Get the current Joomla URL

Question

The following code works in Joomla 1.6, but it throws up a Strict Standards error in 3.x:

Strict Standards: Only variables should be assigned by reference

    //Get the full URL for sharing purposes
    $uri = & JFactory::getURI();
    $absolute_url = $uri->toString();

    <?php echo $absolute_url; ?>

How can I get the code to work without the error in Joomla 3.x?

Answer 1

UPDATE

The answer to the main question is: JFactory::getUri() is deprecated, use JUri directly like this:

<?php 
$uri = JUri::getInstance(); 
echo $uri->toString();

// or simpler:

echo JUri::getInstance();
?>

The Strict Standards error is because of the & before JFactory::getURI();. You can find more information about that below.

---

ORIGINAL ANSWER

Delete the &

//Get the full URL for sharing purposes
$uri = JFactory::getURI();
$absolute_url = $uri->toString();

<?php echo $absolute_url; ?>

With PHP5 the new operator automatically returns a reference, so the '&' is not needed anymore.

From the official PHP manual:

As of PHP 5, the new operator returns a reference automatically, so assigning the result of new by reference results in an E_DEPRECATED message in PHP 5.3 and later, and an E_STRICT message in earlier versions.

source: http://php.net/manual/en/language.operators.assignment.php

Answer 2

According to the Joomla tutorial, you can get the current URL by this function:

JUri::current();

Answer 3

UPDATE: JUri is now also deprecated. The correct way now is as follows:

$uri = \Joomla\CMS\Uri\Uri::getInstance();
echo  $uri->toString();

(Edited to include an initial backslash - required if there is a current namespace)

Old message that is now also deprecated:

JFactory::getURI(); is deprecated. The correct method to get the current URL is:

$uri = JUri::getInstance();
echo  $uri->toString();

Answer 4

Relying on the toString method to get the current URL is wrong. The toString method is not meant for that. The following is a better, cleaner, and future proof approach to retrieve the current URL:

$objJURI = JFactory::getURI();
$strQuery = '';
if (!empty($objJURI->getQuery()))
    $strQuery = '?'.$objJURI->getQuery();
$strFragment = '';
if ((!empty($objJURI->getFragment())) && ($objJURI->getFragment() != '#'))
    $strFragment = $objJURI->getFragment();
$currentURL = $objJURI->current().$strQuery.$strFragment;

Note that the getFragment method should return the part after the number sign, but there seems to be a core bug that prevents it from doing that.