# Application Router

Every ColdBox application has a URL router and can be located by convention at `config/Router.cfc`.  This is called the **application router** and it is based on the router core class: `coldbox.system.web.routing.Router`.  Here is where you will configure router settings and define routes using our routing DSL.

{% hint style="info" %}
Please see the latest [API Docs](http://apidocs.ortussolutions.com/coldbox/5.0.0/coldbox/system/web/routing/Router.html) for investigating all the methods and properties of the Router.
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="success" %}
**Tip:** Unlike previous versions of ColdBox, the new routing services in ColdBox 5 are automatically configured to detect the base URLs and support multi-domain hosting. There is no more need to tell the Router about your base URL.
{% endhint %}

## Application Router - `Router.cfc`

{% code title="config/Router.cfc" %}

```javascript
// Inherits from Router and FrameworkSuperType
component{

    function configure(){
        // Turn on Full URL Rewrites, no index.cfm in the URL
        setFullRewrites( true );
        
        // Routing by Convention
        route( "/:handler/:action?" ).end();
        
    }
    
}
```

{% endcode %}

The application router is a simple CFC that virtually inherits from the core ColdBox Router class and is configured via the `configure()` method.  It will be decorated with all the capabilties to work with any request much like any event handler or interceptor.  In this router you will be doing 1 of 2 things:

1. Configuring the Router
2. Adding Routes via the Routing DSL

## Generated Settings

Once the routing service loads your Router it will create two application settings for you:

* `SESBaseURL` : The multi-domain URL base URL of your application: `http://localhost`
* `HTMLBaseURL` : The same path as `SESBaseURL`but without any `index.cfm` in it (Just in case you are using `index.cfm` rewrite). This is a setting used most likely by the HTML `<base>` tag.

## Configuration Methods

You can use the following methods to fine tune the configuration and operation of the routing services:

| **Method**                               | **Description**                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| ---------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `setEnabled( boolean )`                  | Enable/Disable routing, **enabled** by default                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| `setFullRewrites( boolean )`             | If **true**, then no `index.cfm` will be used in the URLs. If **false**, then **/index.cfm/** will be added to all generated URLs. Default is **false**.                                                                                |
| `setUniqueURLS( boolean )`               | Enables SES only URL's with permanent redirects for non-ses urls. Default is **true.** If true and a URL is detected with ? or & then the application will do a 301 Permanent Redirect and try to translate the URL to a valid SES URL. |
| `setBaseURL( string )`                   | The base URL to use for URL writing and relocations. This is automatically detected by ColdBox 5 e.g. <http://www.coldbox.org/>, <http://mysite.com/index.cfm>''                                                                        |
| `setLooseMatching( boolean )`            | By default URL pattern matching starts at the beginning of the URL, however, you can choose loose matching so it searches anywhere in the URL. Default is **false**.                                                                    |
| `setExtensionDetection( boolean )`       | By default ColdBox detects URL extensions like `json, xml, html, pdf` which can allow you to build awesome RESTful web services. Default is **true**.                                                                                   |
| `setValidExtensions( list )`             | Tell the interceptor what valid extensions your application can listen to. By default it listens to: `json, jsont, xml, cfm, cfml, html, htm, rss, pdf`                                                                                 |
| `setThrowOnInvalidExtensions( boolean )` | By default ColdBox does not throw an exception when an invalid extension is detected. If **true**, then the interceptor will throw a 406 Invalid Requested Format Extension: {extension} exception. Default is **false**.               |

```javascript
function configure(){

    setFullRewrites( true );
    setExtensionDetection( true );
    setValidExtensions( "json,cfm,pdf" );

}
```

The next sections will discus how to register routes for your application.