How To Redirect To An External Url From Angular2 Route Without Using Component

When working on web applications using Angular 2+, you may encounter scenarios where you need to redirect users to an external URL directly from the routing module without involving any components. This can be useful for various reasons, such as redirecting users to an external payment gateway or social media platform. In this article, we will explore how you can achieve this redirection effortlessly in Angular 2.

Angular 2 provides the `Route` interface that allows you to define routes in the routing module. By using this interface, you can specify a component to load when a specific URL is accessed. However, when it comes to redirecting to an external URL without involving a component, we need to approach it differently.

To redirect to an external URL from an Angular 2 route without using a component, follow these simple steps:

1. Open your Angular application's routing module file where you have defined your routes. This file is typically named `app-routing.module.ts` or similar.

2. Import the `NavigationStart` event from the Angular router module by adding the following import statement at the top of your file:

import { Router, NavigationStart } from '@angular/router';

3. In the constructor of your routing module class, inject the `Router` service dependency to access the router functionalities. Your constructor should look like this:

constructor(private router: Router) { }

4. Next, add the following code within the constructor to subscribe to the router events and perform the redirection when the navigation starts:

this.router.events.subscribe(event => {
  if (event instanceof NavigationStart) {
    const externalUrl = 'https://example.com'; // Replace this with your desired external URL
    window.open(externalUrl, '_self');
  }
});

5. In the code snippet above, we are subscribing to the router events and checking if the event is an instance of `NavigationStart`, which indicates that a navigation action is about to start. You can replace `'https://example.com'` with the URL you want to redirect your users to.

6. By using `window.open(externalUrl, '_self')`, we are opening the specified external URL in the same browser tab. If you want the URL to open in a new tab, you can set the second parameter of `window.open` to `'_blank'`.

7. Save your changes, and now your Angular 2 application is set up to redirect users to an external URL directly from the route without involving any components.

By following these steps, you can seamlessly redirect users to external URLs within your Angular 2 application's routing module. This approach allows you to handle external redirects efficiently without the need for additional components, providing a smooth user experience. Experiment with different external URLs and enhance the redirection process based on your specific requirements.