{"id":68294,"date":"2025-05-09T03:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T17:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rjmprogramming.com.au\/ITblog\/?p=68294"},"modified":"2025-05-09T07:38:49","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T21:38:49","slug":"wildcard-url-primer-tutorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rjmprogramming.com.au\/ITblog\/wildcard-url-primer-tutorial\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildcard URL Primer Tutorial"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Wildcard<\/a>

Wildcard URL Primer Tutorial<\/p><\/div>\n

Like with Page Not Found Error Message Email Subject Tutorial<\/a> it’s …<\/p>\n


\n404.shtml
\n<\/code><\/p>\n

… we’re interested in embellishing the functionality of, today. The job is to allow a …<\/p>\n


\nhttps:\/\/www.rjmprogramming.com.au\/[FoldersOfRelevance]\/[FileSpecificationIncluding*Wildcard]
\nhttps:\/\/www.rjmprogramming.com.au\/HTMLCSS\/*.gif<\/a>
\n<\/code><\/p>\n

… mean something other than a …<\/p>\n


\nHTTP Error 404 ... Webpage Not Found
\n<\/code><\/p>\n

… error. For the case of most RJM Programming URLs this “normal case” error reporting will be the responsibility of it’s Apache Document Root 404.shtml<\/a> file where we’ve added<\/font> …<\/p>\n


\n var locparts=[], rquri='', rfound=false, ri=0;
\n
\n if (document.URL.indexOf('*') != -1 && document.URL.toLowerCase().indexOf('rjmprogramming.com.au\/') != -1) {
\n locparts=document.URL.split('#')[0].split('\/');
\n while (ri < eval(-1 + eval('' + locparts.length))) {
\n if (locparts[ri].toLowerCase().indexOf('rjmprogramming.com.au') != -1) {
\n rfound=true;
\n ri++;
\n rquri=locparts[ri];
\n if (rquri == 'PHP') {
\n rquri='.';
\n } else {
\n rquri='..\/';
\n if (ri != eval(-1 + eval('' + locparts.length))) {
\n rquri+=locparts[ri];
\n }
\n }
\n } else if (ri != eval(-1 + eval('' + locparts.length))) {
\n if (rfound) {
\n rquri+='\/' + locparts[ri];
\n }
\n }
\n ri++;
\n }
\n location.href='\/\/www.rjmprogramming.com.au\/PHP\/find_images_via_size.php?fsort=&wsort=&hsort=&path=' + encodeURIComponent(rquri) + '&filespec=' + locparts[eval(-1 + eval('' + locparts.length))] + '&wo=%21%3D&wv=-500&ho=%21%3D&hv=-500';
\n exit;
\n } else <\/font>if (document.URL.indexOf('.au\/drupal') != -1) {
\n location.href='\/\/www.rjmprogramming.com.au\/drupal\/index.htm';
\n exit;
\n }
\n<\/code><\/p>\n

… so that we redirect to our inhouse Find Images web application<\/a> and we’ll see about non-image files, as a consideration, into the future!<\/p>\n

\n

\n

Previous relevant Page Not Found Error Message Email Subject Tutorial<\/a> is shown below.<\/p>\n

\"Page<\/a>

Page Not Found Error Message Email Subject Tutorial<\/p><\/div>\n

Why, with today’s tutorial, are we conflating two quite disparate subjects …<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. HTTP (ie. Hypertext Transfer Protocol) Error Code 404 “Page Not Found” or “Server Not Found” …with …<\/li>\n
  2. Email Subject lines<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    … into the one tutorial topic? Well, as we talked about with body of email scenarios, with some email clients (with Window SessionStorage Client Versus Server CSS Tutorial<\/a>) …<\/p>\n

    \n

    As far as links go, you may expect to need serverside means to construct these in online Email and SMS message interfacing, but email (client program) products like Gmail<\/a> parse your ascii text and convert http: or https: protocol URLs in your Email body to hyperlinks, as does the Messages SMS application here on this MacBook Pro using macOS Mojave. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    … it pans out with some email clients such as iOS Mail app, that email subject lines containing similar http: or https: protocol URLs<\/i> also get converted into hyperlinks. For us this has become a more likely scenario ever since the email [date] subject line token work typified by Local Datetime Token Subject Integrations Tutorial<\/a>. The nature of those hyperlinks created, though, seem to be a great concern for these more helpful email clients and if you put into subject lines URLs containing “?” and “&” delimited arguments, the email clients mildly “mash up” these URLs so that recent ones from our “Plot Axes – Linear or Parabolic Formula” web application for (an example like) …<\/p>\n


    \n    https:\/\/www.rjmprogramming.com.au\/HTMLCSS\/square_hr_tracing.htm?wording=Vertex%20Pointing%20Game&question=%20#blank=plot187|-200,-200,200,200|2,-123<\/a>
    \n<\/code><\/p>\n

    … on email clients that do not do “the (monster)<\/a><\/font> mash”, on an email client that “does hyperlink but mash up” the URL the email subject line takes you to is actually (an additional “layer of encodeURIComponent<\/a>‘ed content” you can see as you hover over the link, the display normalized as far as looks go, via HTML entity mapping) …<\/p>\n


    \n    https:\/\/www.rjmprogramming.com.au\/HTMLCSS\/square_hr_tracing.htm?wording=Vertex%20Pointing%20Game&question=%20#blank=plot187|-200,-200,200,200|2,-123<\/a>
    \n<\/code><\/p>\n

    … which, without the tailoring of RJM Programming domain’s Error 404 trapping 404.shtml would not take you to its true destination (of look) … because of “the mash”.<\/p>\n

    It’s been a while since we set up this 404.shtml Apache web server means to serve “Not Found” (Page) URLs with a more welcoming experience than the default web browser “Error 404 … Not Found” kind of error message, so we started our research into whether it was possible to redirect from a 404.shtml on an Apache web server at this useful Google search<\/a>, thanks.<\/p>\n

    Now, it must be noted here, that the search engines may penalise you for making the 404.shtml redirection we are going to show you below. Honestly, we don’t know, but we feel compelled to let you know that such a redirection is possible on an Apache web server’s 404.shtml with a document.body “onload” changed<\/font> event (HTML and Javascript code snippet) piece of logic as below …<\/p>\n


    \n<script type='text\/javascript'>
    \n function onPageUnload() {
    \n }
    \n
    \n function onPageLoad() {
    \n if (document.URL.indexOf('square_hr_tracing.htm%') != -1) {
    \n location.href=document.URL.replace('%3F','?').replace(\/\\%23\/g, '#').replace(\/\\%26\/g, '&');
    \n exit;
    \n }
    \n }
    \n<\/script><\/font>
    \n
    \n<\/head>
    \n<body style=\"background: #d4d4d4; margin: 0pt; \" onload=\"onPageLoad();\" onunload=\"onPageUnload();\"<\/font>>
    \n<\/code><\/p>\n

    … that is helping make sense of the “mashed up” URL (from some email client subject lines) above, as well as the rest of this 404.shtml (placed into RJM Programming domain’s Document Root<\/a>) showing a more friendly webpage for all those misdirected URLs such as this one<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \n

    \n

    Previous relevant Window SessionStorage Client Versus Server CSS Tutorial<\/a> is shown below.<\/p>\n

    \"Window<\/a>

    Window SessionStorage Client Versus Server CSS Tutorial<\/p><\/div>\n

    Further to yesterday’s Window SessionStorage Client Versus Server Integration Tutorial<\/a> we have a two pronged improvements set for you today with our current Capital City Find Matching Country Report web application project …<\/p>\n