Different POST encoding format

[David Joseph Bonnici]

Hi I was experimenting with perl, on the POST method. I am using
LWP::UserAgent

$response = $browser->post( $url,
[ 'first name' => 'John',
'last name' => 'Doe',
'lastandfirst' => 'John Doe',
] );

If I post, the data is sent something like this
"&first+name=John&last+name=Doe&lastandfirst=John+Doe"

I would like the post to be something enocoded like so (dont ask me why!)
&first%20name=John&last%20name=Doe&lastandfirst=John&20Doe

How do I do it (or what parameter do I need to modify).

This is sending me crazy.

David

 

[Gunnar Hjalmarsson]

Hi I was experimenting with perl, on the POST method. I am using
LWP::UserAgent

$response = $browser->post( $url,
[ 'first name' => 'John',
'last name' => 'Doe',
'lastandfirst' => 'John Doe',
] );

If I post, the data is sent something like this
"&first+name=John&last+name=Doe&lastandfirst=John+Doe"

I would like the post to be something enocoded like so (dont ask me why!)
&first%20name=John&last%20name=Doe&lastandfirst=John&20Doe

Why?

 

[Peter Wyzl]

: Hi I was experimenting with perl, on the POST method. I am using
: LWP::UserAgent
:
: $response = $browser->post( $url,
: [ 'first name' => 'John',
: 'last name' => 'Doe',
: 'lastandfirst' => 'John Doe',
: ] );
:
: If I post, the data is sent something like this
: "&first+name=John&last+name=Doe&lastandfirst=John+Doe"
:
: I would like the post to be something enocoded like so (dont ask me why!)
: &first%20name=John&last%20name=Doe&lastandfirst=John&20Doe
:
: How do I do it (or what parameter do I need to modify).
:
: This is sending me crazy.

So url encode your names and values before you post them. But it does beg
the question 'why'. However, I sense an 'X - Y' question.

P

 

[Alan J. Flavell]

Hi I was experimenting with perl, on the POST method. I am using
LWP::UserAgent

$response = $browser->post( $url,
[ 'first name' => 'John',
'last name' => 'Doe',
'lastandfirst' => 'John Doe',
] );

If I post, the data is sent something like this
"&first+name=John&last+name=Doe&lastandfirst=John+Doe"

Check the definition of the form url encoding format. This is the
correct submission.

I would like the post to be something enocoded like so (dont ask me why!)
&first%20name=John&last%20name=Doe&lastandfirst=John&20Doe

Stop wanting that. It's not a defined form submission format.
You'd be creating a completely pointless incompatibility with web
interworking specifications.

This is sending me crazy.

Often happens when one wants the wrong thing. This has nothing to do
with Perl, by the way.

 

[David Joseph Bonnici]

Thanks for coming back to me, both of you. I was in the mean time doing
some reasearch, and I think I found it.

I think that I have to do the escaping on the single pieces of the data
using URI:Escape

for example
.....
use URI::Escape;
print uri_escape("David sleeps more 10% than other people do");
.....

giving
David%20sleeps%20more%2010%25%20than%20other%20people%20do

I let you know

David

 

[David Joseph Bonnici]

Sorry Alan, you are wrong is saying so. I want to do the same thing an
actionscript script is doing in perl. It was not me who has written the
actionscript script, but I have seen this format many times. Pls see
http://www.blooberry.com/indexdot/html/topics/urlencoding.htm I just want
%20's and not + in my post request.

This is what the flash script is sending (captured in Ethereal).

nc=Thu%20May%205%2002%3A51%3A24%20GMT%2B0200%202005&IdChannel=129&Insert%5Fdate=5%2F5%2F2005&key=1HTTP/1.1
100 Continue

Till now I have arrived till here. The only problem remaining is that the
LWP::UserAgent is encoding my % where I want them untouched.

nc=Thu%2520May%25205%252002%252051%252024%2520GMT%252B0200%25202005&IdChannel=127&Insert%2520date=5%252F5%252F2005&key=1HTTP/1.1
100 Continue

I think, that the problem that I have with LWP::UserAgent is that I do not
know how to define the charset to use and/or the encoding to use.

Any help is appreciated.

David

P.S. References (see encoding sections):

Hi I was experimenting with perl, on the POST method. I am using
LWP::UserAgent

$response = $browser->post( $url,
[ 'first name' => 'John',
'last name' => 'Doe',
'lastandfirst' => 'John Doe',
] );

If I post, the data is sent something like this
"&first+name=John&last+name=Doe&lastandfirst=John+Doe"

Check the definition of the form url encoding format. This is the
correct submission.

I would like the post to be something enocoded like so (dont ask me why!)
&first%20name=John&last%20name=Doe&lastandfirst=John&20Doe

Stop wanting that. It's not a defined form submission format.
You'd be creating a completely pointless incompatibility with web
interworking specifications.

This is sending me crazy.

Often happens when one wants the wrong thing. This has nothing to do
with Perl, by the way.

 

[Alan J. Flavell]

Sorry Alan, you are wrong is saying so.

See the authoritative specification,
http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/interact/forms.html#h-17.13.4

I want to do the same thing an actionscript script is doing in perl.
It was not me who has written the actionscript script, but I have
seen this format many times.

Nevertheless, it deviates from any forms submission format which is
defined in authoritative specifications, and I stand by the priniciple
that it's a bad idea to propagate such poor engineering.

But this has nothing to do with Perl, so I'm not going to discuss this
in great detail here.

Pls see
http://www.blooberry.com/indexdot/html/topics/urlencoding.htm

That's urlencoding, yes, not application/x-www-form-urlencoded
format.

If you were to apply a urlencoding layer to your data first, then your
spaces would turn into %20. Then, application/x-www-form-urlencoded
would have to turn that into %2520 (%25 being the encoded percent
character).

I just want %20's and not + in my post request.

My advice continues to be that you should stop wanting that.

This is what the flash script is sending (captured in Ethereal).

nc=Thu%20May%205%2002%3A51%3A24%20GMT%2B0200%202005&IdChannel=129&Insert%5Fdate=5%2F5%2F2005&key=1HTTP/1.1

But this conforms to no published interworking specification; I don't
see any advantage in deviating from known specifications.

Till now I have arrived till here. The only problem remaining is that the
LWP::UserAgent is encoding my % where I want them untouched.

Of course, it's designed to do its proper job, not the piece of
misconceived "design" which you're trying to emulate.

I think, that the problem that I have with LWP::UserAgent is that I do not
know how to define the charset to use and/or the encoding to use.

That's got nothing to do with your stated problem, though.

good luck

 

[David Joseph Bonnici]

Here is another guy having my same problem.
http://groups.google.com.mt/[email protected]&rnum=10

 

[David Joseph Bonnici]

Thread closed. I managed to make a workaround.

 

[Tad McClellan]

I managed to make a workaround.

Please share it here, for the benefit of others.

 

[David Joseph Bonnici]

.....
use HTTP::Request::Common qw(POST);
use URI::Escape;
.....

and then do the request as follows. (It was quite painfull to find the right
manpage)

$response = $browser->request(POST $url,
Content => 'nc='.uri_escape('Fri May 6
03:09:09').'&Id='.'01'.'&'.'Insert%5Fdate'.'='.uri_escape('8/5/2005').'&key=1');

Like so, you have total control of what is sent in the post request.

I have a new problem now, being that: to have some sort of control of the
packet size of the request. Some post requests are splitted into several
small packets, and I think that this can be causing some problems, on the
server side (of which I have no control or debug information. I know that
the server should not bother about the transport layer, but you never know
how things are implemented.)


David