Netscape Navigator Redirects Incorrectly Using META Refresh without Time Variable (163222)

SYMPTOMS

Using a META refresh command without a time variable will cause Internet Explorer to properly redirect, but Netscape Navigator will redirect incorrectly.

CAUSE

When you use the following type of command:

<META http-equiv="REFRESH"
   content="url=http://www.server.com/document.htm">

the redirect works properly for Internet Explorer, but not for Netscape Navigator. Apparently, Netscape Navigator fails to find the time parameter, so it ignores the URL and treats this as a refresh back to the original page.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, substitute the following syntax:

<META http-equiv="REFRESH" content="0;
   url=http://www.server.com/document.htm">

In this example, the time parameter is always be found, and Netscape Navigator no longer ignores the URL. This example follows the RFC specification and works with either browser. The original example (under CAUSE) omits the "0;" section, which means it does not conform to the RFC specification; however, Internet Explorer works with the line as is.

MORE INFORMATION

This article originated with an error in which a redirect was placed into a content-protected default error page. In that scenario, Internet Information Server sent back the default error page HTML as the originally requested page with a 401 access denied error message. The problem was that if the requested page was protected content requiring authentication, and the browser tried to display the HTML because authentication failed, and the redirect was interpreted as a redirect back to the same page because the URL parameter was ignored, then the user was prompted again for authentication.