Parse URL in shell script

[EDIT 2019] This answer is not meant to be a catch-all, works for everything solution it was intended to provide a simple alternative to the python based version and it ended up having more features than the original. It answered the basic question in a bash-only way and then was modified multiple times by myself … Read more

Why does Java’s URL class not recognize certain protocols?

Issue Java throws a MalformedURLException because it couldn’t find a URLStreamHandler for that protocol. Check the javadocs of the constructors for the details. Summary Since the URL class has an openConnection method, the URL class checks to make sure that Java knows how to open a connection of the correct protocol. Without a URLStreamHandler for … Read more

What is the semicolon reserved for in URLs?

There is an explanation at the end of section 3.3. Aside from dot-segments in hierarchical paths, a path segment is considered opaque by the generic syntax. URI producing applications often use the reserved characters allowed in a segment to delimit scheme-specific or dereference-handler-specific subcomponents. For example, the semicolon (“;”) and equals (“=”) reserved characters are … Read more