Firstly, I can reproduce what you're seeing.

There have been a number of changes to the "URI distribution" recently. These include merging URI::QueryParam methods into URI as well as some changes to uri_escape() — see the Changes file.

The latest version of URI is 5.17; I've used this in the code below. I don't know if the '%20' vs. '+' issue has always existed, or if it's something that was inadvertently introduced with some change. It would make sense that the escaping mechanism was consistent across modules in the same distribution: I recommend that you raise a bug report.

The annotated code below shows a reproduction of '%20' vs. '+', two unsuccessful workaround attempts, and two successful workaround attempts. 

#!/usr/bin/env perl

use strict;
use warnings;

use URI 5.17;
use URI::Escape 5.17;

print "OS[$^O] perl[$^V]\n";

# uri_escape() gives %20
my $str = '2022-12-18 12:19:57';
print "\$str[$str]\n";
my $esc_str = uri_escape($str);
print "\$esc_str[$esc_str]\n";

# query_param() gives +
{
    my $u = URI->new('/api/Data', 'http');
    print 'URI init=[', $u->as_string(), "]\n";
    $u->query_param(t1 => '2022-12-18 12:19:57');
    print 'URI raw_param=[', $u->as_string(), "]\n";
}

# If escaped string is used, %20 -> %2520
{
    my $u = URI->new('/api/Data', 'http');
    $u->query_param(t1 => $esc_str);
    print 'URI esc_param=[', $u->as_string(), "]\n";
}

# If string escaped in situ, still %20 -> %2520
{
    my $u = URI->new('/api/Data', 'http');
    $u->query_param(t1 => uri_escape('2022-12-18 12:19:57'));
    print 'URI in_situ_esc_param=[', $u->as_string(), "]\n";
}

# You can modify the query string to change + to %20
{
    my $u = URI->new('/api/Data', 'http');
    $u->query_param(t1 => '2022-12-18 12:19:57');
    my $query = $u->query();
    $query =~ s/\+/%20/g;
    $u->query($query);
    print 'URI long_re_sub_param=[', $u->as_string(), "]\n";
}

# Perl 5.14 and later has the /r modifier:
#   use for a more succinct version of the above
#   with identical output.
{
    my $u = URI->new('/api/Data', 'http');
    $u->query_param(t1 => '2022-12-18 12:19:57');
    $u->query($u->query() =~ s/\+/%20/gr);
    print 'URI rmod_re_sub_param=[', $u->as_string(), "]\n";
}

[download]

Output:

OS[cygwin] perl[v5.36.0]
$str[2022-12-18 12:19:57]
$esc_str[2022-12-18%2012%3A19%3A57]
URI init=[/api/Data]
URI raw_param=[/api/Data?t1=2022-12-18+12%3A19%3A57]
URI esc_param=[/api/Data?t1=2022-12-18%252012%253A19%253A57]
URI in_situ_esc_param=[/api/Data?t1=2022-12-18%252012%253A19%253A57]
URI long_re_sub_param=[/api/Data?t1=2022-12-18%2012%3A19%3A57]
URI rmod_re_sub_param=[/api/Data?t1=2022-12-18%2012%3A19%3A57]

[download]

— Ken

In reply to Re: How encode space into %20 in URI by kcott
in thread How encode space into %20 in URI by Anonymous Monk

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