Obtaining an item from the Tridion database can either be done via Tridion TCM ID, or using the item webdav path. The latter is always the safest bet in the event the item has been deleted and recreated or the code is being moved over different environments but if the item name contains special characters you’ll need a resource which lists what they are .
When opening or obtaining an item via its webdav path you’ll need to be encoded to ensure the reference is correct. Most common is the space character as %20 but trying to remember all of them is an absolute nightmare.
Here is an example. The image below shows the Tridion CMS component that contains the special characters %, &, ë and space :
To access this component the following webdav path should be used:
/webdav/<YOURPUBNAME>/Building%20Blocks/New%20%25%20%26%20Component%20%C3%AB.xml
Where <YOURPUBNAME> is the name of the Tridion publication.
Anyway already with just these special characters the path is starting to look a little hairy so it’s probably for the best that you don’t use them, but in the event that you need to “translate” one then the following table will be incredibly useful.
Tridion CMS webdav special character table.
| Code HTML | Character | Code HTML | Character | Code HTML | Character |
| %20 | space! | %C3%A1 | A | %C3%8F | Ï |
| %25 | % | %C3%AD | í | %C3%8C | Ì |
| %C3%87 | Ç | %C3%B3 | ó | %C2%AF | ¯ |
| %C3%BC | Ü | %C3%BA | ú | %C3%93 | Ó |
| %C3%A9 | é | %C3%B1 | ñ | %C3%9F | ß |
| %C3%A2 | â | %C3%91 | Ñ | %C3%94 | Ô |
| %C3%A4 | ä | %C2%AA | ª | %C3%92 | Ò |
| %C3%A0 | à | %C2%BA | º | %C3%B5 | Õ |
| %C3%A5 | å | %C2%BF | ¿ | %C3%95 | Õ |
| %C3%A7 | ç | %C2%AC | v | %C2%B5 | µ |
| %C3%AA | ê | %C2%BD | ½ | %C3%BE | Þ |
| %C3%AB | ë | %C2%BC | ¼ | %C3%9E | Þ |
| %C3%A8 | è | %C2%A1 | ¡ | %C3%9A | Ú |
| %C3%AF | ï | %C2%AB | « | %C3%9B | Û |
| %C3%AE | î | %C2%BB | » | %C3%99 | Ù |
| %C3%AC | ì | %C3%81 | Á | %C3%BD | Ý |
| %C3%84 | Ä | %C3%82 | Â | %C3%9D | Ý |
| %C3%85 | Å | %C3%80 | À | %C2%B4 | ´ |
| %C3%89 | É | %C2%A9 | © | %C2%B1 | ± |
| %C3%A6 | Æ | %C2%A2 | ¢ | %C2%BE | ¾ |
| %C3%86 | Æ | %C2%A5 | ¥ | %C2%B6 | ¶ |
| %C3%B4 | Ô | %C3%A3 | ã | %C2%A7 | § |
| %C3%B6 | Ö | %C3%83 | Ã | %C3%B7 | ÷ |
| %C3%B2 | Ò | %C2%A4 | ¤ | %C2%B8 | ¸ |
| %C3%BB | Û | %C3%B0 | ð | %C2%B0 | ° |
| %C3%B9 | Ù | %C3%90 | Ð | %C2%A8 | ¨ |
| %C3%BF | ? | %C3%8A | Ê | %C2%B7 | ? |
| %C3%96 | Ö | %C3%8B | Ë | %C2%B9 | ¹ |
| %C3%9C | Ü | %C3%88 | È | %C2%B3 | ³ |
| %C2%A5 | ¥ | %C3%8D | Í | %C2%B2 | ² |
| %C2%A3 | £ | %C3%8E | Î | %C2%A6 | ¦ |
| %C6%92 | ? | %C5%92 | ? | %C2%AE | ® |
Perhaps someone out there has time to make a building block that performs this operation and tidies up webdav URL’s 
Update: Here is a c# function to do the replacing for you that you can use in .NET project
public static string ConvertWebDavSpecialChars(string inputString)
{
string returnString = inputString;
returnString = returnString.Replace("%", "%25");
returnString = returnString.Replace(" ", "%20");
returnString = returnString.Replace("í", "%C3%AD");
returnString = returnString.Replace("Ì", "%C3%8C");
returnString = returnString.Replace("Ç", "%C3%87");
returnString = returnString.Replace("ó", "%C3%B3");
returnString = returnString.Replace("¯", "%C2%AF");
returnString = returnString.Replace("Ü", "%C3%BC");
returnString = returnString.Replace("ú", "%C3%BA");
returnString = returnString.Replace("Ó", "%C3%93");
returnString = returnString.Replace("é", "%C3%A9");
returnString = returnString.Replace("ñ", "%C3%B1");
returnString = returnString.Replace("ß", "%C3%9F");
returnString = returnString.Replace("â", "%C3%A2");
returnString = returnString.Replace("Ñ", "%C3%91");
returnString = returnString.Replace("Ô", "%C3%94");
returnString = returnString.Replace("ä", "%C3%A4");
returnString = returnString.Replace("ª", "%C2%AA");
returnString = returnString.Replace("Ò", "%C3%92");
returnString = returnString.Replace("à", "%C3%A0");
returnString = returnString.Replace("º", "%C2%BA");
returnString = returnString.Replace("Õ", "%C3%B5");
returnString = returnString.Replace("å", "%C3%A5");
returnString = returnString.Replace("¿", "%C2%BF");
returnString = returnString.Replace("Õ", "%C3%95");
returnString = returnString.Replace("ç", "%C3%A7");
returnString = returnString.Replace("µ", "%C2%B5");
returnString = returnString.Replace("ê", "%C3%AA");
returnString = returnString.Replace("½", "%C2%BD");
returnString = returnString.Replace("Þ", "%C3%BE");
returnString = returnString.Replace("ë", "%C3%AB");
returnString = returnString.Replace("¼", "%C2%BC");
returnString = returnString.Replace("Þ", "%C3%9E");
returnString = returnString.Replace("è", "%C3%A8");
returnString = returnString.Replace("¡", "%C2%A1");
returnString = returnString.Replace("Ú", "%C3%9A");
returnString = returnString.Replace("ï", "%C3%AF");
returnString = returnString.Replace("«", "%C2%AB");
returnString = returnString.Replace("Û", "%C3%9B");
returnString = returnString.Replace("î", "%C3%AE");
returnString = returnString.Replace("»", "%C2%BB");
returnString = returnString.Replace("Ù", "%C3%99");
return returnString;
}
When working with for instance Components you can right click it, selecte Open with webdav and copy and past the Webdav URL from the browser address bar.
Doesn’t work for all item types, but it saves some typo’s.
Hi Bas, that’s a great tip, thanks for sharing
@Bas Bosman
Maybe something went wrong when I submitted this comment the first time…
There is a customization framework (Created by Ryan O’Dell, supported by SDL Tridion), which provides a right-menu extension ‘Copy webdav path’. It works like a charm. No more typo’s. Of course, this table is useful when you don’t have that extension…
Hi Albert,
Thanks for the message, I’ve not actually had a play with the customisation framework, but it sounds like a great inclusion. I shall get it installed and have a play.
Regards,