use of tilde (~) in asp.net path

Question

i'm working on an asp.net app, the following link works in IE but not in FF.

<a href="~/BusinessOrderInfo/page.aspx" > 

Isn't the tilde something that can only be used in asp.net server controls. Where it will be replaced by an actual path?

Is it possible to use the tilde in an anchor tag? If so what does it mean?

When I'm at the root, the link works

www.myserver.com/default.aspx, click the link, ok!  www.myserver.com/otherpart/default.aspx, click the link, not ok! 

The link generated by ASP.NET is:

www.myserver.com/otherpart/~BusinessOrderInfo/page.aspx 

Is this by design?

Answer 1

You are correct, it only works in server controls. You've got these basic options:

Change to HyperLink to run as a Web Control:

<asp:HyperLink NavigateUrl="~/BusinessOrderInfo/page.aspx" Text="Whatever" runat="server" /> 

Or, run the anchor on the server side as an HTML Control:

<a href="~/BusinessOrderInfo/page.aspx" runat="server" > 

Or, use Page.ResolveUrl:

<a href="<%= Page.ResolveUrl("~/BusinessOrderInfo/page.aspx") %>">...</a>