[Trac] InternetExplorer/Page submission problem

Tue Apr 5 08:28:10 EDT 2005

Quoting Christopher Lenz <cmlenz at gmx.de>:

Hi Christopher,

I've just performed some tests about the IE trouble
[this email contains the HTTP headers]

> What happens when submitting a new ticket,

It works (preview + save)

> adding an attachment

>From the Wiki: it works
I cannot preview or save a exisiting page, but I can attach a file to it.

> creating a new report or milestone?

Milestone: It works
Report: It works

> What page do you get after form submission?

When a Wiki page is edited and the user clicks on either "save" or "prewiew",
Trac returns the original, unmodified page of the same Wiki page.

Ex:
  http://server/trac/nomadik/wiki/WikiStart?action=edit
"Preview" or "Save" leads to
  http://server/trac/nomadik/wiki/WikiStart

> Can you maybe inspect the HTTP traffic, using sth like
> LiveHTTPHeaders, ieHTTPHeaders or Fiddler?

Here is the fun part 8')

I've used ieHTTPHeaders with the same Trac source code:
 * one run with tracd,
 * one time with Apache/mod_python.
 There are some minor differences, such as the way user is authenticated
(tracd:HtDigest, Apache:NTLM), the host (tracd:localhost:8080,
apache:localhost:80), and the path to javascript/css/images. Another difference
(could it make the point ?) is that tracd answers with HTTP/1.0, Apache with
HTTP/1.1

The surprising point is that w/ tracd, there is no trouble editing Wiki pages
from IE: it only fails with Apache/ModPython !

Here are the headers:

= Tracd =

GET /trac.db/wiki/WikiStart?action=edit HTTP/1.1
Accept: image/gif, image/x-xbitmap, image/jpeg, image/pjpeg,
application/x-shockwave-flash, application/vnd.ms-excel,
application/vnd.ms-powerpoint, application/msword, */*
Referer: http://localhost:8080/trac.db/wiki
Accept-Language: en-gb
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR
1.1.4322)
Host: localhost:8080
Connection: Keep-Alive
Cookie: trac_auth=19c122a7e42d41f770425fec172ecd4f
Authorization: Digest username="blote", realm="Nomadik", qop="auth",
algorithm="MD5", uri="/trac.db/wiki/WikiStart", nonce="changed", nc=00000014,
cnonce="changed", response="changed"

HTTP/1.0 200 OK
Server: tracd/0.9.pre Python/2.3.4
Date: Tue, 05 Apr 2005 11:39:29 GMT
Cache-control: must-revalidate
Expires: Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT
Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8
Content-Length: 7971

POST /trac.db/wiki/WikiStart HTTP/1.1
Accept: image/gif, image/x-xbitmap, image/jpeg, image/pjpeg,
application/x-shockwave-flash, application/vnd.ms-excel,
application/vnd.ms-powerpoint, application/msword, */*
Referer: http://localhost:8080/trac.db/wiki/WikiStart?action=edit
Accept-Language: en-gb
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR
1.1.4322)
Host: localhost:8080
Content-Length: 2894
Connection: Keep-Alive
Cache-Control: no-cache
Cookie: trac_auth=19c122a7e42d41f770425fec172ecd4f
Authorization: Digest username="blote", realm="Nomadik", qop="auth",
algorithm="MD5", uri="/trac.db/wiki/WikiStart", nonce="changed", nc=00000015,
cnonce="changed", response="changed"

action=save&version=36&scroll_bar_pos=&editrows=20&text=%3D+Welcome+to+the+OSD+Wiki+%3D%0D%0A%0D%0A%3D%3D+Nomadik+%3D%3D%0D%0A+*+%27%27%27You+need+to+%5Bhttp%3A%2Ftrac%2Fnomadik%2Flogin+log+in%5D+to+be+able+to+edit+pages%27%27%27.+%0D%0A+++*+You%27re+logged+in+when+you+see+%27%27logged+in+as+...%27%27+on+the+top+right+menu+bar.%0D%0A+++*+You%27re+not+logged+in+when+you+see+%27%27login%27%27+on+the+menu+bar%0D%0A%0D%0A%3D%3D%3D+FAQ+%3D%3D%3D%0D%0A+*+Nomadik+%26+Symbian+FAQs+start+in+OsdFaq%0D%0A+*+Available+tools+developed+for+OSD%3A+OsdTools%0D%0A+*+Keep+informed+with+the+last+up-to-date+wiki+pages%3A+WikiRss%0D%0A+*+C%2B%2B+language+guidelines+and+idioms+%5Bhttp%3A%2F%2Fgnb300284.gnb.st.com%2Feffective+Effective+C%2B%2B%5D%0D%0A%0D%0A%3D%3D%3D+General+%3D%3D%3D%0D%0A+*+SymbianOsNineOneChanges%0D%0A+*+Some+notes+regarding+DesignAndCodingGuidelines%0D%0A+*+List+of+boards+and+lauterbach+allocations+%3A+MaterialsAllocation%0D%0A+*+%5Bwiki%3A8810To8815Changes+8810To8815Changes%5D
 %0D%0A%0D%0A%3D%3D%3D+Mutimedia+%3D%3D%3D%0D%0A+*+VideoInSymbianOs%0D%0A+*+AudioInSymbianOs%0D%0A+*+MmRscMgr%3A+Multimedia+resource+manager+stuff%0D%0A%0D%0A%3D%3D%3D+Miscelleanous+%3D%3D%3D%0D%0A+*+WishList%0D%0A%0D%0A%3D%3D%3D+Internal+Minutes+%3D%3D%3D%0D%0A+*+VideoTechnicalMinutes%0D%0A+*+Weeklies%0D%0A%0D%0A%3D%3D+Collaborative+work+%3D%3D%0D%0A%0D%0AAs+all+Wiki+pages%2C+this+page+is+editable%2C+this+means+that+you+can%0D%0Amodify+the+contents+of+this+page+simply+by+using+your%0D%0Aweb-browser.+Simply+click+on+the+%22Edit+this+page%22+link+at+the+bottom%0D%0Aof+the+page%2C+after+having+logged+in+using+your+%7B%7B%7BST.com%7D%7D%7D+credentials.+%0D%0ADo+not+forget+to+read+WikiPageUpdate+first.%0D%0A%0D%0APlease+have+a+look+at+WikiNewPage+to+find+how+to+create+a+new+page%2C+and+%0D%0Ahow+to+pick+up+a+good+wiki+page+name.%0D%0A%0D%0AWikiFormatting+will+give+you+a+detailed+description+of%0D%0Aavailable+Wiki+formatting+commands.%0D%0A%0D%0AWikiImage+shows+how+to+include+imag
 es+in+your+Wiki+pages%0D%0A%0D%0ATracGuide+is+another+good+place+to+start.%0D%0A%0D%0ATo+write+a+FAQ%2C+you+may+also+want+to+use+an+alternative+Wiki+syntax+known+as+%0D%0A%5Bhttp%3A%2F%2Fdocutils.sourceforge.net%2Frst.html+RestructuredText%5D%2C+in+the+FaqRestructuredText.%0D%0A%0D%0A----%0D%0A%0D%0A%3D%3D+Notes+and+Disclaimers+%3D%3D%0D%0A%0D%0A+*+%27%27%27Do+NOT+write+confidential+information+on+this+Wiki%27%27%27+as+anyone+from+within+ST+may+read+it.%0D%0A+*+This+wiki+is+experimental.++It+may+be+turned+into+an+official+part+of+mpuweb+someday.%0D%0A+*+%27%27%27There+is+no+support%27%27%27.%0D%0A+*+The+service+may+be+unavailable+from+time+to+time.%0D%0A+*+The+content+of+this+wiki+is+backed+up+once+a+day.%0D%0A%0D%0APlease+note+your+WikiFeedback+here.%0D%0A%0D%0A%3D%3D+Play+Area+%3D%3D%0D%0A%0D%0AYou+are+welcome+to+use+the+PlayPenArea+to+experiment+with+Wiki.%0D%0A&author=blote&comment=&preview=Preview

HTTP/1.0 200 OK
Server: tracd/0.9.pre Python/2.3.4
Date: Tue, 05 Apr 2005 11:39:35 GMT
Cache-control: must-revalidate
Expires: Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT
Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8
Content-Length: 12189

= ModPython =

GET /trac/nomadik/wiki/WikiStart?action=edit HTTP/1.1
Accept: image/gif, image/x-xbitmap, image/jpeg, image/pjpeg,
application/x-shockwave-flash, application/vnd.ms-excel,
application/vnd.ms-powerpoint, application/msword, */*
Referer: http://localhost/trac/nomadik/wiki
Accept-Language: en-gb
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR
1.1.4322)
Host: localhost
Connection: Keep-Alive
Cookie: trac_auth=d8d9434a610eaa466c87e4ed38613053

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Tue, 05 Apr 2005 11:37:20 GMT
Server: Apache/2.0.53 (Win32) SVN/1.1.3 DAV/2 mod_auth_sspi/1.0.1
mod_python/3.1.3 Python/2.3.4 PHP/5.0.0RC3
Cache-control: must-revalidate
Expires: Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT
Content-Length: 8725
Keep-Alive: timeout=15, max=99
Connection: Keep-Alive
Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8

POST /trac/nomadik/wiki/WikiStart HTTP/1.1
Accept: image/gif, image/x-xbitmap, image/jpeg, image/pjpeg,
application/x-shockwave-flash, application/vnd.ms-excel,
application/vnd.ms-powerpoint, application/msword, */*
Referer: http://localhost/trac/nomadik/wiki/WikiStart?action=edit
Accept-Language: en-gb
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR
1.1.4322)
Host: localhost
Content-Length: 0
Connection: Keep-Alive
Cache-Control: no-cache
Cookie: trac_auth=d8d9434a610eaa466c87e4ed38613053
Authorization: NTLM changed

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Tue, 05 Apr 2005 11:37:23 GMT
Server: Apache/2.0.53 (Win32) SVN/1.1.3 DAV/2 mod_auth_sspi/1.0.1
mod_python/3.1.3 Python/2.3.4 PHP/5.0.0RC3
Cache-control: must-revalidate
Expires: Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT
Content-Length: 9580
Keep-Alive: timeout=15, max=98
Connection: Keep-Alive
Content-Type: text/html;charset=utf-8

= end of logs =

When IE POSTs the form to the Apache server, it 'forgets' the POST data !
(Content-Length: 0)
Trac does not get the data of the form, which explains why it returns the
original page, as it does not know the request was about previewing/saving the
Wiki page.

The question is: why IE does not POST the form data when it submits the page ?

I've also compared the HTML source: no difference, except the path to
CSS/image/Javascript files.

Thanks,
Emmanuel