Cannot process url with vertical/pipe bar in Java/Apache HttpClient

Question

If I want to process this url for example:

post = new HttpPost("http://testurl.com/lists/lprocess?action=LoadList|401814|1");

Java/Apache won't let me because it says that the vertical bar ("|") is illegal.

escaping it with double slashes doesn't work as well:

post = new HttpPost("http://testurl.com/lists/lprocess?action=LoadList\\|401814\\|1");

^ that doesn't work as well.

Any suggestions how to make this work?

Tarsem Singh · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-19T14:38:22.580

11

try with URLEncoder.encode()

Note: you should encode string which is after action= not complete URL

post = new HttpPost("http://testurl.com/lists/lprocess?action="+URLEncoder.encode("LoadList|401814|1","UTF-8"));

Refernce http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/net/URLEncoder.html

edited Aug 19 '13 at 14:38

answered Aug 19 '13 at 14:31

Tarsem Singh

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2

This is correct. Encoding the whole String will fail because URI would not recognize the encoded `http://`. – Sotirios Delimanolis Aug 19 '13 at 14:33

Jonathan · Answer 2 · 2013-08-19T14:50:23.207

10

You must encode | in a URL as %7C.

Consider using HttpClient's URIBuilder which takes care of the escaping for you, e.g.:

final URIBuilder builder = new URIBuilder();
builder.setScheme("http")
    .setHost("testurl.com")
    .setPath("/lists/lprocess")
    .addParameter("action", "LoadList|401814|1");
final URI uri = builder.build();
final HttpPost post = new HttpPost(uri);

edited Aug 19 '13 at 14:50

answered Aug 19 '13 at 14:26

Jonathan

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This answer is more verbose than [the one by Tarsem](http://stackoverflow.com/a/18316373/177710) but helps realize what parts there are in a URI. On the other hand, it keeps the handling and encoding nicely hidden in the implementation details of `URIBuilder`. – Oliver Jan 07 '15 at 12:03

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered May 19 '17 at 09:10

I had same problem and I solve it replacing the | for a encoded value of it => %7C and ir works

From this

post = new HttpPost("http://testurl.com/lists/lprocess?action=LoadList|401814|1");

To this

post = new HttpPost("http://testurl.com/lists/lprocess?action=LoadList\\%7C401814\\%7C1");

Michelle · Answer 4 · 2013-08-19T14:36:51.053

0

You can encode URL parameters using the URLEncoder:

post = new HttpPost("http://testurl.com/lists/lprocess?action=" + URLEncoder.encode("LoadList|401814|1", "UTF-8"));

This will encode all special characters, not just the pipe, for you.

edited Aug 19 '13 at 14:36

answered Aug 19 '13 at 14:30

Michelle

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score 0 · Answer 5 · edited Mar 29 '16 at 21:50

In post we don't attach parameters to url. Code below adds and urlEncodes your parameter. It's taken from: http://hc.apache.org/httpcomponents-client-ga/quickstart.html

    DefaultHttpClient httpclient = new DefaultHttpClient();
    HttpPost httpPost = new HttpPost("http://testurl.com/lists/lprocess");

    List <NameValuePair> nvps = new ArrayList <NameValuePair>();
    nvps.add(new BasicNameValuePair("action", "LoadList|401814|1"));
    httpPost.setEntity(new UrlEncodedFormEntity(nvps));
    HttpResponse response2 = httpclient.execute(httpPost);

    try {
        System.out.println(response2.getStatusLine());
        HttpEntity entity2 = response2.getEntity();
        // do something useful with the response body
        // and ensure it is fully consumed

        String response = new Scanner(entity2.getContent()).useDelimiter("\\A").next();
        System.out.println(response);


        EntityUtils.consume(entity2);
    } finally {
        httpPost.releaseConnection();
    }

Quoting: *"In post we don't attach parameters to url."* This is not true. You can very well send data in a POST request using URL parameters and it does not collide with any standards. — Oliver, Jan 07 '15 at 12:09

Cannot process url with vertical/pipe bar in Java/Apache HttpClient

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