<textarea> and percentage character or pound sign

dameunmate

<form action='target.php' method= 'get' >
<textarea name='newdata' cols='100%' rows='5'></textarea> 
<input type='submit' value='Submit'> 
</form>

Most text I enter into the text area can be used by php in the target page without any problems. But if I type the characters % or £ in the text area I get following the error message in target.php:

Not Acceptable
An appropriate representation of the requested resource /empty.php could not be found on this server.
Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

...with % in the textarea the url reads target.php?newdata=%25 and with £ in the textarea the url reads target.php?newdata=%A3

I've looked at urlencode and htmlentities but how do I apply them to a text area before the form is submitted and the contents sent to the querystring?

NogDog

I don't see why that should matter as far as the HTML form on the client-side, so I suspect the problem is in the PHP code, maybe doing a header() location redirect somewhere with the supplied string, in which case you would need to [man]urlencode/man it?

dameunmate

there is no php code - just this form and a completely empty target.php. I deleted all my php code when I thought it might be causing the problem, but I still get the error message, so maybe .php files will not open if there's a % character in the querystring?

bradgrafelman

Sounds like an Apache security module is filtering incoming data or something? Can you show us a list of all Apache modules loaded (assuming your webserver is Apache, of course)?

dameunmate

I've no idea - I tried the code:

<?php
print_r(apache_get_modules());
?>

but I just get the error message:

Fatal error: Call to undefined function apache_get_modules() in /home/mysite/public_html/listapachemodules.php on line 2

paulnaj

Put this into a blank PHP page, upload and view ...

<?php
php_info();
?>

bradgrafelman

paulnaj;10959717 wrote:
Put this into a blank PHP page, upload and view ...
<?php
php_info();
?>

I think you mean:

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

instead? :p

EDIT: Note, however, that if PHP is being called as a CGI binary rather than an Apache module, you're probably not going to find the usual Apache-related information in a phpinfo() printout either.

Have you tried asking your host to see if this is some sort of security "feature" that they've implemented?

paulnaj

Doh!

dameunmate

sorry I've been away. but still keen to get to the bottom of this... not sure how to paste this so here's a link to my phpinfo: http://piano-tuning.co.uk/info.php

dameunmate

BUMP

PradeepKr

try running it as GET (paste it in your browser after putting your correct domain)

yoursite.com/target.php?newdata=%25
yoursite.com/target.php?newdata=%

dameunmate

yes I always run as GET so I can see what I'm doing (I'm still on a steep learning curve). I haven't tried it as POST but I need to use get really. Still doesn't like the % or £ signs...

PradeepKr

Let's first replace the single quotes with the double quotes, and remove % in cols attribute

<form action="target.php" method="get" >
<textarea name="newdata" cols="10" rows="5" value=""></textarea> 
<input type="submit" value="Submit"> 
</form>

dameunmate

Hi Pradeep, thank you for your help, and sorry I've been away.

I tried the code you suggested:

<form action="target.php" method="get" >
<textarea name="newdata" cols="10" rows="5" value=""></textarea> 
<input type="submit" value="Submit"> 
</form>

But the target page still does not accept any % or £ symbols in the querystring, with the same error: "An appropriate representation of the requested resource /target.php could not be found on this server.

If I just enter '%' in the textarea the resulting querysting reads: target.php?newdata=%25

dameunmate

interestingly, if I use POST instead of GET there are no error messages