$_SERVER["HTTP_REFERER"] not returning full URL

Question

I'm trying to apply a quick patch to address an issue with an extension we're using. As a result, please pardon this "bandaid-like" fix that I'm requesting assistance with. This is merely an effort to fix an issue in about 20 minutes or less and schedule in a permanent fix for later in the week.

That being said, I am struggling with grabbing a value that I would expect with using $_SERVER["HTTP_REFERER"]. Our URL is somewhat odd at the moment. A URL example is below...:

http://domain.com/custom-wheels-performance-tires/custom-wheels.html#/custom-wheels-performance-tires/custom-wheels.html?wheel_diameter=2663

When using $_SERVER["HTTP_REFERER"], the value I'm getting (for the URL above) is:

http://domain.com/custom-wheels-performance-tires/custom-wheels.html

Evidently, it is being cut off at the # in the URL. Common sense would be to remove that from the URL, but I'm going to have to dig into someone else's code to do that and it exceeds the time allocated for this patch. Is there a way to get the full URL (even if it isn't $_SERVER["HTTP_REFERER"])?

I appreciate any and all assistance!

Answer 1

Due to the way URL's are handled by browsers, the server never receives anything past the hash fragment identifier (#). The fragment is intended to be used by the browser to scroll a page to an anchor.

However, It is possible to utilize JavaScript to get the fragment, and send it to the browser.