534282 - View source should NOT reload the url!

Status: RESOLVED INCOMPLETE

(Firefox :: General, defect)

Description

[Paul Dunn]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.9.1.5) Gecko/20091102 Firefox/3.5.5 GTB6
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.9.1.5) Gecko/20091102 Firefox/3.5.5 GTB6

Im considering this a major bug because the behaviour is just wrong. 

Since around version 3 or so the 'view source' feature reloads the url.  That is just not correct. Sometimes a single URL outputs different code depending on various factors, for example if there is post data or not. Or depending on what the post data is.  Some backends are programmed to produce partially random code. Sometimes the delivered code depends on the time of the submission (for example interactive clocks and calendars). Some database backends will intentionally cause a failure when trying to repost the identical information. Or the data in the db could change between the time when I initially loaded the page and when I click the 'view source' feature. Therefore forcing a reload just to get the page source is just a bad idea! These are only a few examples. 

In other words, what I am saying is that a new request on the same url does NOT show me the source for the currently viewed page in many circumstances!

The browser has the code in memory, just show it to me! I cant see how forcing a resubmit in order to get my current page source would ever be a good idea.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
right click any page and select 'View Page Source' from the menu.
Actual Results:  
I get *new* source, not the current source!

Expected Results:  
I want to see the source for the page I am looking at!

Comment 1

[Matthias Versen [:Matti]]

Always provide an example URL and be sure that you tested the issue without addons.
DO you mean bug 307089 ?

Comment 2

[Paul Dunn]

Yes, bug 307089 sounds similar although I dont think cache settings have any affect on this behaviour. So what sort of a timeframe are we looking at? Firefox has had this horrible behaviour for a long time and it is a debilitating handicap if you've ever tried to debug the backend of a site since, in the case of dynamic sites (the only kind I build incidentally) 'view page source' almost never shows you what the backend delivered to your browser window. :(

Comment 3

[Matthias Versen [:Matti]]

bug 307089 also talks about disabling the cache with http headers (no-store)...
Again, we need a public testcase.

Comment 4

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

Reporter, are you still seeing this issue with Firefox 3.6.13 or later in safe mode? If not, please close. These links can help you in your testing.
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Safe+Mode
http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Managing+profiles

You can also try to reproduce in Firefox 4 Beta 8 or later, there are many improvements in the new version, http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html

Comment 5

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

No reply, INCOMPLETE. Please retest with Firefox 3.6.13 or later and a new profile (http://support.mozilla.com/kb/Managing+profiles). If you continue to see this issue with the newest firefox and a new profile, then please comment on this bug.