In some places, allow to use URL in addition to URI

[jrieken]

This is followup work from #83645 and in essence it's about allowing to use the URL-type when dealing with resources outside of VS Code. So far we have identified:

• the openExternal-api
• the DocumentLinkProvider-api

[tjx666]

is there any progress? @jrieken

[nblagoev]

Hi @jrieken, any ETA on resolving this? I cannot find a way out of this encoding problem with vscode.env.openExternal

• Tried the same URL from the verification steps described at URI vs URL and going forward #83645 (comment)

  vscode.env.openExternal(
      vscode.Uri.parse(
          "https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/brewlangerie.appspot.com/o/products%2FzVNZkudXJyq8bPGTXUxx%2FBetterave-Sesame.jpg?alt=media&token=0b2310c4-3ea6-4207-bbde-9c3710ba0437"
      )
  )

• Browser opens (1) with 400 Invalid HTTP method/URL pair. instead of (2)

  (1) https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/brewlangerie.appspot.com/o/products/zVNZkudXJyq8bPGTXUxx/Betterave-Sesame.jpg?alt=media&token=0b2310c4-3ea6-4207-bbde-9c3710ba0437
  

  (2) https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/brewlangerie.appspot.com/o/products%2FzVNZkudXJyq8bPGTXUxx%2FBetterave-Sesame.jpg?alt=media&token=0b2310c4-3ea6-4207-bbde-9c3710ba0437
  

[DanTup]

I'm blocked on this now too - I need to open URLs that have fragments and they get encoded incorrectly.

@jrieken this isn't assigned to any milestone - do you think it's likely to happen in the near future? Would you accept a PR that just adds an overload that takes URL in openExternal?

We can work around it for non-remote workspaces by just launching the browser ourselves, but it'll still be broken in VS Codespaces and friends.

[jrieken]

It isn't a trivial change but feel free to give it a try, code pointer:

vscode/src/vs/workbench/api/common/extHostWindow.ts

Line 42 in e80c62b

let uriAsString: string | undefined;

[DanTup]

It isn't a trivial change

Before I bite off more than I can chew, what makes you say that? I thought it might just be a case of accepting a URL all the way through (in the same way as it currently accepts a URI). Now I'm not so sure 😄

(though probably if it was so simple, it would've been done already! ..)

[jrieken]

For remote extension hosts, all uris go through some special handling so that an extension can talk about a (local) file-uri and so that the UI knows that it's a file-uri on the other machine. So, now the question is if URL objects should also go through that mechanism (which requires them to be uris) or not

[DanTup]

I see - it does sound like there's more to it than I thought.

I've managed to work around it for now (passing things on the querystring - which isn't affected as much by the encoding - instead of the fragment, and having the receiving app move them over) as I needed a fix for the next release.

[chdsbd]

As a hack, I was able to pass a string to vscode.env.openExternal(myUrl) instead of using vscode.env.openExternal(vscode.Uri.parse(myUrl)). I don't know how robust this is because I had to @ts-ignore the call, but it works for my use case and my url no longer gets double encoded.

[akosyakov]

Stumbled on the similar issue while trying to open external with query params for ouath2. ? in redirect URI gets double encoded. It would be nice if just string type can be allowed for external URIs 🙏

[DavidGoldman]

It seems like this could be supported by changing the API to note it supports a string - or maybe introduce another API to avoid this double-encoding issue?

[eamodio]

I got bit by this as well: gitkraken/vscode-gitlens#2014

As @DavidGoldman notes, passing a string works and avoids this problem. @jrieken could the .d.ts be updated to allow a string?

[tjx666]

@jrieken My issue #88273 is marked as duplicated with this issue, but I think it may not same with this.

I test following solution, but not work for my situation on windows.

As a hack, I was able to pass a string to vscode.env.openExternal(myUrl) instead of using vscode.env.openExternal(vscode.Uri.parse(myUrl)). I don't know how robust this is because I had to @ts-ignore the call, but it works for my use case and my url no longer gets double encoded.

[brpaz]

Hello. Any chance this can be fixed? an extension that I am building relies on openExternal to open files with an external protocol, and it´s encoding the "=" in the query string, breaking the url handler.

@akosyakov hack worked for me, in the meanwhile.

[max-samusevich]

Hello. Any chance this can be fixed? an extension that I am building relies on openExternal to open files with an external protocol, and it´s encoding the "=" in the query string, breaking the url handler.

@akosyakov hack worked for me, in the meanwhile.

Same for me. I'm trying to open an external app with a link in an .md file: [test link](obsidian://open?vault=Obsidian%20Sandbox&file=Adventurer%2FNo%20prior%20experience), but I get an error alert if I click the link in the file itself and get no response in a default md preview, same with a preview from the Markdown preview enhanced extension.

VS Code encodes "=" signs

A also tried to add the "obsidian://" protocol to accepted protocols for links that are processed by the Markdown preview enhanced extension but still nothing happens in the preview mode of this extension.