Subject: Web Browser FTP Problems

From: John-Paul Pagano <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 12:28:17 -0500

Hi,

I am noticing really odd behavior on the part of Netscape and Internet
Explorer 4.0.  Neither browser seems able to reliably interact with my
wu-ftpd server, version 2.4.2.  

Netscape works half the time using the following syntax

ftp://user:[email-masked]

whereas Internet Explorer (surprise) fails 100% of the time using that same
syntax.  I am unable to figure out why Netscape works and Internet Explorer
doesn't.  I have narrowed Netscape's 50% choke rate down to there being a #
character in the password I assigned to a particular FTP user, which the
browser doesn't seem to like in version 4.07, but accepts, paradoxically,
in version 4.04.  

What is up with this?  I need to fix this because I am supporting FTP
clients who are working with limited installations, and often don't have
access to command-line ftp programs that will work through their firewalls
(i.e., NT 4.0 standard ftp + SOCKS, etc.)  Is there a wu-ftpd configuration
option that will increase web browser usability?

Thanks.

--
John-Paul Pagano
Unix Systems Administrator
Voice: (212) 208-0828
Fax: (212) 825-1040

---

From: Gregory A Lundberg <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 12:47:19 -0500 (EST)

On Tue, 16 Feb 1999, John-Paul Pagano wrote:

> whereas Internet Explorer (surprise) fails 100% of the time using that
> same syntax.  I am unable to figure out why Netscape works and
> Internet Explorer doesn't.  I have narrowed Netscape's 50% choke rate
> down to there being a # character in the password I assigned to a
> particular FTP user, which the browser doesn't seem to like in version
> 4.07, but accepts, paradoxically, in version 4.04.
> 
> clients who are working with limited installations, and often don't
> have access to command-line ftp programs that will work through their
> firewalls (i.e., NT 4.0 standard ftp + SOCKS, etc.)  Is there a
> wu-ftpd configuration option that will increase web browser usability?

Sure.  Send 'em to http://www.ipswitch.com/Products/WS_FTP/index.html
or, if they don't wanna pay money, send 'em to http://www.nonags.com/ and
tell 'em to get an FTP client.

Seriously, it's a client problem and there's nothing the server can do to
fix it.  None of my ccustomers have complained about Netscape, but IE is
well-known to be broken.

-- 

Gregory A Lundberg              Senior Partner, VRnet Company
1441 Elmdale Drive              [email-masked]
Kettering, OH 45409-1615 USA    1-800-809-2195

---

From: Bob Luckin <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 99 12:13:50 CST

John-Paul said :-
> option that will increase web browser usability?

Not really.  This is a problem at the browser end.  The best you can do is
to make sure you don't assign any passwords with the hash sign (#) in them -
and ask your users that not to use hashes when they change them, either.

Cheers, Bob
-- 
     "Emit no data, coder ?  Adapt !  FTP Ada, redo C a tad - on time !"
Bob Luckin      [email-masked]      [http://www.dhc.net/~luckin/palindromes.html]