Wierd issue with using "(" in hyperlinks that are changed to "[" after submitting Reply

Test 1 - URL plain text: https://clintjefferies.com/tra...tsructionManual_1965(larger).pdf

Test 2 - Specific URL using insert/add hyperlink: https://clintjefferies.com/tra...ual_1965(larger).pdf

Test 3 - Manual HTML Link: Click Me!

EDIT: All the links were botched above, trying to fix below with an edit:

Test 1 - URL plain text: https://clintjefferies.com/tra...tsructionManual_1965(larger).pdf

Test 2 - Specific URL using insert/add hyperlink: https://clintjefferies.com/tra...ual_1965(larger).pdf

Test 3 - Manual HTML Link: Click Me!

@bmoran4 posted:

Test 1 - URL plain text: https://clintjefferies.com/tra...tsructionManual_1965(larger).pdf

Test 2 - Specific URL using insert/add hyperlink: https://clintjefferies.com/tra...ual_1965(larger).pdf

Test 3 - Manual HTML Link: Click Me!

EDIT: All the links were botched above, trying to fix below with an edit:

Test 1 - URL plain text: https://clintjefferies.com/tra...tsructionManual_1965(larger).pdf

Test 2 - Specific URL using insert/add hyperlink: https://clintjefferies.com/tra...ual_1965(larger).pdf

Test 3 - Manual HTML Link: Click Me!

Thanks for repeating the experiment.  They're all returning 404.

One would think the trick is to use proper URL encoding: "https://clintjefferies.com/traindocs/LionelOperatingandIntsructionManual_1965%28larger%29.pdf"

https://clintjefferies.com/tra...1965%28larger%29.pdf

@bmoran4 posted:

One would think the trick is to use proper URL encoding: "https://clintjefferies.com/traindocs/LionelOperatingandIntsructionManual_1965%28larger%29.pdf"

https://clintjefferies.com/tra...1965%28larger%29.pdf

That one does not work for me. Windows 7 running Firefox.

@bmoran4 posted:

The trick is to use proper URL encoding:

https://clintjefferies.com/tra...1965%28larger%29.pdf

This still returns the 404 File Not Found error.

Test with Chrome Version 96.0.4664.45 (Official Build) (64-bit)

https://clintjefferies.com/tra...ual_1965(larger).pdf

This has happened previously.  Link to previous thread, same issue.

The problem here is on the clintjeffries.com site, not here.

It is not accepted practice to put parentheses in a URL. Brackets are OK, but parentheses are not.  That's why the forum software attempts to change the parentheses in the URL to brackets.

I removed the parentheses from the file name and made it available here.

Someone needs to tell Clint Jeffries to remove the parentheses from that URL.

@GregM posted:

This has happened previously.  Link to previous thread, same issue.

Greg, thanks for the link.  That was almost 4 years ago.  I wonder if there's a particular reason this hasn't been changed.

@bmoran4 posted:

One would think the trick is to use proper URL encoding: "https://clintjefferies.com/traindocs/LionelOperatingandIntsructionManual_1965%28larger%29.pdf"

https://clintjefferies.com/tra...1965%28larger%29.pdf

I'm no web programmer, although I do have some archaic programming experience and understand that certain characters such as these can often cause issues if not handled properly.  I would think that the interface should not require an in depth understanding of proper URL encoding practices, rather that it should be easy for the masses to use the existing OGR forum toolset.

I'm unsure what you're suggesting or how one might change the URL of a pre-existing web page to which we might want to link on here?

EDIT: Rich you and I were typing at the same time.  Thank you for this ad hoc fix to the link in question.

@Rich Melvin posted:

The problem here is on the clintjeffries.com site, not here.

It is not accepted practice to put parentheses in a URL. Brackets are OK, but parentheses are not.  That's why the forum software attempts to change the parentheses in the URL to brackets.

I removed the parentheses from the file name and made it available here.

Someone needs to tell Clint Jeffries to remove the parentheses from that URL.

Rich, Thank you for posting the file on the OGR site so that it can now be correctly linked.  If in the future, this type of issue arises again where there is a hosted file with unconventional URL encoding, would a good way to resolve this be to simply download the original file to one's own computer and then upload it as an attachment within a Reply?

@Rich Melvin posted:

The problem here is on the clintjeffries.com site, not here.

It is not accepted practice to put parentheses in a URL. Brackets are OK, but parentheses are not.  That's why the forum software attempts to change the parentheses in the URL to brackets.

I removed the parentheses from the file name and made it available here.

Someone needs to tell Clint Jeffries to remove the parentheses from that URL.

Sure, there are better practices that Jeffries could use, but the forum also erroneously translates %28, a very valid set of characters for a URL.

There's a link to the "smaller" version of this PDF in this thread:

   https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...38#74636392365508038

It seems to work fine, no parentheses in the link, instead %28 and %29:

  https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...al_%28smaller%29.pdf

Mike

@Mellow Hudson Mike posted:

It seems to work fine, no parentheses in the link, instead %28 and %29:

  https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/...al_%28smaller%29.pdf

Mike

Nope, as I stated earlier, the very valid %28 (via RFC 3986) was erroneously translated by the forum software just the same.

Even worse, the replaced character used (the "[" character) is a reserved URI character per RFC 3986 and thus Crowdstack is not adhering to the standard @Rich Melvin is suggesting the other web host to adhere to...

bmoran4,

You're right.  The link works if I click on it when it's within another software program, for instance if it's within in a cell in Excel, but it doesn't work from the OGR Forum.

Mike

Have you tried entering the URL into "tinyurl" and then pasting the tinyurl result into the Forum?

@Arthur P. Bloom, tinyurl should work, but that is a workaround, and one I consider quite poor and a potential security risk as it obfuscates the target link, and if for some reason in the future tinyurl folds or stops offering the service, one ends up with a bunch of dead links. The corrective action is for Crowdstack to appropriately parse and handle all URI links in accordance with standards.