[WEB4LIB] access to vendor databases - errors on IE for Mac

[Thomas Dowling]

At 01:31 AM 11/14/2002, Fiona Mcgregor wrote:
>We have a problem when our Mac users, using Internet Explorer 4 or 5, try to
>login to EBSCO and some other databases using referring url authentication.
>When these users login, their library details were recording as successfully
>getting in, but they are getting an 'invalid referring url' screen message
>from Ebsco, or "Forbidden" message on other databases. This problem only
>affects IE/Mac users - when they use Netscape on the same Mac, they don't
>have this problem.
>
>Have any of you struck the same issue with referring url access on a Mac and
>if so, found a solution? Any suggestions gratefully received.


OhioLINK faced a similar situtation that may apply to you.  IIRC, when a 
user views a page at URL A, then clicks on a link to URL B, which performs 
an HTTP redirect to URL C, most browsers send C the value of A as the 
referer.  Mac IE sends B.  Also IIRC, the HTTP standard is less than clear 
on which behavior is correct, though obviously the first is more common.

If you do have a redirect built into your links to EBSCO, one solution 
would be to remove it.  Another is to find an alternative to referer-based 
authentication, which provides no real security.



Thomas Dowling
OhioLINK - Ohio Library and Information Network
tdowling at ohiolink.edu