Hi everyone,

one general thing to note when quoting IBM URLs like the following:

> Check out http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data...x/ids/support/
^^^^
||||
please leave out the "-###" part of the URL and instead
quote it like this:

http://www.ibm.com/software/data/informix/ids/support/

The "-###" means that the page is provided by a particular host,
to which an original HTTP request without such a "-###" has
been routed automatically.

Usually, the routing will be stable, i.e. a URL with "-###" will
normally work. However, if that particular machine is down, then
a URL with the "-###" may not work.
But a URL without "-###" will still work, because the request
will then be routed to a different machine.

Therefore at best leave out that "-###" when quoting such URLs.
Otherwise, if such a URL one day does not work, remember that you
can take away the "-###" part and it then should work.

This is a general note, not to pick on any individual e-mail
contributor ... only this e-mail was a good example.

Besides, there are many people within IBM who don't understand
the concept behind this and therefore often just do cut&paste
of such URLs into documents, presentations, etc.
But since this is a technical audience, I thought it may well
worth it to (try to) explain this ...

Hi Jonathan,

you want to include an item along these lines into the FAQ list?

Regards,
Martin
--
Martin Fuerderer
IBM Informix Development Munich, Germany
Information Management

owner-informix-list@iiug.org wrote on 13.12.2005 04:20:07:
>
> Folks,
>
> Check out http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data...x/ids/support/
>
> This has
>
> - Flashs (the Old Tech Alerts about nasty bugs).
> - Technotes (bugs/other hints)
> - Product Documentation
> - Where to download fixpacks
> - Product Lifecycle (what releases are supported and until when)
> - Support Handbook (how to talk to customer support??)
>
> An excellent page!
sending to informix-list

Martin Fuerderer wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> one general thing to note when quoting IBM URLs like the following:
>
> > Check out http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data...x/ids/support/
> ^^^^
> ||||
> please leave out the "-###" part of the URL and instead
> quote it like this:
>
> http://www.ibm.com/software/data/informix/ids/support/
>
> The "-###" means that the page is provided by a particular host,
> to which an original HTTP request without such a "-###" has
> been routed automatically.
>

This is not something the user should ever have to worry about,
and is more a problem with the web server configuration. The
URL is the URL, and if IBM configured their web server(s) correctly
they wouldn't have this problem in the first place. To suggest that
users modify the URL is philosophically wrong. Rather, you should
mention to the IBM web server people that they need to fix their web
server settings and the routing or load balancer(s) to mask whatever
server people are redirected to. Having users modify the URL is
ridiculous!

Double Echo wrote:
> Martin Fuerderer wrote:
>
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>> one general thing to note when quoting IBM URLs like the following:
>>
>> > Check out http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data...x/ids/support/
>> ^^^^
>> ||||
>> please leave out the "-###" part of the URL and instead
>> quote it like this:
>>
>> http://www.ibm.com/software/data/informix/ids/support/
>>
>> The "-###" means that the page is provided by a particular host,
>> to which an original HTTP request without such a "-###" has
>> been routed automatically.
>>
>
> This is not something the user should ever have to worry about,
> and is more a problem with the web server configuration. The
> URL is the URL, and if IBM configured their web server(s) correctly
> they wouldn't have this problem in the first place. To suggest that
> users modify the URL is philosophically wrong. Rather, you should
> mention to the IBM web server people that they need to fix their web
> server settings and the routing or load balancer(s) to mask whatever
> server people are redirected to. Having users modify the URL is
> ridiculous!
>
>
>
Here Here!

(Hear Hear?)