Bug Report 052404-B

(not to be confused with Bug Report 052404-A) 

In or before May, 2004, AOL made a change to its server 
which caused failures in certain AOL-hosted web pages on the users.aol.com server. 
The change introduced a bug. 
This is a report of that bug. 


Forwarding Notice
 
This bug report is written in terms which your programmers will understand. 
Therefore, direct forwarding of this bug report to the America Online programming dept. is requested. 


Problem Type
 
Breakdown of advertised feature. 


Feature Affected -- Background
 
AOL provides its customers the ability to make web pages having fill-in forms. 
One of the features available in these forms is the "ResponsePage" parameter, 
which tells the AOL server which web page to serve up after the user presses the "Submit" button. 
(If you are not familiar with this feature, please see AOL's description of this feature at 
http://members.aol.com/wwwadmin/email/email.htm). 


Feature Affected -- Specifics
 
If you fill in a form and press Submit, but that form does not specify a "ResponsePage" parameter, 
the AOL server inappropriately gives an error message even though no error has occurred. 


History
 
I have used the "ResponsePage" feature continuously since 1997. 
The breakdown occurred in several of my web pages simultaneously in 2004, 
even though I had not changed them. 
Therefore this rules out any possibility that the bug might be mine and not AOL's. 

Problem First Appeared: May 2004 

Problem First Proven to Exist: May 24, 2004 

Date Reported to AOL: May 25, 2004 


Cause
 
AOL's own default Response Page does not exist or has been moved? 

One of AOL's programmers has broken a feature that has worked for years. 
Clearly the programmer made a change and then failed to make sure that the change didn't cause something else to break. 
Proper testing would have totally prevented this failure. 


Symptoms and Demonstration
 
The problem is easy to see and understand. 
When the HTML form does not specify a ResponsePage parameter, the AOL server gives the inappropriate and incorrect error message 

        "Sorry, we can't find that page." 

The server is instead supposed to give this non-error message (and did so, until recently): 

        "Thank you!" 

as stated near the top of http://members.aol.com/wwwadmin/email/email.htm. 

The forms below provide a hands-on demo. 


 
To see a demonstration of this bug, try the 2 forms below, which are identical 
except that one specifies a response page and the other does not.

(Suggestion: Copy these HTML files and the accompanying .eml file to your own directory 
so that you receive an e-mail each time one of these forms succeeds.
You can still see the bugs even if you don't copy the files, 
but I will receive an e-mail each time you press Submit. 
And so long as my inbox doesn't fill up, that's not really a bad thing. 
Feel free to test it either way.)  


 

Demo 1: With no ResponsePage: 


  Field 1:  
  Field 2:  
  




 

Demo 2: With ResponsePage: 


  Field 1:  
  Field 2:  
	
  




 

Demo 3: With no ResponsePage: 

Try AOL's own example of how to do this, 
at http://members.aol.com/wwwadmin/email/example.htm (page will open in a new window) . 
If you'll read the .htm file, you'll notice that AOL's own example does not specify a ResponsePage parameter. 
When you press Submit, you get an error message instead of AOL's default "Thank you!" page. 
Clearly, and as stated near the top of http://members.aol.com/wwwadmin/email/email.htm, 
this is not supposed to happen. 


 


Closing Comments
 
This bug constitutes a reduction in the user experience and a reduction in AOL's level of quality. 
This problem is simple in nature and will not take more than an hour for your programmers to correct. 
Therefore, if this bug is not corrected by June 15, I will report it to AOL management. 



 

	Sincerely, 

	 (mr.) 
	Software Engineer and Tester (for hire) 
	Testing Pays! 
	http://users.aol.com/JEBrown800 
	Los Alamos, New Mexico  USA 

, BS Computer Science, has been a software engineer for over 20 years and an AOL user since 1996.





Caution
 
Note: As in every company, it's possible you'll delegate this bug report to a new employee. 
If you do, please keep an eye on his or her progress. 
New employees sometimes have little experience with customer support and service, 
and sometimes find it easier to blame the customer than to fully investigate the problem. 

Such behavior is unprofessional. 
My policy on unprofessional behavior is to report it to AOL management. 
So, if you delegate this bug report to a new employee, please see that he or she has adequate supervision.

One month later, this breakdown has not been corrected.

Status: Unresolved + over 30 days delinquent

Issues:

Concepts:

AOL complaints, AOL problems, AOL breakdowns, reviews of AOL, how AOL treats its customers

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