Can't use `SafariTitle` in `Open URL` action

Questions & Suggestions
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twodo://x-callback-url/add?task=%SafariTitle%&note=%SafariURL%&tags=pr

Says that its invalid. If I replace it with:

twodo://x-callback-url/add?task=%SafariURL%&note=%SafariURL%&tags=pr

So there is no SafariTitle it is valid.

Is this token not supported?

https://wiki.keyboardmaestro.com/action/Open_a_URL

The doc doesn't mention it.

Perhaps I need to do this?

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And then URL encode it and paste it as variable?

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When I do a similar thing with Things, I have to URL-encode it, yes.

1 Like
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Thanks.

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2019-08-26 at 16.55.png705×364 69.1 KB

Above works despite the orange thing on Open URL signifying some error?

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Okay orange thing went away I copied it to another macro

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Orange indicates it is not currently valid based on the variables and tokens current values.

So, for example, the current Title variable value might be invalid, even though it will be valid when you actually run the macro.

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In the Finder, if I use the “Connect to Server” dialog box like this:

smb://tv.m.h/TV|9/00/56/005674/

the served folder “005674” mounts on my desktop; this also works fine with the afp:// protocol. This is exactly what I want to have happen, and what I would like to script with Keyboard Maestro.

For initial testing, I tried the “Open URL” action with literal strings:

  1. If I use the Open URL action in Keyboard Maestro with the string I quoted above as literal text, Open URL is rendered in bright red, presumably implying that it wants me to percent-encode the URL. Attempting to run that one-step macro sends my web browser to keyboardmaestro.com.

  2. If I instead percent-encode everything (except the protocol and the colon slash slash), Keyboard Maestro gives me an orange Open URL, which I read means that it’s invalid now but KM thinks it might be OK when I run the macro. If I do run it, the one-step macro quits with the error, “Open URL failed with an invalid URL: smb://tv%2Em%2Eh%2FTV%7C9%2F00%2F56%2F005674…”. I get a pretty similar error if I try this in the Finder: “There was a problem connecting to the server ‘tv.m.h/TV|9/00/56/005674/. The server may not exist or it is unavailable at this time. Check the server name or IP address, check your network connection, and then try again.”

  3. If I try percent-encoding everything including the protocol, Keyboard Maestro again gives me an orange Open URL. And if I run it, it quits again, with nearly the same error as above: “Open URL failed with an invalid URL: smb%3A%2F%2Ftv%2Em%2Eh%2FTV%7C9%2F00%2F56%2F00”. If I try this in the Finder, I receive the exact same error message as with a non-percent-encoded protocol.

“Well,” I thought, “perhaps it works differently for some reason if I use variables.” So, I tried that.

  1. As with #1 above, I used smb://tv.m.h/TV|9/00/56/005674/ for my variable T90__Program_path’s value, and then attempt to use the variable %Variable%T90__Program_path% as the argument for the Open URL action: the macro failed with the error “Open URL failed with invalid URL ‘Variable%T90__Program_path’ Macro ‘Trying’”.

  2. As with #2 above, I then used smb://tv%2Em%2Eh%2FTV%7C9%2F00%2F56%2F005674%2F as the variable’s value. This did not cause the macro to exit! But I got the same Finder error as with #2 above.

  3. As with #3 above, I then used smb%3A%2F%2Ftv%2Em%2Eh%2FTV%7C9%2F00%2F56%2F005674%2F as the variable’s value. Absolutely nothing happens at all when I attempt to run this step.

I can’t think of anything else to try. No percent-encoded variant works in the Finder; it wants just straight text. Keyboard Meastro seems to insist on percent-encoded URLs — but they don’t work in the Finder.

Am I missing something?

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That is because the URL is invalid. Non-ASCII and various other characters must be encoded to make a valid URL. Specifically in this case the | symbol is invalid in the URL. A valid URL is:

smb://tv.m.h/TV%7C9/00/56/005674/

The Percent Encode for URL filter will lead you in the right direction, but it is for encoding individual fields in a URL, not the entire URL. You can use it to encode the | to determine that %7C is the proper encoding for the character, but you cannot encode the whole thing, the :// and . and / has meanings and they are not meant to be encoded in this context.

The | is, I believe, the only character that needs encoding in that URL.

1 Like
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Sigh. Of course it is.

This is what comes of too many sleepless nights. Yes, of course both the . and the / characters must be non-encoded — though I’m sure back in early internet days I saw encoded %2F get treated as / (“create no bad data; deal with all the bad data you receive”).

BTW, FWIW, | is old-school ASCII: 007C; there must be some other determinant as to whether a character should be URL-encoded or not.

Thanks for your patient help, esp. during what’s probably your busiest week of the year!

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2 posts were split to a new topic: How To Use the KM Percent Encode for URL Filter