What is "amp;" in the oslc get request and why my URI doesn't work if I include that
I wanted to get all the artifacts/requirements related to specific project in DNG through APIs.
I was actually following this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzrVo6YM0iQ
I understood we can find the URI for this when I execute Get project request i.e, "/rm/oslc_rm/{Project_ID}/service.xml", which is tagged as <oslc:queryBase> within the node <oslc:queryCapability>
I found the URI and try to execute the exact URI without making any changes to URI as mentioned in that you tube video and I ended up with this error "Invalid URL submitted"
So after comparing the URI from you tube with my URI. The only difference I see was the word "amp;" which is placed between oslc.query and projectURL.
Here is my URI:
https://{server name}:9443/rm/views?oslc.query=true&projectURL=https%3A%2F%2Fjazz-
{servername}%3A9443%2Frm%2Fprocess%2Fproject-areas%2F_jaAkFpGvPjfdCIpw
So I just removed that word and tried executing the same URI (without "amp;") and it worked.
I am confused, what is "amp;" and why my request failed to executed when its there.
Do anyone have any idea about this?
Accepted answer
& is encoded as & so if you need to send '&' as part of a query string in a url you have to encode it, whereas '&' in the URL identifies a new parameter is following. In the your string that parameter is projectURL. This is a good example why one should not use '&' in the name of Project Areas, Team Areas, Categories, or Folders just to name a few.
Your next question is why was the amp; in the URL found by your earlier request. This happened because the browser encoded the '&' when it displayed it to you. As Ralph said about familiarizing yourself with URL encoding rules, it will help you recognize these things when you see them.
