142681 - mozilla tries to download/run sh file instead of telling server to run it

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Tech Evangelism Graveyard :: English US, defect, P2)

Description

[David Strozzi]

I'm using mozilla release candidate 1 on linux.

There is an mit webpage, that is a form for registering for courses, that isn't
hanlded correctly by mozilla.  It's an sh file (which you won't be able to get
to unless you're an mit student, sorry!).  When you go to this address you get
an actual webpage with form fields, not the raw test of a shell script.

I can enter the info, but when I click submit, mozilla tries to download the
file.  It gives me the 'do you want to save to file, or run w/ application'
dialog box.  I can't seem to find a list of file types and associated
applications in the preferences for mozilla.  However I answer the dialog box,
the form doesn't work.

This problem doesn't happen on RC1 under windows, just under linux.

I'm also talking to the mit computing people about it.

Thanks.

Comment 1

[Olivier Cahagne]

It depends on the MIME type sent by the server.
I cannot test this as I'm not allowed to access this CGI.

Comment 2

[Boris Zbarsky [:bzbarsky]]

QA to me for now; I'll test this once WebSis is up tomorrow.

Comment 3

[Boris Zbarsky [:bzbarsky]]

OK.  Here is the log of what the server sends back for that page:

1026[811e7a8]: http response [
1026[811e7a8]:   HTTP/1.1 200 OK
1026[811e7a8]:   Server: Netscape-Enterprise/4.0
1026[811e7a8]:   Date: Tue, 07 May 2002 15:22:38 GMT
1026[811e7a8]:   Connection: close
1026[811e7a8]: ]

Note the conspicuous length of a Content-Type header.  Since this header is
absent, we have to look at something else to determine the data type.  So we
look at the extension.  The extension is .sh, and /etc/mime.types maps that to
application/x-sh.  So we put up a dialog box asking what to do with it.

On windows, there is no mapping for .sh files by default, so we go on to the
next step -- sniff the content.  And the content is HTML.

Configuring a Netscape 4 install to look at /etc/mime.types (which it does not
do by default) should cause the same behavior in Netscape4/Linux....

Over to evangelism, assigning to self.  Time to send some email.

David, would you be willing to take QA contact on this one, since you're
actually in a position to test it?

Comment 4

[Kai Lahmann (is there, where MNG is)]

403 now..?

Comment 5

[Boris Zbarsky [:bzbarsky]]

Of course it is.  That's why I took the bug (since I have access to the page)... ;)

I've been in contact with the people in question and they're sorta working on
it... slowly.

Comment 6

[Boris Zbarsky [:bzbarsky]]

fixed as a side-effect of bug 177026

Comment 7

[Bob Clary [:bc] (inactive)]

tech evang june 2003 reorg