Re: Browser Interpretation of Location: Header

Jeff Rawlings ([email protected])
Thu, 31 Aug 95 14:17:07 PDT

>I've reviewed the HTTP spec, but it was not clear what is the correct
>behavior here. Should the browser interpret any redirection as a GET (as
>Netscape and Mosaic do), OR, maintain the same operation (in this case,
>POST) ? In fact, am I (technically) abusing the ability to override the
>Location header by using this methodology. Should I be returning a status
>code or something?

We ran into the same problem with a trial registration form on our site. I
certainly think the HTTP spec should clear up this issue. On thinking about
it, I think the proper behavior might actually be to repost the data to the
new location - that can be useful if you have to move a search engine...

In any case, we ended up including the content in the server's response to
the post, rather than using a redirect to the page. (The NaviServer now
includes the ability to specify a page in its pageroot for each database
table, which it will return in response to POSTed form input.)

--
Jeff Rawlings                                        Webmaster
[email protected]                                 NaviSoft
http://www.navisoft.com/             an America Online Company
NaviServer and NaviPress: the integrated Web Publishing System