HTML Space Breaks Prefill Links?

Hello,

I noticed a problem with the prefill link on my form which would only copy over a portion of what was in a long text field.

After quite a bit of experimentation, I think I have the problem narrowed down. The long text had HTML   space characters.

The spaces render correctly in the long text field, but breaks on the prefill link.

Use Case 1: Breaks on  

https://form.jotform.com/92175019923156?descriptionOfData=I%20am%20the%20monarch%20of%20the%20sea.%20 The%20ruler%20of%20the%20Queen%E2%80%99s%20Navee.%20 Whose%20praise%20Great%20Britain%20loudly%20chants.

Use Case 2: Works after   removed

https://form.jotform.com/92175019923156?descriptionOfData=I%20am%20the%20monarch%20of%20the%20sea.%20%20The%20ruler%20of%20the%20Queen%E2%80%99s%20Navee.%20%20Whose%20praise%20Great%20Britain%20loudly%20chants.

Here is a screenshot of the stub form. Notice that the space renders okay in the long text field.

Obviously, I can scrub the   characters from the form submission. However, I'm not sure how the user entered them into the long text field in the first place =) Thus, I cannot be sure that they will not appear in the future.

Any way to scrub them from the prefill link automatically?

Regards,

LD

Update 1. The problem seems to be in the long text field.

When there are 2 spaces together, such as after a period, the 2nd space is automatically converted into a  

Use Case 3. Single Space. Works.

Produces prefill link:

https://form.jotform.com/92175019923156?descriptionOfData=When%20at%20anchor%20here%20I%20ride.%20My%20bosom%20swells%20with%20pride.%20And%20I%20snap%20my%20fingers%20at%20a%20foeman%E2%80%99s%20taunts.

Use Case 4. Double Space. Does not work because long text field converts second space into  

Produces prefill link:

https://form.jotform.com/92175019923156?descriptionOfData=When%20at%20anchor%20here%20I%20ride.%20 My%20bosom%20swells%20with%20pride.%20 And%20I%20snap%20my%20fingers%20at%20a%20foeman%E2%80%99s%20taunts.

Details. macOS High Sierra 10.13.6. Firefox 68.0.1 and Crome 75.0.3770.142

Thank you for the detailed explanation. We would like to apologize for the issue you are experiencing with your form.

The issue is actually caused by the improper usage of the "&" (ampersand) in the URL. The "&" (ampersand) is used in URLs to add more parameters.

A brief explanation of its usage can be found in this guide — How-to-Automatically-Pass-Form-Data-to-Another-Form

The text you are trying to pass into the Long Text Entry field in your form is being cut after the "&" (ampersand) since it uses &nbsp that has an "ampersand" to include a space to the text being passed.

May we know where the text that you would like to prefill your form with came from, please? Or, please tell us how was it produced. Did the text come from a submission in another form? May we know which form if it is, please?

We will wait for your response.

Hello Mike_G,

Thank you for your explanation about  

All I did in the Long Text field to get from Use Case 3 (works) to Use Case 4 (does not work) was add an extra space after existing spaces.

Use Case 5

Here is an edit link with the content filled in. This problem occurs on both edit links and normal links, I'm just giving you the edit link so you don't have to type in lines from HMS Pinafore =)

https://www.jotform.com/edit/4409271633346940505?utm_source=emailfooter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=92175019923156&utm_content=edit_submissions&utm_campaign=notification_email_footer_submission_links&email_type=notification

To get the   add extra spaces after existing spaces.

When at anchor here I ride. My bosom swells with pride. And I snap my fingers at a foeman’s taunts.

(Same text double spaces after periods.)

When at anchor here I ride.  My bosom swells with pride.  And I snap my fingers at a foeman’s taunts.

Produces prefill link:

https://form.jotform.com/92175019923156?descriptionOfData=When%20at%20anchor%20here%20I%20ride.%20 My%20bosom%20swells%20with%20pride.%20 And%20I%20snap%20my%20fingers%20at%20a%20foeman%E2%80%99s%20taunts.

Regards,

LD

May we know from where are you accessing this link, please? Is it from an email that was sent to you after filling up another form?

https://form.jotform.com/92175019923156?descriptionOfData=When%20at%20anchor%20here%20I%20ride.%20 My%20bosom%20swells%20with%20pride.%20 And%20I%20snap%20my%20fingers%20at%20a%20foeman%E2%80%99s%20taunts.

I understand that the issue occurs when an extra "space" is added after a "space" in a field.

Also, how is the link generated? Was it created manually? Or, automatically from another form submission?

The edit link you shared in your last reply doesn't show the issue you have described.

https://www.jotform.com/edit/4409271633346940505?utm_source=emailfooter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=92175019923156&utm_content=edit_submissions&utm_campaign=notification_email_footer_submission_links&email_type=notification

We will wait for your response.

Hello Mike_G,

Sorry for the confusion! Let me describe the steps to replicate in more detail.

(1) Go to the edit link for the JotForm.

https://www.jotform.com/edit/4409271633346940505?utm_source=emailfooter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=92175019923156&utm_content=edit_submissions&utm_campaign=notification_email_footer_submission_links&email_type=notification

(I'm giving an edit link so you don't have to type text into the form.)

(2) Enter spaces after periods in long text.

--> When at anchor here I ride. My bosom swells with pride. And I snap my fingers at a foeman’s taunts.

(Same text double spaces after periods.)

--> When at anchor here I ride.  My bosom swells with pride.  And I snap my fingers at a foeman’s taunts.

(3) Push Submit (with Copy to New? as Yes).

There is a condition in the form which generates the prefill link (Change "Thank You" Page). This condition should automatically redirect you to the prefill link.

https://form.jotform.com/92175019923156?descriptionOfData=When%20at%20anchor%20here%20I%20ride.%20 My%20bosom%20swells%20with%20pride.%20 And%20I%20snap%20my%20fingers%20at%20a%20foeman%E2%80%99s%20taunts.

Obviously, JotForm does not break, but only shows the text before  

--> When at anchor here I ride.

Does that explanation help?

Regards,

LD

Hi LD!

Yes it does help, thank you for your explanation and a few of Sir Gilbert's lines! I have found the solution, which was posted by one of my colleagues (who got it from the Lead Developer) in this thread about 7 years ago. Simply add URLENCODE: before the source field name in the curly braces. Your pre-populated URL will look like this:

https://form.jotform.com/92175019923156?descriptionOfData={URLENCODE:descriptionOfData}

This way all double and other spaces will be converted to multiple %20 characters and the link will work. Let us know if you have any questions!

Thanks a bunch denis_calin,

You URLENCODE solution worked to resolve my issue with the double spaces splendidly.

Note, however, using URLENCODE does result in some special characters like Microsoft quotes showing up as special characters in the fields filled by the prefill link ...

But I consider this to be a minor issue that the users can fix (compared to not having the text appear at all in the fields filled by the prefill link).

Regards,

LD

Hi LD!

I am glad the addition of URLENCODE solves the issue with the double spaces. It is true, however, that at least single quotes, double quotes and the ampersand show up as HTML Ampersand Character Codes. Other characters like the tilde, grave accent, hashtag, @ symbol, etc. show up fine. Hopefully this workaround will be sufficient in the meantime. Please let us know if you have any questions.