Silently update url without triggering route in vue - router

When using Vue Router in Vue.js, sometimes we need to update the URL without triggering route changes, which is referred to as 'silent URL update'. This requirement is common in specific scenarios, such as when we need to display the updated URL on the page to allow users to copy the link, but we do not need to load or refresh the component corresponding to the route.

To achieve this functionality, a straightforward approach is to use the browser's History API. Specifically, we can use the history.pushState() method. This method allows us to modify the current entry in the browser's history without triggering a page reload or updating Vue Router's route.

Here is a specific example:

javascript
methods: {
  updateUrl(newPath) {
    const currentUrl = window.location.protocol + '//' + window.location.host + window.location.pathname;
    const newUrl = currentUrl + '#' + newPath;

    // Use history.pushState to update the URL without triggering a page reload or Vue Router's route events
    window.history.pushState({path: newUrl}, '', newUrl);
  }
}

In this example, we first construct the new URL and then use the history.pushState() method to update the browser's current record. Note that the first parameter (in the example, an object {path: newUrl}) can be used to store state information about the new URL, the second parameter is the title (which is not supported by most browsers, so it is typically passed as an empty string), and the third parameter is the new URL.

With this approach, the URL is updated, but the user interface and state remain unchanged, and Vue Router does not re-trigger navigation.

It is worth noting that while this method achieves silent URL updates, since Vue Router is not triggered, its various guards (such as beforeEach, beforeRouteEnter, etc.) are not called. Therefore, when using this method, extra care is needed to manage the application's state, ensuring it stays synchronized with the URL.