"The 'c' parameter is not alphabetical only" error when picking a page theme in IIS

Hi

Do you get the error on Linux?

Thanks
Son

We are using a windows IIS server. I get the error in any browser on windows and MAc machines.

Did you make any customizations to your Mahara installation?

No, we have not. The only other issue at the moment is that the server certificate (for https) is not correct and whenever anyone accesses the site, they get a warning message that the site is not secure.

I have turned off several features including most access to the file and image upload modules to force all users to use external cloud storage.

Patch for "master" branch: https://reviews.mahara.org/3713

Hi Paul,

I'm unable to replicate this problem with the Apache web server, so it looks like it's an IIS or Windows issue. We don't officially support running Mahara on IIS or Windows (see https://wiki.mahara.org/index.php/System_Administrator%27s_Guide/Requirements for supported platforms), but I'm willing to submit a patch to fix this problem if it doesn't take too much effort.

If you're still having this issue, can you tell me what URL you see after you pick a theme for a page? For instance, after I choose a theme, my page gets reloaded with a URL like this:

https://vegas.wgtn.cat-it.co.nz/mahara/htdocs/view/blocks.php?id=6&c=fileimagevideo&new=1

The important part there is the "c=fileimagevideo". The part after it is meant to be limited to alphabetical characters. If you're getting that error even though it's alphabetical, then that indicates it's a problem in how your implementation is handling our param_alpha() function (probably a problem with preg_match(), specifically).

On the other hand, if your value there is not alphanumeric, that'd mean it's an entirely different problem.

Cheers,
Aaron

Reviewed: https://reviews.mahara.org/3713
Committed: http://gitorious.org/mahara/mahara/commit/2aae0f4e302a59839f106a59e58f4180a87c0641
Submitter: Robert Lyon (<email address hidden>)
Branch: master

commit 2aae0f4e302a59839f106a59e58f4180a87c0641
Author: Son Nguyen <email address hidden>
Date: Wed Sep 24 09:24:46 2014 +1200

Set the default category if the 'c' parameter is missing. Bug 1362182

Change-Id: I60c9b6b5547dc3d460044fff45192f15e176d50f

The problem existed if the json reply was off.

The fix that Son offered is ok to fix the problem so have merged it