question on URL case sensitivity

K

Kev

I have a site written in PHP and it uses a MySQL database for customers
hosted on a Linux server. I would like to advertise my site in newspapers
and flyers using uppercase lettering within the name to make the address
easier to read, eg. www.MyDomain.com rather than www.mydomain.com. Are there
any pitfalls to doing this?
I know Linux is case sensitive but is that only within the scripts
themselves (the backend?) The coding is all in lowercase wherever the domain
is mentioned so I'm more concerned with user's browsers I think, right?

Thanks for any input.
 
T

Travis Newbury

Kev said:
I know Linux is case sensitive but is that only within the scripts
themselves (the backend?) The coding is all in lowercase wherever the domain
is mentioned so I'm more concerned with user's browsers I think, right?

The URL is case insensitive. The file names are case sensitive.
 
T

Timothy

I have a site written in PHP and it uses a MySQL database for customers
hosted on a Linux server. I would like to advertise my site in newspapers
and flyers using uppercase lettering within the name to make the address
easier to read, eg. www.MyDomain.com rather than www.mydomain.com. Are
there any pitfalls to doing this?
I know Linux is case sensitive but is that only within the scripts
themselves (the backend?) The coding is all in lowercase wherever the
domain is mentioned so I'm more concerned with user's browsers I think,
right?

Thanks for any input.

As far as you clients inputting the url in caps... doesn't make
a difference. www.mydomain.com or WWW.MYDOMAIN.COM, both will resolve to
your ip.
 
L

Leif K-Brooks

Travis said:
The URL is case insensitive. The file names are case sensitive.

The domain name part of the URL is case-insensitive. The rest depends on
the server.
 
T

Travis Newbury

Leif said:
The domain name part of the URL is case-insensitive. The rest depends on
the server.

Hmmm... Isn't that what I said? Re-reading, I can see were the
confusion would come in.
 
A

Andy Dingley

Hmmm... Isn't that what I said?

No - you said "file names". As mapping fragments of a URL to files on
a web server is the responsibility of Apache or similar, it's usually
a reliable piece of code that is properly case-insensitive. When it
comes to query parameters though, it's common that site-specific
developer-written code goes completely to pieces here. Many "big name"
sites have inconsistent behaviour where these are sensitive, or often
some parameters are case-sensitive and some are insensitive.

Case sensitivity on a publically accessible web server is of course a
bade idea, wherever it occurs. It's "valid" to be sensitive, but it's
never going to be a good idea - humans are just too inherntly
case-insensitive.
 
R

Richard

Kev said:
I have a site written in PHP and it uses a MySQL database for customers
hosted on a Linux server. I would like to advertise my site in newspapers
and flyers using uppercase lettering within the name to make the address
easier to read, eg. www.MyDomain.com rather than www.mydomain.com. Are
there any pitfalls to doing this?
I know Linux is case sensitive but is that only within the scripts
themselves (the backend?) The coding is all in lowercase wherever the
domain is mentioned so I'm more concerned with user's browsers I think,
right?

I don't believe ICANN cares either way.
Unless the host changes the rules, then it would make a difference.

www.MyHomeTown.com should work just fine.

When an inquiry is made, it goes to the ICANN database and an attempt is
made to look up the name first as is, then in lower case.
If no match is found, it is rejected.
 
O

Oli Filth

Richard said:
When an inquiry is made, it goes to the ICANN database and an attempt is
made to look up the name first as is, then in lower case.
If no match is found, it is rejected.

Not quite true. ICANN is only an organising and regulatory body, not the
DNS database itself.

When a URL is requested, your DNS client first queries your default Name
Server (whose IP address is typically supplied by your ISP), which then
attempts to resolve the query by repeated referral, i.e. if it doesn't
know then it returns the IP address of another Name Server that might,
and the process repeats.

This part of the process is certainly not case-sensitive; I doubt very
much that two separate queries are made as you have suggested.

AFAIK, virtual directory resolution is the duty of the hosting server
and unless it's been written by retards, it should be case-insensitive
as well.

Oli
 
J

Jukka K. Korpela

Kev said:
I would like to advertise my site in newspapers
and flyers using uppercase lettering within the name to make the
address easier to read, eg. www.MyDomain.com rather than
www.mydomain.com. Are there any pitfalls to doing this?

The only (minor) pitfall is that people might not know that domain
names are case insensitive - as your question indicates! Therefore
people might think that they need to use the shift key when typing in
the address, and that's unnecessary complication.
 
A

Andy Dingley

When an inquiry is made, it goes to the ICANN database and an attempt is
made to look up the name first as is, then in lower case.

You really are quite staggeringly ignorant, aren't you? Would you
_please_ shut the hell up, until you have some resemblance of a clue.
 
J

Jeffrey Silverman

No - you said "file names". As mapping fragments of a URL to files on
a web server is the responsibility of Apache or similar, it's usually
a reliable piece of code that is properly case-insensitive. When it
comes to query parameters though, it's common that site-specific
developer-written code goes completely to pieces here. Many "big name"
sites have inconsistent behaviour where these are sensitive, or often
some parameters are case-sensitive and some are insensitive.

To clarify further:

The DNS name is case IN-sensitive.

Everything after the slash at the end of the site's DNS name is
unpredictable. Could be case-sensitive, could be IN-sensitive. No way to
tell.
 
T

Travis Newbury

Jeffrey said:
To clarify further:
The DNS name is case IN-sensitive.
Everything after the slash at the end of the site's DNS name is
unpredictable. Could be case-sensitive, could be IN-sensitive. No way to
tell.

Well can't the OP can tell because he knows the server he is on. You
can I can not tell, but he/she knows.
 
H

Hywel Jenkins

You really are quite staggeringly ignorant, aren't you? Would you
_please_ shut the hell up, until you have some resemblance of a clue.

You're not going to try to hold your breath until Hell freezes over,
too, are you?
 
K

Kev

Thanks everyone, I suspected it would be fine but I wasn't sure of any
hidden 'dangers' by doing this.

Happy New Year!
 
G

Guest

Kev said:
I have a site written in PHP and it uses a MySQL database for customers
hosted on a Linux server. I would like to advertise my site in newspapers
and flyers using uppercase lettering within the name to make the address
easier to read, eg. www.MyDomain.com rather than www.mydomain.com. Are there
any pitfalls to doing this?
I know Linux is case sensitive but is that only within the scripts
themselves (the backend?) The coding is all in lowercase wherever the domain
is mentioned so I'm more concerned with user's browsers I think, right?

Thanks for any input.

The domain name portion is case insensitive.

If it's "WWW.EXAMPLE.COM" your ok,

but if it's WWW.EXAMPLE.COM/~USERNAME/

Or:

WWW.EXAMPLE.COM/PROMOTION_CODE

Then, you're not ok. (best to use numbers for promotion codes)

Jamie
 
L

Lunchbox G4

Kev said:
I have a site written in PHP and it uses a MySQL database for customers
hosted on a Linux server. I would like to advertise my site in newspapers
and flyers using uppercase lettering within the name to make the address
easier to read, eg. www.MyDomain.com rather than www.mydomain.com. Are there
any pitfalls to doing this?
I know Linux is case sensitive but is that only within the scripts
themselves (the backend?) The coding is all in lowercase wherever the domain
is mentioned so I'm more concerned with user's browsers I think, right?

Thanks for any input.

The browser should resolve that for you. Linux is particular with
filenames, yes, but domain names should resolve before it hits the
server. Most compliant browsers, Firefox especially, will automatically
lowercase it on sending. Lastly, don't underestimate users. They will
see the domain as www.MyDomain.com, but when it comes time to type it
in, they will likely type it as they know they should, all lowercase. I
think you're safe advertising however you want.

//LBG4
 

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