Path.Combine for URLs?

Question

Path.Combine is handy, but is there a similar function in the .NET framework for URLs?

I\'m looking for syntax like this:

Url.Combine(\"http://MyUrl.         


        

Answer 1

If you don't want to have a dependency like Flurl, you can use its source code:

    /// 

    /// Basically a Path.Combine for URLs. Ensures exactly one '/' separates each segment,
    /// and exactly on '&' separates each query parameter.
    /// URL-encodes illegal characters but not reserved characters.
    /// 
    /// URL parts to combine.
    public static string Combine(params string[] parts) {
        if (parts == null)
            throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(parts));

        string result = "";
        bool inQuery = false, inFragment = false;

        string CombineEnsureSingleSeparator(string a, string b, char separator) {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(a)) return b;
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(b)) return a;
            return a.TrimEnd(separator) + separator + b.TrimStart(separator);
        }

        foreach (var part in parts) {
            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(part))
                continue;

            if (result.EndsWith("?") || part.StartsWith("?"))
                result = CombineEnsureSingleSeparator(result, part, '?');
            else if (result.EndsWith("#") || part.StartsWith("#"))
                result = CombineEnsureSingleSeparator(result, part, '#');
            else if (inFragment)
                result += part;
            else if (inQuery)
                result = CombineEnsureSingleSeparator(result, part, '&');
            else
                result = CombineEnsureSingleSeparator(result, part, '/');

            if (part.Contains("#")) {
                inQuery = false;
                inFragment = true;
            }
            else if (!inFragment && part.Contains("?")) {
                inQuery = true;
            }
        }
        return EncodeIllegalCharacters(result);
    }

    /// 

    /// URL-encodes characters in a string that are neither reserved nor unreserved. Avoids encoding reserved characters such as '/' and '?'. Avoids encoding '%' if it begins a %-hex-hex sequence (i.e. avoids double-encoding).
    /// 
    /// The string to encode.
    /// If true, spaces will be encoded as + signs. Otherwise, they'll be encoded as %20.
    /// The encoded URL.
    public static string EncodeIllegalCharacters(string s, bool encodeSpaceAsPlus = false) {
        if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(s))
            return s;

        if (encodeSpaceAsPlus)
            s = s.Replace(" ", "+");

        // Uri.EscapeUriString mostly does what we want - encodes illegal characters only - but it has a quirk
        // in that % isn't illegal if it's the start of a %-encoded sequence https://stackoverflow.com/a/47636037/62600

        // no % characters, so avoid the regex overhead
        if (!s.Contains("%"))
            return Uri.EscapeUriString(s);

        // pick out all %-hex-hex matches and avoid double-encoding 
        return Regex.Replace(s, "(.*?)((%[0-9A-Fa-f]{2})|$)", c => {
            var a = c.Groups[1].Value; // group 1 is a sequence with no %-encoding - encode illegal characters
            var b = c.Groups[2].Value; // group 2 is a valid 3-character %-encoded sequence - leave it alone!
            return Uri.EscapeUriString(a) + b;
        });
    }