What does it do?

The $location service parses the URL in the browser address bar (based on the window.location) and makes the URL available to your application. Changes to the URL in the address bar are reflected into $location service and changes to $location are reflected into the browser address bar.

The $location service:

• Exposes the current URL in the browser address bar, so you can
  • Watch and observe the URL.
  • Change the URL.
• Maintains synchronization between itself and the browser's URL when the user
  • Changes the address in the browser's address bar.
  • Clicks the back or forward button in the browser (or clicks a History link).
  • Clicks on a link in the page.
• Represents the URL object as a set of methods (protocol, host, port, path, search, hash).

Comparing $location to window.location

When should I use $location?

Any time your application needs to react to a change in the current URL or if you want to change the current URL in the browser.

What does it not do?

It does not cause a full page reload when the browser URL is changed. To reload the page after changing the URL, use the lower-level API, $window.location.href.

General overview of the API

The $location service can behave differently, depending on the configuration that was provided to it when it was instantiated. The default configuration is suitable for many applications, for others customizing the configuration can enable new features.

Once the $location service is instantiated, you can interact with it via jQuery-style getter and setter methods that allow you to get or change the current URL in the browser.

$location service configuration

To configure the $location service, retrieve the $locationProvider and set the parameters as follows:

• html5Mode(mode): {boolean}
  true - see HTML5 mode
  false - see Hashbang mode
  default: false

• hashPrefix(prefix): {string}
  prefix used for Hashbang URLs (used in Hashbang mode or in legacy browser in Html5 mode)
  default: ""

Example configuration

$locationProvider.html5Mode(true).hashPrefix('!');

Getter and setter methods

$location service provides getter methods for read-only parts of the URL (absUrl, protocol, host, port) and getter / setter methods for url, path, search, hash:

// get the current path
$location.path();

// change the path
$location.path('/newValue')

All of the setter methods return the same $location object to allow chaining. For example, to change multiple segments in one go, chain setters like this:

$location.path('/newValue').search({key: value});

Replace method

There is a special replace method which can be used to tell the $location service that the next time the $location service is synced with the browser, the last history record should be replaced instead of creating a new one. This is useful when you want to implement redirection, which would otherwise break the back button (navigating back would retrigger the redirection). To change the current URL without creating a new browser history record you can call:

  $location.path('/someNewPath');
  $location.replace();
  // or you can chain these as: $location.path('/someNewPath').replace();

Note that the setters don't update window.location immediately. Instead, the $location service is aware of the scope life-cycle and coalesces multiple $location mutations into one "commit" to the window.location object during the scope $digest phase. Since multiple changes to the $location's state will be pushed to the browser as a single change, it's enough to call the replace() method just once to make the entire "commit" a replace operation rather than an addition to the browser history. Once the browser is updated, the $location service resets the flag set by replace() method and future mutations will create new history records, unless replace() is called again.

Setters and character encoding

You can pass special characters to $location service and it will encode them according to rules specified in RFC 3986. When you access the methods:

• All values that are passed to $location setter methods, path(), search(), hash(), are encoded.
• Getters (calls to methods without parameters) return decoded values for the following methods path(), search(), hash().
• When you call the absUrl() method, the returned value is a full url with its segments encoded.
• When you call the url() method, the returned value is path, search and hash, in the form /path?search=a&b=c#hash. The segments are encoded as well.

Hashbang and HTML5 Modes

$location service has two configuration modes which control the format of the URL in the browser address bar: Hashbang mode (the default) and the HTML5 mode which is based on using the HTML5 History API. Applications use the same API in both modes and the $location service will work with appropriate URL segments and browser APIs to facilitate the browser URL change and history management.

Hashbang mode (default mode)

In this mode, $location uses Hashbang URLs in all browsers.

Example

it('should show example', inject(
  function($locationProvider) {
    $locationProvider.html5Mode(false);
    $locationProvider.hashPrefix('!');
  },
  function($location) {
    // open http://example.com/base/index.html#!/a
    $location.absUrl() == 'http://example.com/base/index.html#!/a'
    $location.path() == '/a'

    $location.path('/foo')
    $location.absUrl() == 'http://example.com/base/index.html#!/foo'

    $location.search() == {}
    $location.search({a: 'b', c: true});
    $location.absUrl() == 'http://example.com/base/index.html#!/foo?a=b&c'

    $location.path('/new').search('x=y');
    $location.absUrl() == 'http://example.com/base/index.html#!/new?x=y'
  }
));

HTML5 mode

In HTML5 mode, the $location service getters and setters interact with the browser URL address through the HTML5 history API, which allows for use of regular URL path and search segments, instead of their hashbang equivalents. If the HTML5 History API is not supported by a browser, the $location service will fall back to using the hashbang URLs automatically. This frees you from having to worry about whether the browser displaying your app supports the history API or not; the $location service transparently uses the best available option.

• Opening a regular URL in a legacy browser -> redirects to a hashbang URL
• Opening hashbang URL in a modern browser -> rewrites to a regular URL

Example

it('should show example', inject(
  function($locationProvider) {
    $locationProvider.html5Mode(true);
    $locationProvider.hashPrefix('!');
  },
  function($location) {
    // in browser with HTML5 history support:
    // open http://example.com/#!/a -> rewrite to http://example.com/a
    // (replacing the http://example.com/#!/a history record)
    $location.path() == '/a'

    $location.path('/foo');
    $location.absUrl() == 'http://example.com/foo'

    $location.search() == {}
    $location.search({a: 'b', c: true});
    $location.absUrl() == 'http://example.com/foo?a=b&c'

    $location.path('/new').search('x=y');
    $location.url() == 'new?x=y'
    $location.absUrl() == 'http://example.com/new?x=y'

    // in browser without html5 history support:
    // open http://example.com/new?x=y -> redirect to http://example.com/#!/new?x=y
    // (again replacing the http://example.com/new?x=y history item)
    $location.path() == '/new'
    $location.search() == {x: 'y'}

    $location.path('/foo/bar');
    $location.path() == '/foo/bar'
    $location.url() == '/foo/bar?x=y'
    $location.absUrl() == 'http://example.com/#!/foo/bar?x=y'
  }
));

Fallback for legacy browsers

For browsers that support the HTML5 history API, $location uses the HTML5 history API to write path and search. If the history API is not supported by a browser, $location supplies a Hasbang URL. This frees you from having to worry about whether the browser viewing your app supports the history API or not; the $location service makes this transparent to you.

Html link rewriting

When you use HTML5 history API mode, you will need different links in different browsers, but all you have to do is specify regular URL links, such as: <a href="/some?foo=bar">link</a>

When a user clicks on this link,

• In a legacy browser, the URL changes to /index.html#!/some?foo=bar
• In a modern browser, the URL changes to /some?foo=bar

In cases like the following, links are not rewritten; instead, the browser will perform a full page reload to the original link.

• Links that contain target element
  Example: <a href="/ext/link?a=b" target="_self">link</a>
• Absolute links that go to a different domain
  Example: <a href="http://angularjs.org/">link</a>
• Links starting with '/' that lead to a different base path when base is defined
  Example: <a href="/not-my-base/link">link</a>

When running Angular in the root of a domain, along side perhaps a normal application in the same directory, the "otherwise" route handler will try to handle all the URLs, including ones that map to static files.

To prevent this, you can set your base href for the app to <base href="."> and then prefix links to URLs that should be handled with .. Now, links to locations, which are not to be routed by Angular, are not prefixed with . and will not be intercepted by the otherwise rule in your $routeProvider.

Server side

Using this mode requires URL rewriting on server side, basically you have to rewrite all your links to entry point of your application (e.g. index.html)

Relative links

Be sure to check all relative links, images, scripts etc. You must either specify the url base in the head of your main html file (<base href="/my-base">) or you must use absolute urls (starting with /) everywhere because relative urls will be resolved to absolute urls using the initial absolute url of the document, which is often different from the root of the application.

Running Angular apps with the History API enabled from document root is strongly encouraged as it takes care of all relative link issues.

Sending links among different browsers

Because of rewriting capability in HTML5 mode, your users will be able to open regular url links in legacy browsers and hashbang links in modern browser:

• Modern browser will rewrite hashbang URLs to regular URLs.
• Older browsers will redirect regular URLs to hashbang URLs.

Example

Here you can see two $location instances, both in Html5 mode, but on different browsers, so that you can see the differences. These $location services are connected to a fake browsers. Each input represents address bar of the browser.

Note that when you type hashbang url into first browser (or vice versa) it doesn't rewrite / redirect to regular / hashbang url, as this conversion happens only during parsing the initial URL = on page reload.

In this examples we use <base href="/base/index.html" />

<div id="html5-mode" ng-controller="Html5Cntl">
  <h3>Browser with History API</h3>
  <div ng-address-bar browser="html5"></div><br><br>
  $location.protocol() = {{$location.protocol()}}<br>
  $location.host() = {{$location.host()}}<br>
  $location.port() = {{$location.port()}}<br>
  $location.path() = {{$location.path()}}<br>
  $location.search() = {{$location.search()}}<br>
  $location.hash() = {{$location.hash()}}<br>
  <a href="http://www.example.com/base/first?a=b">/base/first?a=b</a> |
  <a href="http://www.example.com/base/sec/ond?flag#hash">sec/ond?flag#hash</a> |
  <a href="/other-base/another?search">external</a>
</div>

<div id="hashbang-mode" ng-controller="HashbangCntl">
  <h3>Browser without History API</h3>
  <div ng-address-bar browser="hashbang"></div><br><br>
  $location.protocol() = {{$location.protocol()}}<br>
  $location.host() = {{$location.host()}}<br>
  $location.port() = {{$location.port()}}<br>
  $location.path() = {{$location.path()}}<br>
  $location.search() = {{$location.search()}}<br>
  $location.hash() = {{$location.hash()}}<br>
  <a href="http://www.example.com/base/first?a=b">/base/first?a=b</a> |
  <a href="http://www.example.com/base/sec/ond?flag#hash">sec/ond?flag#hash</a> |
  <a href="/other-base/another?search">external</a>
</div>

function FakeBrowser(initUrl, baseHref) {
  this.onUrlChange = function(fn) {
    this.urlChange = fn;
  };

  this.url = function() {
    return initUrl;
  };

  this.defer = function(fn, delay) {
    setTimeout(function() { fn(); }, delay || 0);
  };

  this.baseHref = function() {
    return baseHref;
  };

  this.notifyWhenOutstandingRequests = angular.noop;
}

var browsers = {
  html5: new FakeBrowser('http://www.example.com/base/path?a=b#h', '/base/index.html'),
  hashbang: new FakeBrowser('http://www.example.com/base/index.html#!/path?a=b#h', '/base/index.html')
};

function Html5Cntl($scope, $location) {
  $scope.$location = $location;
}

function HashbangCntl($scope, $location) {
  $scope.$location = $location;
}

function initEnv(name) {
  var root = angular.element(document.getElementById(name + '-mode'));
  // We must kill a link to the injector for this element otherwise angular will
  // complain that it has been bootstrapped already.
  root.data('$injector', null);
  angular.bootstrap(root, [function($compileProvider, $locationProvider, $provide){
    $locationProvider.html5Mode(true).hashPrefix('!');

    $provide.value('$browser', browsers[name]);
    $provide.value('$sniffer', {history: name == 'html5'});

    $compileProvider.directive('ngAddressBar', function() {
      return function(scope, elm, attrs) {
        var browser = browsers[attrs.browser],
            input = angular.element('<input type="text" style="width: 400px">').val(browser.url()),
            delay;

        input.on('keypress keyup keydown', function() {
          if (!delay) {
            delay = setTimeout(fireUrlChange, 250);
          }
        });

        browser.url = function(url) {
          return input.val(url);
        };

        elm.append('Address: ').append(input);

        function fireUrlChange() {
          delay = null;
          browser.urlChange(input.val());
        }
      };
    });
  }]);
  root.on('click', function(e) {
    e.stopPropagation();
  });
}

initEnv('html5');
initEnv('hashbang');

Caveats

Page reload navigation

The $location service allows you to change only the URL; it does not allow you to reload the page. When you need to change the URL and reload the page or navigate to a different page, please use a lower level API, $window.location.href.

Using $location outside of the scope life-cycle

$location knows about Angular's scope life-cycle. When a URL changes in the browser it updates the $location and calls $apply so that all $watchers / $observers are notified. When you change the $location inside the $digest phase everything is ok; $location will propagate this change into browser and will notify all the $watchers / $observers. When you want to change the $location from outside Angular (for example, through a DOM Event or during testing) - you must call $apply to propagate the changes.

$location.path() and ! or / prefixes

A path should always begin with forward slash (/); the $location.path() setter will add the forward slash if it is missing.

Note that the ! prefix in the hashbang mode is not part of $location.path(); it is actually hashPrefix.

Crawling your app

To allow indexing of your AJAX application, you have to add special meta tag in the head section of your document:

<meta name="fragment" content="!" />

This will cause crawler bot to request links with _escaped_fragment_ param so that your server can recognize the crawler and serve a HTML snapshots. For more information about this technique, see Making AJAX Applications Crawlable.

Testing with the $location service

When using $location service during testing, you are outside of the angular's scope life-cycle. This means it's your responsibility to call scope.$apply().

describe('serviceUnderTest', function() {
  beforeEach(module(function($provide) {
    $provide.factory('serviceUnderTest', function($location){
      // whatever it does...
    });
  });

  it('should...', inject(function($location, $rootScope, serviceUnderTest) {
    $location.path('/new/path');
    $rootScope.$apply();

    // test whatever the service should do...

  }));
});

Migrating from earlier AngularJS releases

In earlier releases of Angular, $location used hashPath or hashSearch to process path and search methods. With this release, the $location service processes path and search methods and then uses the information it obtains to compose hashbang URLs (such as http://server.com/#!/path?search=a), when necessary.

Changes to your code

Two-way binding to $location

The Angular's compiler currently does not support two-way binding for methods (see issue). If you should require two-way binding to the $location object (using ngModel directive on an input field), you will need to specify an extra model property (e.g. locationPath) with two $watchers which push $location updates in both directions. For example:

<div ng-controller="LocationController">
<input type="text" ng-model="locationPath" />
</div>

function LocationController($scope, $location) {
$scope.$watch('locationPath', function(path) {
  $location.path(path);
});
$scope.$watch(function() {
  return $location.path();
}, function(path) {
  $scope.locationPath = path;
});
}

Related API

• $location API