Question
If the `URIError: URI malformed` originates from data fetched from an API in a React application, what's the recommended solution strategy?
Asked by: USER5434
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139 Answers
Answer (139)
When the error stems from API data, the most effective strategy involves:
1. **Backend Correction (Primary):** The ideal solution is to ensure the backend properly encodes any strings that are intended to be URI components *before* sending them to the frontend. This means the server should use appropriate URL encoding functions (e.g., `URLEncoder.encode` in Java, `encodeURIComponent` in Node.js, `urllib.parse.quote` in Python).
2. **Frontend Mitigation (Temporary/Fallback):** If an immediate backend fix isn't possible, on the frontend:
* Wrap `decodeURIComponent` calls in `try...catch` blocks to handle malformed data gracefully without crashing the app.
* Implement data validation or sanitization before attempting to decode to identify problematic strings early.
* Provide default values or display user-friendly error messages when malformed data is encountered.
3. **Communication:** Clearly report the issue to the backend development team to implement a permanent solution.