URI Templates (Advanced)

In URI Templates, we looked at the most common ways to use URI Templates. Here, we’ll look at some of the extended syntaxes that URI Templates provide.

Path Components

To match a path component, include a slash / at the beginning of the variable expression. This instructs the template to match the variable if it:

  • Begins with /
  • Contains only unreserved and percent-encoded characters

You may also use the explode (*) modifier to match a variable number of path components and provide them as an array. When using the explode (*) modifier to match paths components, the / character serves as the delimiter instead of a comma.

Matching path components
Template Path Match? Attributes
{/path} /hello.html Yes
path:"hello.html"
{/path} /too/many/parts.jpg No  
{/one}{/two}{/three} /just/enough/parts.jpg Yes
one:"just"
two:"enough"
three:"parts.jpg"
{/path*} /any/number/of/parts.jpg Yes
path:["any", "number", "of", "parts.jpg"]
/image{/image*}.jpg /image/with/any/path.jpg Yes
image:["with", "any", "path"]

Note

The template {/path} fails to match the path /too/many/parts.jpg. Although the path does begin with a slash, the subsequent slashes are reserved characters, and therefore the match fails. To match a variable number of path components, use the explode * modifier (e.g, {/paths*}), or use the reserved (+) operator (e.g., /{+paths}).

Dot Prefixes

Dot prefixes work similarly to matching path components, but a dot . is the prefix character in place of a slash. This may be useful for file extensions, etc.

Including a dot . at the beginning of the variable expression instructs the template to match the variable if it:

  • Begins with .
  • Contains only unreserved (including .) and percent-encoded characters

You may also use the explode (*) modifier to match a variable number of dot-prefixed segments and store them to an array. When using the explode (*) modifier to match paths components, the . character serves as the delimiter instead of a comma.

Matching dot prefixes
Template Path Match? Attributes
/file{.ext} /file.jpg Yes
ext:"jpg"
/file{.ext} /file.tar.gz Yes
ext:"tar.gz"
/file{.ext1}{.ext2} /file.tar.gz Yes
ext1:"tar"
ext2:"gz"
/file{.ext*} /file.tar.gz Yes
ext:["tar", "gz"]

Note

Because . is an unreserved character, the template /file{.ext} matches the path /file.tar.gz and provides the value "tar.gz". This is different from the behavior of the slash prefix, where an unexpected slash causes the match to fail.

Multiple-variable Expressions

An expression in a URI template may contain more than one variable. For example, the template /aliases/{one},{two},{three} can be written as /aliases/{one,two,three}.

The delimiter between the matched variables is the same as when matching with the explode (*) modifier:

Type Delimiter
Simple String Comma ,
Reserved Comma ,
Path Components Slash /
Dot Prefix Dot .
Multiple-variable expressions
Template Path Attributes
/{one,two,three} /fry,leela,bender
one:"fry"
two:"leela"
three:"bender"
/{one,two,three} /fry,leela,Nixon%27s%20head
one:"fry"
two:"leela"
three:"Nixon's head"
/{+one,two,three} /fry,leela,Nixon’s+head
one:"fry"
two:"leela"
three:"Nixon's head"
/{/one,two,three} /fry/leela/bender
one:"fry"
two:"leela"
three:"bender"
/file{.one,two,three} /file.fry.leela.bender
one:"fry"
two:"leela"
three:"bender"