Q288116: FP98: Percent Sign in URL Returns HTTP 404 Error

Article: Q288116
Product(s): Word Front Page
Version(s): 5,5.5
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbdta
Last Modified: 20-JUL-2001

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft FrontPage 98 for Windows 
- Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 5, 5.5 for Windows NT 4.0 
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For a Microsoft FrontPage 2002 version of this article, see Q289624.

SYMPTOMS
========

When you try to browse a folder whose name contains a percent sign, you may
receive an error message similar to the following:

  HTTP/1.1 404 Object Not Found

CAUSE
=====

A percent sign defines an "escape sequence" in a Web address, as described in
section "2.4. Escape Sequences," in the Request for Comment (RFC) article number
2396.

MORE INFORMATION
================

Escape sequences are used in a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to allow
characters that may appear in a folder or file name, but are not allowed in a
URL. The syntax for an escape sequence is defined as a percent sign, followed by
two hexadecimal digits, (for example, %A1, %2B, and so on).

When you name a folder to have a percent sign, if the characters following the
percent sign are valid hexadecimal characters, the folder name may not be
resolved correctly, for example:

- A folder named 100%DAD may not work, because the two characters following the
  percent sign are valid hexadecimal characters. In this case, the "%DA"
  sequence may be misinterpreted as character 218, which, depending on the
  character set that is being used, may be a "Latin Capital U with Acute." This
  results in a Web request for a folder name that may not physically exist on
  the server.

- A folder named 100%MOM may work, because the two characters following the
  percent sign are not valid hexadecimal characters.

Additional References
---------------------

For more information about this topic, please see the following Web sites:

  RFC 2396 (ftp://nis.nsf.net/internet/documents/rfc/rfc2396.txt)<A0>Uniform
  Resource Identifiers (URI): Generic Syntax

  RFC 2396 (ftp://nis.nsf.net/internet/documents/rfc/rfc2616.txt)<A0>Hypertext
  Transfer Protocol - HTTP/1.1

  Q284278 FP2000: Cannot Open a Subweb with an Ampersand Character in the Name

Additional query words: front page

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Keywords          : kbdta 
Technology        : kbIEsearch kbFrontPageSearch kbZNotKeyword4 kbZNotKeyword2 kbFrontPage98Search kbIENT400Search kbIE500Search kbZNotKeyword3 kbIE500WinNT400 kbIE550WinNT400 kbIE550Search
Version           : :5,5.5
Issue type        : kbprb

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