Query Strings

JavaScript FAQ | Navigation Enhancements  

Question: Can my script access the query string in the current URL?

Answer: A query string (or search string) is an optional part of a URL that goes after the file name and begins with a question mark (?). For example, the following URL has a query string ?myquery after the HTML file name:

http://www.myfirm.com/file.html?myquery
Your script can access the query string in the current URL by using the JavaScript location.search property. Click the buttons below to try it! (To view the URL in the address line, you might want to display this page in the top-level browser window.)
These buttons have been created using the following code:
<form>
<input type=button value="Add query ?test"  
onClick="self.location=
self.location.protocol+'//'
+self.location.host
+self.location.pathname+'?test'">

<input type=button value="Show query" 
onClick="alert('Query string: '+self.location.search)">

<input type=button value="Remove query" 
onClick="self.location=
self.location.protocol+'//'
+self.location.host
+self.location.pathname">
</form>
NOTE: query strings might not always work as expected. For example, if you save this page on your local disk, the above buttons won't work in Internet Explorer 4.x (but they would still work in newer browsers).

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