[thelist] http_referer accuracy

.jeff jeff at members.evolt.org
Wed Oct 3 11:43:39 CDT 2001


joshua,

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
> From: Joshua Olson
>
> I know that I cannot rely of the cgi variable
> http_referer being sent by every browser, but
> in those cases where it is sent, can I count
> on it being accurate?  Does anyone one of
> browsers that send something totally arbitrary?
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

i've seen ie4+ on windows send a referrer when there wasn't actually one.
this can be seen by scouring server logs for referrers and then trying to
find links to your content from those pages.  some of the time you simply
won't find a link, no matter how hard you look.  apparently the browser will
sometimes send the current document's url as the referrer when simply typing
a new address in the browser's address bar.

hope this doesn't mess you up too much,

.jeff

http://evolt.org/
jeff at members.evolt.org
http://members.evolt.org/jeff/






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