URL Safe Base 64 Encoding

Base64 encoding of strings can result in characters like +, = and / which are not URL safe i.e. if included in a URL they would change the meaning/path of the URL.

For this reason Paynow uses URL encoded, Base64 encoded strings for some arguments. For your convenience, these methods are listed below

N.B. You can also do this online at:

• Base64 Encode - http://www.freeformatter.com/base64-encoder.html
• URL Encode - http://www.freeformatter.com/url-encoder.html

C#

private string GenerateLink(string reference, int locked, decimal amount, string merchantEmail, string customerEmail)
{
const string paynowUrl = "https://www.paynow.co.zw";

string arguments = string.Format(
"search={0}&amount={1}&reference={2}&l={3}",
HttpUtility.UrlEncode(merchantEmail),
HttpUtility.UrlEncode(amount.ToString("F02")),
HttpUtility.UrlEncode(reference),
locked);

arguments = HttpUtility.UrlEncode(Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(arguments)));
return string.Format("{0}/payment/link/{1}?q={2}", paynowUrl, customerEmail, arguments);
}