ADMIN: OOPS - The requested file. . . (revised)

[Jim Flanagan]

No: HPFGUIDX 11850

This message is somewhat technical, but potentially affects anyone 
who creates or uses hyperlinks to files (graphics, HTML pages, etc.) 
that are stored in the Files area of any Yahoo Group, including ours. 
This problem is a byproduct of the eGroups transition, and apparently 
went into effect in early February.

Whenever you try to view one of the affected files through your 
browser you will get an error message saying, "OOPS - The requested 
file or directory is not found on the server."  The following 
paragraphs describe the cause and cure for this problem in more 
detail.


******* WARNING: EXTREME GEEKINESS FOLLOWS *********


The reason for this new problem is that Yahoo has changed the way 
that special characters in file and directory names are translated 
into URLs. The "old-style" substitutions were inherited from eGroups, 
but continued to be used on Yahoo Groups for several weeks after the 
changeover.

For example, a blank in a file or directory name used to be 
translated into a "+" sign in the URL.  With the change, blank is now 
represented by "%20".  

The old-style URL for the the directory "Fan Fiction" (which contains 
a blank in the name) was:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Fan+Fiction/

The new-style URL is:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Fan%20Fiction/

All links that used the old-style substitution characters are now 
broken. To fix existing HTML files, you must edit the hyperlinks and 
correct the file and directory names. It is probably best to visit 
the target file, cut the address shown in the Address Bar, and paste 
it into your document. You should then check that each corrected link 
still works when you have finished editing your file.

Many of the URLs in our old messages are now broken too, and 
unfortunately it's impossible to go back and fix them without 
deleting and reposting. You can still find files that are referred to 
in old messages, but you must manually edit the URLs before your 
browser can open them.  The most common substitutions are "%20" 
for "+" (blank in the original file name), and %27 for apostrophe.  
The underline and dash characters are unchanged. Unfortunately, I 
don't have a record of what the old codes were for any other special 
characters.

This only applies to files that are hosted on yahoo.com and which 
include special characters anywhere in the URL.  Files on other sites 
and which do not contain special characters are not affected.

-Jim Flanagan
Moderator Geek