Re: lynx-dev Query string handling bug vs bad html

[Jason F. McBrayer]

>>>>> "DK" == Doug Kaufman <address@hidden> writes:

DK> A user of my copy of lynx2.8.1dev6 on rahul.net has complained that
DK> there is a bug in handling ampersands used as delimiters in query
DK> strings in URL's. I replied that the ampersands needed to be escaped
DK> as "&amp;", but he replied that the need for escaping is outside of
DK> the specifications. I would appreciate comments on whether this is a
DK> lynx bug or invalid html. The question is outside of the area of my
DK> expertise. If I gave bad advice, I would like to make a retraction.
DK> Please see the test URL at the end of this message.

My understanding, and this is not as a reader of the specs, but as a
reader of comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html, where the people who do
read the specs hang out, is that the ampersands _should_ be entified
or URL encoded (one or the other) in the HTML and appropriately
translated by the browser before sending.  However, if you comply with
the specs on this one, your forms will not work with most commonly
deployed browsers (i.e. NS and IE).  I could well be wrong on this,
since I'm not really sure which standards apply here.

I seem to recall Alan Flavell posting on this topic; maybe if he's
reading the mailing list he can clarify this for us.

-- 
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Jason F. McBrayer              address@hidden |
| The scalloped tatters of the King in Yellow must hide Yhtill   |   
| forever.                    R.W. Chambers _The King in Yellow_ |