Does VBA have any built in URL decoding? - url

Question

I just need to decode a URL, for example, replace %2E with .
I can hack out a method if one isn't build in, but my assumption is that there must be a URL decoding tool already existing.

Answer 1

Here's a snippet I wrote years ago
-markus
Public Function URLDecode(sEncodedURL As String) As String
On Error GoTo Catch
Dim iLoop As Integer
Dim sRtn As String
Dim sTmp As String
If Len(sEncodedURL) > 0 Then
' Loop through each char
For iLoop = 1 To Len(sEncodedURL)
sTmp = Mid(sEncodedURL, iLoop, 1)
sTmp = Replace(sTmp, "+", " ")
' If char is % then get next two chars
' and convert from HEX to decimal
If sTmp = "%" and LEN(sEncodedURL) + 1 > iLoop + 2 Then
sTmp = Mid(sEncodedURL, iLoop + 1, 2)
sTmp = Chr(CDec("&H" & sTmp))
' Increment loop by 2
iLoop = iLoop + 2
End If
sRtn = sRtn & sTmp
Next
URLDecode = sRtn
End If
Finally:
Exit Function
Catch:
URLDecode = ""
Resume Finally
End Function

Answer 2

No.
But here's one: URL Encoder and Decoder for VB
Or something along the lines of (possibly not complete):
Public Function URLDecode(ByVal strEncodedURL As String) As String
Dim str As String
str = strEncodedURL
If Len(str) > 0 Then
str = Replace(str, "&amp", " & ")
str = Replace(str, "&#03", Chr(39))
str = Replace(str, "&quo", Chr(34))
str = Replace(str, "+", " ")
str = Replace(str, "%2A", "*")
str = Replace(str, "%40", "#")
str = Replace(str, "%2D", "-")
str = Replace(str, "%5F", "_")
str = Replace(str, "%2B", "+")
str = Replace(str, "%2E", ".")
str = Replace(str, "%2F", "/")
URLDecode = str
End If
End Function
Also, take a look at How can I URL encode a string in Excel VBA?

Answer 3

EncodeURL and DecodeURL function using htmlfile object(Late binding)
I got this source from this site: http://cocosoft.kr/442
Function ENCODEURL(varText As Variant, Optional blnEncode = True)
Static objHtmlfile As Object
If objHtmlfile Is Nothing Then
Set objHtmlfile = CreateObject("htmlfile")
With objHtmlfile.parentWindow
.execScript "function encode(s) {return encodeURIComponent(s)}", "jscript"
End With
End If
If blnEncode Then
ENCODEURL = objHtmlfile.parentWindow.encode(varText)
End If
End Function
Function DECODEURL(varText As Variant, Optional blnEncode = True)
Static objHtmlfile As Object
If objHtmlfile Is Nothing Then
Set objHtmlfile = CreateObject("htmlfile")
With objHtmlfile.parentWindow
.execScript "function decode(s) {return decodeURIComponent(s)}", "jscript"
End With
End If
If blnEncode Then
DECODEURL = objHtmlfile.parentWindow.decode(varText)
End If
End Function
For example,
str = ENCODEURL("/?&=") 'returns "%2F%3F%26%3D"
str = DECODEURL("%2F%3F%26%3D") 'returns "/?&="

Answer 4

Here is the code from the URL posted in another answer in case it goes down as it works great.
http://www.freevbcode.com/ShowCode.asp?ID=1512
Public Function URLEncode(StringToEncode As String, Optional _
UsePlusRatherThanHexForSpace As Boolean = False) As String
Dim TempAns As String
Dim CurChr As Integer
CurChr = 1
Do Until CurChr - 1 = Len(StringToEncode)
Select Case Asc(Mid(StringToEncode, CurChr, 1))
Case 48 To 57, 65 To 90, 97 To 122
TempAns = TempAns & Mid(StringToEncode, CurChr, 1)
Case 32
If UsePlusRatherThanHexForSpace = True Then
TempAns = TempAns & "+"
Else
TempAns = TempAns & "%" & Hex(32)
End If
Case Else
TempAns = TempAns & "%" & _
Format(Hex(Asc(Mid(StringToEncode, _
CurChr, 1))), "00")
End Select
CurChr = CurChr + 1
Loop
URLEncode = TempAns
End Function
Public Function URLDecode(StringToDecode As String) As String
Dim TempAns As String
Dim CurChr As Integer
CurChr = 1
Do Until CurChr - 1 = Len(StringToDecode)
Select Case Mid(StringToDecode, CurChr, 1)
Case "+"
TempAns = TempAns & " "
Case "%"
TempAns = TempAns & Chr(Val("&h" & _
Mid(StringToDecode, CurChr + 1, 2)))
CurChr = CurChr + 2
Case Else
TempAns = TempAns & Mid(StringToDecode, CurChr, 1)
End Select
CurChr = CurChr + 1
Loop
URLDecode = TempAns
End Function
' URLDecode function in Perl for reference
' both VB and Perl versions must return same
'
' sub urldecode{
' local($val)=#_;
' $val=~s/\+/ /g;
' $val=~s/%([0-9A-H]{2})/pack('C',hex($1))/ge;
' return $val;
' }