The documentation is not very clear about AngularJS routing. It talks about Hashbang and HTML5 mode. In fact, AngularJS routing operates in three modes:
- Hashbang Mode
- HTML5 Mode
- Hashbang in HTML5 Mode
For each mode there is a a respective LocationUrl class (LocationHashbangUrl, LocationUrl and LocationHashbangInHTML5Url).
In order to simulate URL rewriting you must actually set html5mode to true and decorate the $sniffer class as follows:
$provide.decorator('$sniffer', function($delegate) {
$delegate.history = false;
return $delegate;
});
I will now explain this in more detail:
Hashbang Mode
Configuration:
$routeProvider
.when('/path', {
templateUrl: 'path.html',
});
$locationProvider
.html5Mode(false)
.hashPrefix('!');
This is the case when you need to use URLs with hashes in your HTML files such as in
<a href="index.html#!/path">link</a>
In the Browser you must use the following Link: http://www.example.com/base/index.html#!/base/path
As you can see in pure Hashbang mode all links in the HTML files must begin with the base such as "index.html#!".
HTML5 Mode
Configuration:
$routeProvider
.when('/path', {
templateUrl: 'path.html',
});
$locationProvider
.html5Mode(true);
You should set the base in HTML-file
<html>
<head>
<base href="/">
</head>
</html>
In this mode you can use links without the # in HTML files
<a href="/path">link</a>
Link in Browser:
http://www.example.com/base/path
Hashbang in HTML5 Mode
This mode is activated when we actually use HTML5 mode but in an incompatible browser. We can simulate this mode in a compatible browser by decorating the $sniffer service and setting history to false.
Configuration:
$provide.decorator('$sniffer', function($delegate) {
$delegate.history = false;
return $delegate;
});
$routeProvider
.when('/path', {
templateUrl: 'path.html',
});
$locationProvider
.html5Mode(true)
.hashPrefix('!');
Set the base in HTML-file:
<html>
<head>
<base href="/">
</head>
</html>
In this case the links can also be written without the hash in the HTML file
<a href="/path">link</a>
Link in Browser:
http://www.example.com/index.html#!/base/path
