On Fri, 24 Jul 2026 11:03:09 -0400, micky wrote:

You may have noticed by now that clicking on Google search links
sometimes or always makes you stop at a page to "permit" redirection
to another page, even though you clicked on it in the first place
and even though it never did this before. "The "redirect notice"
page usually appears because Google wraps outbound links with a
tracking parameter (google.com/url) to gather analytics and scan for malicious URLs".

I often copy and paste links into the following script for this reason.

Feel free to experiment with this as appropriate. Note the ?--unquote?
option, because sometimes I find the wrapped URL has an extra
(needless) level of quoting.
----
#!/usr/bin/python3
#+
# Given a URL from various sites that like to include redirection
# capture cruft, extract the URL and discard the cruft.
#-

import sys
import re
from urllib import \
parse as urlparse
import getopt

start_marker = r"\=(https?(\:\/\/|\%3a\%2f\%2f))"

show_original = False
force_unquote = False
opts, args = getopt.getopt \
(
sys.argv[1:],
"",
["original", "unquote"]
)
for keyword, value in opts :
if keyword == "--original" :
show_original = True
elif keyword == "--unquote" :
force_unquote = True
#end if
#end for
urls = args

if len(urls) == 0 :
raise getopt.GetoptError("pass at least one URL to unredirect")
#end if
for url in urls :
matches = list(re.compile(start_marker, re.IGNORECASE).finditer(url))
if len(matches) != 0 :
match = matches[-1]
startpos = match.start(1)
endpos = url.find("&", match.end(1))
if endpos < 0 :
endpos = len(url)
#end if
actual = url[startpos : endpos]
if match.group(2).startswith("%") or force_unquote :
actual = urlparse.unquote(actual)
#end if
if show_original :
sys.stdout.write("%s => " % url)
#end if
sys.stdout.write("%s\n" % actual)
else :
sys.stdout.write("# Cannot understand: %s\n" % url)
#end if
#end for

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Sat, 25 Jul 2026 04:33:42 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence D?Oliveiro wrote:

I often copy and paste links into the following script for this reason.

Why not use pyperclip? Then you can just use clipboard:

1. Copy original URL
2. Run script (+ options)
3. Paste resulting URL

https://pypi.org/project/pyperclip/

You may also want to read this: https://github.com/asweigart/pyperclip/blob/master/src/pyperclip/
__init__.py row 19.


If there are only a few options you might even wanna create an alias for
each version, like scra and scrb or something and put it in your .bashrc:

alias scra='scriptname -option1';
alias scrb='scriptname -option2';

Your use of shebang suggests *nix, so...


If I think ArgumentParser is too bulky for a small script, I usually just
use sys module, which you already have imported.

def main(opt):
URL = pyperclip.paste()

if opt == 1:
[...]
elif opt == 2:
[...]

pyperclip.copy(resulting_URL)

if __name__ == '__main__':
args = sys.argv[1:]
if '-option1' in args:
main(1)
elif '-option2' in args:
main(2)
else:
print(usage)

But each to their own... It's your script.

--
Gilmeh

Everybody likes a kidder, but nobody lends him money. -- Arthur Miller

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 25 Jul 2026 16:24:37 GMT, Stefan Ram wrote:

I read from the clipboard all the time, but prefer to
use the standard library, so I,

You do you.

--
Gilmeh

This is the theory that Jack built. This is the flaw that lay in the
theory that Jack built. This is the palpable verbal haze that hid the flaw that lay in...

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)