didn't work well as it required a lot of lookups
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24 | causing major problems in FireFox. In version `1.0.0` we ditched the RegExp
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25 | based solution in favor of a pure string parsing solution which chops up the
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26 | URL into smaller pieces. This module still has a really small footprint as it
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27 | has been designed to be used on the client side.
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28 |
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29 | In addition to URL parsing we also expose the bundled `querystringify` module.
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30 |
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31 | ## Installation
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32 |
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33 | This module is designed to be used using either browserify or Node.js it's
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34 | released in the public npm registry and can be installed using:
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35 |
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36 | ```
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37 | npm install url-parse
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38 | ```
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39 |
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40 | ## Usage
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41 |
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42 | All examples assume that this library is bootstrapped using:
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43 |
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44 | ```js
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45 | 'use strict';
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46 |
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47 | var Url = require('url-parse');
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48 | ```
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49 |
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50 | To parse an URL simply call the `URL` method with the URL that needs to be
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51 | transformed into an object.
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52 |
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53 | ```js
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54 | var url = new Url('https://github.com/foo/bar');
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55 | ```
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56 |
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57 | The `new` keyword is optional but it will save you an extra function invocation.
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58 | The constructor takes the following arguments:
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59 |
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60 | - `url` (`String`): A string representing an absolute or relative URL.
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61 | - `baseURL` (`Object` | `String`): An object or string representing
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62 | the base URL to use in case `url` is a relative URL. This argument is
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63 | optional and defaults to [`location`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Location)
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64 | in the browser.
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65 | - `parser` (`Boolean` | `Function`): This argument is optional and specifies
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66 | how to parse the query string. By default it is `false` so the query string
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67 | is not parsed. If you pass `true` the query string is parsed using the
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68 | embedded `querystringify` module. If you pass a function the query string
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69 | will be parsed using this function.
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70 |
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71 | As said above we also support the Node.js interface so you can also use the
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72 | library in this way:
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73 |
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74 | ```js
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75 | 'use strict';
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76 |
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77 | var parse = require('url-parse')
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78 | , url = parse('https://github.com/foo/bar', true);
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79 | ```
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80 |
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81 | The returned `url` instance contains the following properties:
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82 |
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83 | - `protocol`: The protocol scheme of the URL (e.g. `http:`).
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84 | - `slashes`: A boolean which indicates whether the `protocol` is followed by two
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85 | forward slashes (`//`).
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86 | - `auth`: Authentication information portion (e.g. `username:password`).
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87 | - `username`: Username of basic authentication.
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88 | - `password`: Password of basic authentication.
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89 | - `host`: Host name with port number. The hostname might be invalid.
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90 | - `hostname`: Host name without port number. This might be an invalid hostname.
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91 | - `port`: Optional port number.
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92 | - `pathname`: URL path.
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93 | - `query`: Parsed object containing query string, unless parsing is set to false.
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94 | - `hash`: The "fragment" portion of the URL including the pound-sign (`#`).
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95 | - `href`: The full URL.
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96 | - `origin`: The origin of the URL.
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97 |
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98 | Note that when `url-parse` is used in a browser environment, it will default to
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99 | using the browser's current window location as the base URL when parsing all
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100 | inputs. To parse an input independently of the browser's current URL (e.g. for
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101 | functionality parity with the library in a Node environment), pass an empty
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102 | location object as the second parameter:
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103 |
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104 | ```js
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105 | var parse = require('url-parse');
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106 | parse('hostname', {});
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107 | ```
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108 |
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109 | ### Url.set(key, value)
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110 |
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111 | A simple helper function to change parts of the URL and propagating it through
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112 | all properties. When you set a new `host` you want the same value to be applied
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113 | to `port` if has a different port number, `hostname` so it has a correct name
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114 | again and `href` so you have a complete URL.
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115 |
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116 | ```js
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117 | var parsed = parse('http://google.com/parse-things');
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118 |
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119 | parsed.set('hostname', 'yahoo.com');
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120 | console.log(parsed.href); // http://yahoo.com/parse-things
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121 | ```
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122 |
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123 | It's aware of default ports so you cannot set a port 80 on an URL which has
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124 | `http` as protocol.
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125 |
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126 | ### Url.toString()
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127 |
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128 | The returned `url` object comes with a custom `toString` method which will
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129 | generate a full URL again when called. The method accepts an extra function
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130 | which will stringify the query string for you. If you don't supply a function we
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131 | will use our default method.
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132 |
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133 | ```js
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134 | var location = url.toString(); // http://example.com/whatever/?qs=32
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135 | ```
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136 |
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137 | You would rarely need to use this method as the full URL is also available as
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138 | `href` property. If you are using the `URL.set` method to make changes, this
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139 | will automatically update.
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140 |
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141 | ## Testing
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142 |
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143 | The testing of this module is done in 3 different ways:
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144 |
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145 | 1. We have unit tests that run under Node.js. You can run these tests with the
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146 | `npm test` command.
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147 | 2. Code coverage can be run manually using `npm run coverage`.
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148 | 3. For browser testing we use Sauce Labs and `zuul`. You can run browser tests
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149 | using the `npm run test-browser` command.
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150 |
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151 | ## License
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152 |
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153 | [MIT](LICENSE)
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