window.location.hash returns hash tag in front of value

Question

I have the following code in MVC3 view:

 $(document).ready(function () {
    if (window.location.hash) {
        var manager= new Manager();

        manager.doSomeStuff(window.location.hash);
    }
});

The interesting thing is that when there is no hash tag in the URL, or there is only a hash tag example:

http://localhost:1223/Index/AboutUs

http://localhost:1223/Index/AboutUs#

When the window.location.hash is empty and the function is not executed. But when there is some value in the hash tag:

http://localhost:1223/Index/AboutUs#categoryId=5&manufacturerId=8

The value in the window.location.hash is #categoryId=5&manufacturerId=8

Can you explain to me why the # tag is included in the value and why when there is no value after the # tag, the window.location.hash is empty.

Solution 1

There's nothing much to explain. It is the way it works.

Read more here: http://www.w3schools.com/jsref/prop_loc_hash.asp

Definition and Usage

The hash property returns the anchor portion of a URL, including the hash sign (#).

Solution 2

You can change it if you want by simply changing the hash name:

//Your old hash name caught in a variable
var nameHash = location.hash;

//Your new hash name without "#"
var newHashName = nameHash.replace("#","");

Solution 3

var hash = window.location.hash.substring(1);

This omits the first character of the string, which is the hash tag.

Solution 4

You can repalce # but this way will create conflict and won't work with javascript.

Here is window.location reference link.

Here is different usage examples:

$(document).ready(function () {
    var urlHash = window.location.hash;
    var sampleURL = '#categoryId=5&manufacturerId=8';

    if ( urlHash.length > 1 ) {
       //do stuff
    }else{
       //if value is empty, do stuff
    }

    if ( urlHash === sampleURL ) {
       commonResponse();
    }

    $('a').click(function() {
       var target = $(this).attr('href');

       if (target === sampleURL ) {
          commonResponse();
       }    
    });

    function commonResponse() {
       //alert('ok');
    }
});

View more solutions

Comments

[Ivan Stoyanov]

Yes, I saw the definition, but it seems somehow strange that the hash sign is returned with the value. That is why I asked the question. Also when you are setting the window.location.hash value, you do not need to add the hash sign to the string.

[Bernard]

This might produce undesirable results if the hash contains another # character.