Is passing a query string parameter (whose value is null) without the equals sign valid?

ehed picture ehed · Jan 22, 2014 · Viewed 8.9k times · Source

Variation 1:

 file.jsp?parameter1=&parameter2=abc

Variation 2:

 file.jsp?parameter1&parameter2=abc

I know Variation 1 is considered valid, but is variation 2 considered valid? Specifically, there is no value for the parameter, is the equals sign required in this case?

Answer

Maximus picture Maximus · May 9, 2014

I think it is valid to have query parameter with just the parameter name.

If you are familiar with Java, Look at the @see UriComponentsBuilder QueryParam function, by default it does this for any query parameter with null.

If no values are given, the resulting URI will contain the query parameter name only (i.e. ?foo instead of ?foo=bar.

See this answer for more info. Is a url query parameter valid if it has no value?