& Symbol Crashes Website

jondavis45 · 8-10-06, 09:47 AM

I recently had my wesite go down do to an & symbol in one of my images files.
example test&test.jpg
The explanation by powweb support was that this special character corrupted my zone file which in turn knocked my website off.

Could someone explain this to me in detail because I do not understand it.

thanks.

**snowmaker** · 8-10-06, 09:52 AM

Well I'm not sure why that would go so far as to crash your site, but you could try replacing the & with &

cc1030 · 8-10-06, 10:27 AM

Do you have that explanation in writing? Because I would leave to see the exact explanation, for the simple fact that that is complete BS. It's a very bad idea to use the "&" sign in filenames, though. The "&" sign is a special character in HTTP requests. It's used by the server to parse the request into the filename and parameters. I'm not sure how servers are supposed to handle scenarios where the "&" comes before the "?", though. But in general, don't use the "&" sign in filenames.

joshuamc · 8-10-06, 10:31 AM

& should work fine in a file name. This is hosted on PowWeb: http://www.siezingtheday.com/test&test.jpg

jondavis45 · 8-10-06, 10:31 AM

I understand that it is a bad practice, it was a file from a couple of years ago not created by me.
I would just want an explanation on how it could crash my website.

joshuamc · 8-10-06, 10:33 AM

If you want, I can look at the ticket and perhaps give you a better explanation. I would need your domain name or tracking code.

sean.e · 8-10-06, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshuamc

& should work fine in a file name. This is hosted on PowWeb: http://www.siezingtheday.com/test&test.jpg

Faith and ^H^H^H^H & The Muse!!

YvetteKuhns · 8-10-06, 02:32 PM

Special characters used in queries should not be used in filenames. It is possible that the symbol crashed a program such as a migration program or a search program. Simply calling an image or linking to it would not cause a problem, but a mysql query could get confused.

http://www.domain.com/test&test.jpg
This is okay.

http://www.domain.com/index.php?id=test&test.jpg
This is confusing.

joshuamc · 8-10-06, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Faith and ^H^H^H^H & The Muse!!

A fan?

sean.e · 8-10-06, 03:36 PM

yeah - Strange Boutique too...

8-10-06, 09:47 AM	#1
jondavis45 Registered Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 2 Reputation: 5	& Symbol Crashes Website I recently had my wesite go down do to an & symbol in one of my images files. example test&test.jpg The explanation by powweb support was that this special character corrupted my zone file which in turn knocked my website off. Could someone explain this to me in detail because I do not understand it. thanks.

8-10-06, 09:52 AM	#2
snowmaker   Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Solomons Island Posts: 2,217 Reputation: 212	Well I'm not sure why that would go so far as to crash your site, but you could try replacing the & with & __________________ -bruce /* somdcomputerguy / 'If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.'*

8-10-06, 02:32 PM	#8
YvetteKuhns Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Allentown, PA USA Posts: 14,885 Reputation: 447	Special characters used in queries should not be used in filenames. It is possible that the symbol crashed a program such as a migration program or a search program. Simply calling an image or linking to it would not cause a problem, but a mysql query could get confused. http://www.domain.com/test&test.jpg This is okay. http://www.domain.com/index.php?id=test&test.jpg This is confusing. __________________ Yvette Kuhns Power Pages Web Design Customized Internet Advertising Solutions

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8-10-06, 10:27 AM	#3
cc1030 Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Agawam, MA Posts: 915 Reputation: 130	Do you have that explanation in writing? Because I would leave to see the exact explanation, for the simple fact that that is complete BS. It's a very bad idea to use the "&" sign in filenames, though. The "&" sign is a special character in HTTP requests. It's used by the server to parse the request into the filename and parameters. I'm not sure how servers are supposed to handle scenarios where the "&" comes before the "?", though. But in general, don't use the "&" sign in filenames.

8-10-06, 10:31 AM	#4
joshuamc Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 2,511 Reputation: 135	& should work fine in a file name. This is hosted on PowWeb: http://www.siezingtheday.com/test&test.jpg

8-10-06, 10:33 AM	#6
joshuamc Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 2,511 Reputation: 135	If you want, I can look at the ticket and perhaps give you a better explanation. I would need your domain name or tracking code.

8-10-06, 03:36 PM	#10
sean.e Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: CA, USA Posts: 43 Reputation: 5	yeah - Strange Boutique too...