Question

I just installed TWiki on my company's internal web server. When I use it, I notice that the TWiki perl code that formulates the Edit URL seems to be doing something funny. (The Edit URL is the URL associated with the "Edit" link at the bottom of each page.) For example, I have a page whose URL looks like this (domain name removed):

http://[myDomain]/twiki/bin/view.cgi/Aesop/WebHome

And at the bottom of the page, I can see (via the status bar in IE) that the url for the "Edit" link looks like this:

http://[myDomain]/twiki/bin/view.cgi/Aesop/iITURL%

and when I click on it, I get an "HTTP Error 400 - Bad Request" message.

All other links look to be fine... it's only the "Edit" link that is messed up.

NOTE: Could this be related? --- I get a warning from the "testenv" script as follows: Perl version: 5.00404 Warning: This version of Perl is too old for use with TWiki - upgrade to at least Perl 5.005_03 and preferably to Perl 5.6.1.

I am told that installing a newer version of perl is not possible (and it's not under my control). If that's really the cause (if!) then what other options do I have? Are there older verisions of TWIki that I can download? (I don't see where to get them, so pointers are welcome.)

If there are any other solutions that don't involve getting an older version of TWiki I'd sure love to hear them.

Thank you! -Michael

Environment

TWiki version:	TWikiRelease01Feb2003
TWiki plugins:	only those that come with the TWiki code
Server OS:	unix
Web server:	Apache/1.3.26 (Unix)
Perl version:	PHP/4.2.2 mod_perl/1.27
Client OS:	Windows 2000
Web Browser:	Internet Explorer 5.5

-- MichaelFMcDonald - 11 Jun 2004

Answer

I don't have an answer for the perl version issue, but I would guess that even if you fixed this specific problem there are a whole lot more waiting to bite you unless you get a newer version of perl. Getting an older version of TWiki is probably not a good idea either, though I guess you could always get one from anonymous CVS.

My advice to you is to shoot your sysadmin. Preferably in the kneecaps. The idea that installing a newer version of perl is "not possible" is, of course, complete bollocks and is probably being used to try and shut you up. It's perfectly feasible to maintain multiple versions of perl; you can even have a "special" just for you and TWiki. It depends on how much control over the TWiki installation you have. On the assumption that you can at least write to the bin scripts that TWiki runs:

1. Install a local version of perl in your home directory (e.g. /home/michael/perl_5.6.1)
2. Modify the TWiki bin scripts and change the /usr/bin/perl line at the top to point to your installation instead

Of course, make sure your personal perl is accessible by the apache user.

-- CrawfordCurrie - 12 Jun 2004

Update

Thanks Crawford. I was able to find a newer version of Perl on our webserver (version 5.6) and changed all the /bin files to point at it. The testenv script now runs clean.

However the problem with the edit URLs persists! They still look exactly like this:

http://[myDomain]/twiki/bin/view.cgi/Aesop/iITURL%

Any other ideas?

-Michael

Problem resolved

Turns out my sysadmin replaced the Twiki.pm file with an OLDER version that was being used by another group in my company. He put the correct version back and voila the problem is gone.