Encodeuricomponent with macros?

[RunningUtes]

I have a macro that I am having problems using the encodeuricomponent function.

The macro below:

\define SearchDDG(topic)
[[Search DuckDuckGo: $topic$|https://duckduckgo.com/?q=$topic$]]
\end

would be called by <<SearchDDG "Topic of Interest">> but is not uri encoded.

The TW documentation suggests adding [[Title with Space]] +[encodeuricomponent[]] but this only works on filters.

How can I uri encode with macros?

[TW_Tones]

Although you are using a macro you are defining a filter and you are not using the encodeuricomponent[] operator in a filter anywhere.

• Please share the rest of the code that does this

[RunningUtes]

Correct. I don’t want to use a filter. The entire code is listed above in the macro.

Description/summary: encodeuricomponent only works on filters and will not work on urls that are included in a macro

Steps to reproduce:

1. Define a macro using the below code and tag with $:/tags/Macro. Save the tiddler.

\define SearchDDG(topic)
[[Search DuckDuckGo: $topic$|https://duckduckgo.com/?q=$topic$]]
\end

2. Call macro with <<SearchDDG "topic">> and render tiddler.
3. Clicking on link will open browser to https://duckduckgo.com/?q=topic
4. Call macro with <<SearchDDG "topic with space">> and render tiddler.
5. Clicking on link will open browser to https://duckduckgo.com/?q=topic with space rather then the expected https://duckduckgo.com/?q=topic%20with%20space

[EricShulman]

Try this:

\define SearchDDG(topic)
<$let url={{{ [[https://duckduckgo.com/?q=]] [[$topic$]encodeuricomponent[]] +[join[]] }}}>
<a href=<<url>> target=_blank><$text text="Search DuckDuckGo: $topic$"/></a>
</$let>
\end

Notes:

• The $let widget uses “filtered transclusion” syntax to construct the desired target URL
  • The first filter run defines the initial part of the URL.
  • The next filter run takes the $topic$ param value and applies the encodeuricomponent[] filter operator.
  • The last filter run concatenates the results of the previous two filter runs to assemble the full URL.
• The full URL is then output as a standard HTML <a> link that with target=_blank to open in a separate tab.
• The link text is displayed using a $text widget to prevent creating any tiddler links (e.g., “DuckDuckGo”)

enjoy,
-e

[RunningUtes]

Thank you! That works just as expected. I didn’t know about the $let widget, “filtered transclusion” or the join command.

[EricShulman]

Another way to achieve the correct URI encoding is to use the [ext[...]] “external link” syntax, like this:

\define SearchDDG(topic)
[ext[Search DuckDuckGo: $topic$|https://duckduckgo.com/?q=$topic$]]
\end

[RunningUtes]

Using the [ext[...]] syntax didn’t work for me. I would have prefered this since it looks simplier.

[EricShulman]

I tested the [ext[...]] syntax on https://TiddlyWiki.com, and it works as expected, even when the topic text contains spaces. What browser/platform are you using?

[RunningUtes]

quine on ios 16.4, TiddlyWiki version 5.2.7.

Maybe possibly the iOS or quine.

For now, I’ll stick the the first solution. Thanks!