Internet Explorer Maximum URL Length?
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Internet Explorer Maximum URL Length?
I recently moved to WinXP Pro and found that some of my shopping carts are no longer working. Testing shows that data is not being reliably posted from one PHP-based shopping cart page to another. This only seems to affect some WinXP Pro/IE6 PCs, and I cannot duplicate the problem with WinXP Home. It may only affect WinXP Pro with all of the latest patches from MS.
Searching found MS Knowledge Base article 208427, which says that IE 5.5 and earlier has this limit:
"Internet Explorer has a maximum uniform resource locator (URL) length of 2,083 characters, with a maximum path length of 2,048 characters. This limit applies to both POST and GET request URLs....
POST, however, is not limited by the size of the URL for submitting name/value pairs, because they are transferred in the header and not the URL."
I am using the POST method, so I am not sure the limit above applies.
Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.
Mike Wilkinson
http://www.Websites-Graphics.biz
Searching found MS Knowledge Base article 208427, which says that IE 5.5 and earlier has this limit:
"Internet Explorer has a maximum uniform resource locator (URL) length of 2,083 characters, with a maximum path length of 2,048 characters. This limit applies to both POST and GET request URLs....
POST, however, is not limited by the size of the URL for submitting name/value pairs, because they are transferred in the header and not the URL."
I am using the POST method, so I am not sure the limit above applies.
Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.
Mike Wilkinson
http://www.Websites-Graphics.biz
Hmm, I'm not sure if you're looking in the right area for the bug fix. 2,083 characters is an awful lot for one variable and I can't imagine you hitting that limit, so my guess would be that it's something else. If it only affects certain PC's, first try upgrading IE on those computers. If that doesn't work, try duplicating the OS/Browser setup on another machine. If it's only affecting certain PC's, it sounds more like a computer problem than a website problem.
Real programmers don't comment their code. If it was hard to write, it should be hard to understand.
- twigletmac
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Thanks for the responses! Here are some answers to your responses:
pickle: I can only duplicate the problem on my own PC and on a laptop owned by one of my clients. Both have Win XP Pro and ALL of the latest patches. I have not been able to duplicate it on Win98, Win XP Home and a Win XP Pro with unknown updates. On my own PC there is no problem if I use Mozilla 1.6.
twigletmac: The sites are hosted on a Linux server with RedHat 7 and Plesk control panel. I believe the problem is browser-related because in only appears in WinXP Pro machines with the latest patches.
no_memories: If you're saying that Internet Explorer is not "the most robust and simple method possible," I agree with you, and I use Mozilla personally. Professionally, I have to include IE in all of my testing because it accounts for over 90% of my visitors. If you are commenting on the cart design itself, I must say that the POST method, the other HTML, and the PHP uses are compliant so far as I know. As a reminder, this problem only appears in Win XP Pro machines with the latest patches.
Thanks again. I appreciate your responses.
Mike Wilkinson
http://www.Websites-Graphics.biz
pickle: I can only duplicate the problem on my own PC and on a laptop owned by one of my clients. Both have Win XP Pro and ALL of the latest patches. I have not been able to duplicate it on Win98, Win XP Home and a Win XP Pro with unknown updates. On my own PC there is no problem if I use Mozilla 1.6.
twigletmac: The sites are hosted on a Linux server with RedHat 7 and Plesk control panel. I believe the problem is browser-related because in only appears in WinXP Pro machines with the latest patches.
no_memories: If you're saying that Internet Explorer is not "the most robust and simple method possible," I agree with you, and I use Mozilla personally. Professionally, I have to include IE in all of my testing because it accounts for over 90% of my visitors. If you are commenting on the cart design itself, I must say that the POST method, the other HTML, and the PHP uses are compliant so far as I know. As a reminder, this problem only appears in Win XP Pro machines with the latest patches.
Thanks again. I appreciate your responses.
Mike Wilkinson
http://www.Websites-Graphics.biz
While I hate to keep blaming the user, and not trying to fix the site, I do know SP1 for XP Pro is bad. There are numerous problems with SP1 - to the point where many people are suggesting you don't upgrade to it.mwaw wrote: Both have Win XP Pro and ALL of the latest patches.
By not reliable, do you mean the same instance works some times but not others; or do only parts of the cart work but work all the time, while other parts don't work at all?mwaw wrote: data is not being reliably posted from one PHP-based shopping cart page to another
pickle:
I think you're right - it is probably the user, or more specifically WinXP Pro SP1 in conjunction with IE 6 that's causing the problem. I just want to find a work-around because it appears my clients are losing business due to this problem.
I say that data is not being posted "reliably" because the simpler website works about half the time with Win XP Pro SP1. The big complicated site doesn't work at all. So far as I can tell, both sites work 100% when using Mozilla on the problem machines, and both work 100% with other versions of Windows, including XP Home.
(sound of tearing hair out)
Thanks again for your responses.
Mike Wilkinson
I think you're right - it is probably the user, or more specifically WinXP Pro SP1 in conjunction with IE 6 that's causing the problem. I just want to find a work-around because it appears my clients are losing business due to this problem.
I say that data is not being posted "reliably" because the simpler website works about half the time with Win XP Pro SP1. The big complicated site doesn't work at all. So far as I can tell, both sites work 100% when using Mozilla on the problem machines, and both work 100% with other versions of Windows, including XP Home.
(sound of tearing hair out)
Thanks again for your responses.
Mike Wilkinson
- no_memories
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Actually mwaw,
I was speaking about a web design that incorporates such issues. Not omit I.E. That's not an option with a huge chunk of the population using that browser.
Curse MS for integrating that browser with the OS. I.E. 6, the new NS4. And MS doesn't plan on upgrading to another newer version for quite some time.
I was speaking about a web design that incorporates such issues. Not omit I.E. That's not an option with a huge chunk of the population using that browser.
Curse MS for integrating that browser with the OS. I.E. 6, the new NS4. And MS doesn't plan on upgrading to another newer version for quite some time.
- twigletmac
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Does the shopping cart use cookies/sessions? IE6 can cause issues with those. Does it work if you use another browser, e.g. Firefox?
Mac
Mac
Pickle? Stay away from SP1? Why?
I've used it since it came out, and it's fine. I use IE extensively, and I've never ever had any issues with data being posted incorrectly. If it is due to the browser breaking the code, I'd suggest looking at the code, as it sounds like it's not 100% spot-on. By that I mean earlier versions of IE could realise what you meant, but later versions don't, which breaks it. That's the only way I know that upgrading IE can break pages.
I've used it since it came out, and it's fine. I use IE extensively, and I've never ever had any issues with data being posted incorrectly. If it is due to the browser breaking the code, I'd suggest looking at the code, as it sounds like it's not 100% spot-on. By that I mean earlier versions of IE could realise what you meant, but later versions don't, which breaks it. That's the only way I know that upgrading IE can break pages.
There were multiple reported cases of people being unable to get into their machine because Windows had corrupted the password file. This actually happened to my dad - we had to rip out the harddrive and boot from another HD just to get the data. That was just after the patch came out. That said, I haven't had any problem with it since I threw it on. The problem may have been fixed in a subsequent patch, or maybe it was never that big of a deal.
Real programmers don't comment their code. If it was hard to write, it should be hard to understand.