124277 - Proxy prefs don't explain how to use configuration URL

Status: NEW

(SeaMonkey :: Help Documentation, defect)

Description

[Jeremy M. Dolan]

I'd like to possibly make use of the auto configuration URL in the proxy prefs,
but neither the prefs panel nor the context help describes how the heck to do so.

What's the syntax of the file I need to post, etc.

Comment 1

[rudman]

-->wozniak.

Not sure that we fully support autoconfig URLs at this point. Chris? 

Comment 2

[Christopher Wanko]

Regardless, he's asking for an explanation of *anything* that does work.
I'd like some syntax help as well, especially for local PAC files for use in
ad-blocking (there, I said it).

Comment 3

[Daniel Wang]

*** Bug 142498 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 4

[benc]

Chris: ad blocking does not work well for .pac at all, because it has no way of
failing requests for ads, instead you would have to point to a non-existent
proxy, which would create failed connections via a timeout (if the ip is
invalid) or a connection refused (would create error messages and/or panic any
local intrusion detection software). See bug 139594

Comment 5

[benc]

I'll add this link to the networking qa page as well.

Comment 6

[benc]

I might have this done by the time 1.4f hits, so I'm taking it. I still don't
understand most of what gagan wrote in 128270, so I'm not promising to fix that,
just osbsolece it w/ end user docs.

Comment 7

[benc]

I've posted an end user doc for PAC:

http://www.mozilla.org/catalog/end-user/customizing/enduserPAC.html

You can get the content you need. I'm unloading ownership of any bugs that
involve help files, b/c I don't know how to edit them, and I find the structure
quite baffling.

Comment 8

[Jens Hatlak (:InvisibleSmiley)]

(In reply to comment #7)
> I've posted an end user doc for PAC:
> 
> http://www.mozilla.org/catalog/end-user/customizing/enduserPAC.html

That URL is already part of the Proxy help but it produces a 404 with a link to the archived version. Clicking that shows the page but with a warning on top stating that the contents are "highly out of date" and that one should file a bug if one wants to have them back on www.mozilla.org.

Options:
a) just move the page back to www.mozilla.org
b) move page contents to SM help, maybe adapting it here and there 
c) create a new page somewhere else and link that
d) remove the link from the Proxy help

Comment 9

[[e-mail]]

(In reply to comment #8)
> (In reply to comment #7)
> > I've posted an end user doc for PAC:
> > 
> > http://www.mozilla.org/catalog/end-user/customizing/enduserPAC.html
> That URL is already part of the Proxy help but it produces a 404 with a link to
> the archived version. Clicking that shows the page but with a warning on top
> stating that the contents are "highly out of date" and that one should file a
> bug if one wants to have them back on www.mozilla.org.
Maybe that document really belongs somewhere else, e.g. wiki.mozilla.org

Comment 10

[Ian Neal]

(In reply to comment #8)
> (In reply to comment #7)
> > I've posted an end user doc for PAC:
> > 
> > http://www.mozilla.org/catalog/end-user/customizing/enduserPAC.html
> 
> That URL is already part of the Proxy help but it produces a 404 with a link to
> the archived version. Clicking that shows the page but with a warning on top
> stating that the contents are "highly out of date" and that one should file a
> bug if one wants to have them back on www.mozilla.org.
> 
> Options:
> a) just move the page back to www.mozilla.org
> b) move page contents to SM help, maybe adapting it here and there 
> c) create a new page somewhere else and link that
> d) remove the link from the Proxy help

I would favour option b - adapting the information with some going under proxy settings and some in an entry/some entries to the glossary of SM help (PAC file, etc).
Resetting to defaults, InvisibleSmiley - feel free to take.

Comment 11

[Jens Hatlak (:InvisibleSmiley)]

Attachment: PAC xhtml file, mostly copied from benc's page

AFAICS our current proxy configuration documentation is mainly in cs_nav_prefs_advanced.xhtml which is a bad place to put larger explanations. I think in this case we've to bite the bullet and create a new file, even if it means we cannot backport this to SM 2.0. Other suggestions are welcome.

This is not a patch yet, just the new file. A patch would not only have to add the file (trivial) but also provide some links from existing documents and TOC additions.

Please note that I know nothing about PAC, its (dis)advantages, the status of its implementation in Mozilla products, or the file format. I just converted the contents of the page benc wrote (thanks!) to Help file style and improved the wording.

Comment 12

[Ian Neal]

Comment on attachment 448228 [details]
PAC xhtml file, mostly copied from benc's page

It is a good starting point, I would be interested on seeing how this would fit into help overall next.

Comment 13

[RickieES aka Ricardo Palomares]

(In reply to comment #12)
> Comment on attachment 448228 [details]
> PAC xhtml file, mostly copied from benc's page
> 
> It is a good starting point, I would be interested on seeing how this would fit
> into help overall next.


Being a complete PAC ignorant, I miss some info in that explanation:

- What is the format of PAC files? Describing the format seems out of the scope of SM help, but a pointer to the reference could be good.

- How do I use PAC files in SM? Is it just selecting "URL for automatic proxy configuration" (or similar, I'm using es-ES at this moment) and providing the right URL to the file?

Comment 14

[Jens Hatlak (:InvisibleSmiley)]

(In reply to comment #13)
> - What is the format of PAC files? Describing the format seems out of the scope
> of SM help, but a pointer to the reference could be good.

  http://www-archive.mozilla.org/docs/netlib/pac.html
points to
  http://home.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/2.0/relnotes/demo/proxy-live.html
("Here" link), a copy of which can be found here:
  http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Web/autoproxy.html

Also there is
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_auto-config
which however I don't like to link as a matter of principle. We could/should probably copy the contents of the former Netscape page to the Mozilla Wiki instead and link that new page then.

> - How do I use PAC files in SM? Is it just selecting "URL for automatic proxy
> configuration" (or similar, I'm using es-ES at this moment) and providing the
> right URL to the file?

Exactly. That part is not contained in the page I attached yet; the page should be linked from the Proxies Preferences pane, but of course a link pointing back should be provided as well.

Comment 15

[Jens Hatlak (:InvisibleSmiley)]

Actually I'm not currently working on this, feel free to take.

Comment 16

[RickieES aka Ricardo Palomares]

(In reply to comment #14)
> (In reply to comment #13)
> > - What is the format of PAC files? Describing the format seems out of the scope
> > of SM help, but a pointer to the reference could be good.
> 
>   http://www-archive.mozilla.org/docs/netlib/pac.html
> points to
>   http://home.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/2.0/relnotes/demo/proxy-live.html
> ("Here" link), a copy of which can be found here:
>   http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Web/autoproxy.html
> 
> Also there is
>   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_auto-config
> which however I don't like to link as a matter of principle. We could/should
> probably copy the contents of the former Netscape page to the Mozilla Wiki
> instead and link that new page then.


Doing so means that page won't be localizable, atlhough, to be honest, it is too long for most people to take the time to translate it. :-)


> > - How do I use PAC files in SM? Is it just selecting "URL for automatic proxy
> > configuration" (or similar, I'm using es-ES at this moment) and providing the
> > right URL to the file?
> 
> Exactly. That part is not contained in the page I attached yet; the page should
> be linked from the Proxies Preferences pane, but of course a link pointing back
> should be provided as well.


Do you mean adding a new file to SM help? Since cs_nav_prefs_advanced.xhtml is relatively small (~500 lines), maybe the contents of your attachment could be inserted into it, don't you think so?

Comment 17

[Jens Hatlak (:InvisibleSmiley)]

(In reply to comment #16)
> > We could/should
> > probably copy the contents of the former Netscape page to the Mozilla Wiki
> > instead and link that new page then.
> 
> Doing so means that page won't be localizable, atlhough, to be honest, it is
> too long for most people to take the time to translate it. :-)

Regarding localizability you might want to ask Ian. I just thought that a very technical aspect should not be part of Help and is OK to be English only. The wiki furthermore allows us to easily set up and maintain the page.

> > > - How do I use PAC files in SM?
> > That part is not contained in the page I attached yet; the page should
> > be linked from the Proxies Preferences pane, but of course a link pointing
> > back should be provided as well.
> 
> Do you mean adding a new file to SM help? Since cs_nav_prefs_advanced.xhtml is
> relatively small (~500 lines), maybe the contents of your attachment could be
> inserted into it, don't you think so?

Basically that's your choice as a patch author, and the person who should do the review is another choice. :-) I just thought that the new topic is pretty self-contained. Also the pref panel topic may be short but in Help it's shown on one page of similar topics. Adding a longer part on PAC would IMHO look a bit out of line.