extract query string from a URL string

Question

I am reading from history, and I want that when i come across a google query, I can extract the query string. I am not using request or httputility since i am simply parsing

Answer 1

If you really need to do the parsing yourself, and are only interested in the value for 'q' then the following would work:

        string url = @"http://www.google.com.mt/search?" +
            "client=firefoxa&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-" +
            "US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=mt&source=hp&" +
            "biw=986&bih=663&q=hotmail&meta=&btnG=Fittex+bil-Google";

        int question = url.IndexOf("?");
        if(question>-1)
        {
            int qindex = url.IndexOf("q=", question);
            if (qindex > -1)
            {
                int ampersand = url.IndexOf('&', qindex);
                string token = null;

                if (ampersand > -1)
                    token = url.Substring(qindex+2, ampersand - qindex - 2);
                else
                    token = url.Substring(qindex+2);

                Console.WriteLine(token);
            }
        }

But do try to look at using a proper URL parser, it will save you a lot of hassle in the future.

(amended this question to include a check for the '?' token, and support 'q' values at the end of the query string (without the '&' at the end) )