How to use cgi param() to read unescaped url parameters

[invader7]

Hello , im trying to read parameters from my url at file test with param('foo') but my url is http://test/test?file=test%3bfoo=2848 instead http://test/test?file=test;foo=2848 how can i make it work either ? thanks !!

[Your Mother]

You should not make it work either way. ";" is a legal separator and if it's escaped, it's meant to be the literal character; not a super secret non-standard, literal semi-colons are now impossible, version. You should fix the code that is creating the broken URI, not create code that allows broken ones to work, because they shouldn't.

We'd love to help fix the real problem if you can show the URL generating code.

[marinersk]

Oh, you are so getting a ++ tomorrow.

[marinersk]

Update: Modified nearly wholesale given understanding granted by other posts

So, tests done on a generic Perl CGI engine:

http://bhmk.com/cgi-bin/testcgiparm.pl?file=test%3bfoo=2848

	Parameter		Value
	file		test;foo=2848

http://bhmk.com/cgi-bin/testcgiparm.pl?file=test;foo=2848

	Parameter		Value
	file		test
	foo		2848

http://bhmk.com/cgi-bin/testcgiparm.pl?file=test&foo=2848

	Parameter		Value
	file		test
	foo		2848

http://bhmk.com/cgi-bin/testcgiparm.pl?file=test\;foo=2848

	Parameter		Value
	file		test\
	foo		2848

So I'm afraid I don't understand the problem.

• The first technique is probably not what you were looking for.
• The second technique seems to work for me -- this was unexpected prior to reading the updates below.
• The third example is probably what you are looking for.
• The fourth example was just to see what would happen. I suppose I should have been able to predict it but I didn't.

The CGI script which generated this these results is behind the readmoretag below.

Read more... (3 kB)

[invader7]

My problem is that i send an email with this link : http://bhmk.com/cgi-bin/testcgiparm.pl?file=test;foo=2848 When i open the mail at thunderbird it works, when i open the mail at hotmail (chrome) it makes it http://bhmk.com/cgi-bin/testcgiparm.pl?file=test%3bfoo=2848 and then it doesn't work !!

[marinersk]

Just for kicks, try sending it with the ampersand instead of the semicolon and see what happens.

[keszler]

If I understand the question correctly, the answer is to replace the '%3b' or ';' in the URL with '&'.

This works with marinersk's URL above: (ampersand instead)

[marinersk]

Ah! And the light goes on! I think you've sussed it; I think I may have completely misread the question.

I will update the above post to show before-and-after results.

[invader7]

My problem is that i send an email with this link : http://bhmk.com/cgi-bin/testcgiparm.pl?file=test;foo=2848 When i open the mail at thunderbird it works, when i open the mail at hotmail (chrome) it makes it http://bhmk.com/cgi-bin/testcgiparm.pl?file=test%3bfoo=2848 and then it doesn't work !!

[Your Mother]

Seriously? Even after a decade of IE 6 it’s hard to believe MSFT is that incompetent / shows such poor judgement… If it's true and it's not Thunderbird overcompensating then probably all you can do is move from ; to &. They are equivalent in the spec though I prefer semi-colons because they are four characters shorter when typing HTML -> ; vs & (proper spelling of & in HTML).