Ampersand (&) in a field value is disrupting my e-mail script

[Geckoz100]

I have a lengthy e-mail script in which one of the fields sometimes contains an ampersand as a value, e.g., "Litigation & Enforcement".  The value is set in a drop-down earlier in the form.  When the field has a value like that, it cancels everything that comes after that point in the e-mail script, because it interprets it as a "&" which is used to build the body of the script.  Is there are any way to have it ignore the ampersand in the field value or do I have to change my values in the drop-down?  Thanks for any help.

[_Bruce_Robertson]

Hi,

Not sure how you are building up your email script but somehow you need to replace the "&" character with the escaped value of "%26". 

Regards

Bruce

[Geckoz100]

Hello Bruce,

Thanks for your reply.  I tried using that escaped value and it didn't work.  I'm using a the script below in a dummy button which "clicks" a hidden submit button.  So the script picks up a value of the name of one of the departments, which can have an ampersand, like "Advisory Board & Councils".  So when the script runs I don't get an error (even with the debugger), it just chops everything that comes after that point in the script.  When I click the Submit button that has the script below, everything after my form variable "Department" would just disappear.

var Department = str.replace(/\&/, "%26");

SubmitReal.event__click.submit.target = "mailto:john@domain.com" +
"?cc=" + SupervisorEmail.rawValue + 
"&subject=Accepting speaker sequest on " + Page1.EventDetails.Group2.SpeakingDate.rawValue +
"&body=RE:Request for a Speaker\n" +
"I will be attending on behalf of " + Department + ".\n\n" +
"Thank you,\n" +
SpeakerName.rawValue;
SubmitReal.execEvent("click");

Thanks again for any help.

[Former Community Member]

I think I may have a similar problem not too long ago. BR001_ACP may have the right idea... try encoding the subject line as I have below:

EmailTitle.rawValue + encodeURIComponent(TopSection.FormName.rawValue) + "&body=" +

reference: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11294107/how-can-i-send-the-ampersand-character-via-ajax

[Geckoz100]

Thanks for the responses.  Sorry genel89623801, but I don't understand the suggestion.  Where my script is having trouble is in the body of the e-mail where the "Department" field is (line 7).  Some department names have an ampersand in them (e.g., Litigation & Enforcement), so the script just breaks right at that point.

[_Bruce_Robertson]

Hi,

Seems the %26 only works in a mailto hyperlink and the Doc.mailForm/mailDoc methods.  The problem is the "&" character is used as a delimiter in the mailto protocol.  Seems the submit email button is expecting one of the key words, (that is to, cc, bcc, body or subject) , doesn't find it so gives up.

Maybe someone else know how to escape the "&" but might be quicker to change the values in the drop down.

Regards

Bruce

[Geckoz100]

Yes, I eventually had to do that.  Before the e-mail is generated I just take the value of the department and convert any ampersands to the word "and".  They bosses want to keep the "&" in the names in the drop-downs since that's how they're officially written.  Thanks again for the replies.

[Former Community Member]

Hi Geckoz100​,

I hope you've gotten passed this, if not may I suggest replacing department in line 7 with encodeURIComponent(Department)

and if that doesn't work, you may have to try alternatively replacing with encodeURIComponent(Department.value)

[Geckoz100 · Accepted solution]

Hey genel89623801, that did the trick!  I had definitely not gotten past the issue and had resigned myself to replacing the ampersand with "and".

Using the encodeURIComponent function wouldn't work for me within the body of the e-mail script, though I tried using value, rawValue and full XFA path notation with it. But it did work when I replaced the ampersand in a variable first, outside of the e-mail script, as below.  I consider resolving this minor annoyance a great success. Thanks for the help.

var str = DeptName.rawValue;
var Department = str.replace(/\&/, encodeURIComponent("%26"));
SubmitReal.event__click.submit.target = "mailto:john@domain.com" + 
"?cc=" + SupervisorEmail.rawValue + 
"&subject=Accepting speaker sequest on " + Page1.EventDetails.Group2.SpeakingDate.rawValue + 
"&body=RE:Request for a Speaker\n" + 
"I will be attending on behalf of " + Department + ".\n\n" + 
"Thank you,\n" + 
SenderName.rawValue; 
SubmitReal.execEvent("click");