perl LWP POST using special characters

Question

I am struggling with posting Perl data using LWP.

Here is my code

$req = POST $url, [
    SESSID => $sessid,
    csrf => $csrf,
    domainid => '1234567',
    type => 'A',
    default => '0',
    record-type => 'A',
    a-record%5B%5D => '12.12.12.12',
     aaaa-record => '',
     cname-record => ''
];

The code is obviously failing at a-record%5B%5D. How do I make this Perl compliant?

I already tried 'a-record%5B%5D' ; a-record\%5B\%5D ; a-record[] ; a-record\[\]; a-record\%5B\%5D

From my understanding, the field name of the form is indeed <input id="a0" class="left" type="text" value="11.11.11.11" name="a-record[]">

Good one Miguel. I just tried it but the form is still not accepted by the destination. Please let me point out (as I haven't done so before) that 'a-record%5B%5D' and 'a-record[]' do not throw errors on the perl side but the form does not seem to be accepted. So I am not sure if modifying it like that changes the actual name? — sb0373, Apr 01 '13 at 13:41
@sb0373 You are not using `use strict; use warnings;` are you? Because there are many errors in your assignment above. For example, `aaaa-record` is not a valid key name as a bareword, you need to quote it. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8023959/why-use-strict-and-warnings — TLP, Apr 01 '13 at 15:08

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 01 '13 at 13:56

2

You can't use anything but ordinary letters, underscore and digits on the left hand side, if you aren't quoting:

$req = POST $url, [
    SESSID           => $sessid,
    csrf             => $csrf,
    domainid         => '1234567',
    type             => 'A',
    default          => '0',
    'record-type'    => 'A',
    'a-record%5B%5D' => '12.12.12.12',
    'aaaa-record'    => '',
    'cname-record'   => ''
];

Now that was the syntax issues in the code.

Also, take a look at perlsyn for hints on how to format perl code.

answered Apr 01 '13 at 13:56

mzedeler

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Hello mzedeler, Thank you for your reply. It only threw a syntax error on the a-record line. Have a look at the actual form field name. So quoting with single quotes is a permitted way for the left hand side? Then my problem with the not-accepted POST from server side seems to be elsewhere. – sb0373 Apr 01 '13 at 14:04
If you wanted to post a field named ``a-record[]``, just replace ``a-record%5B%5D`` with ``a-record[]``. – mzedeler Apr 01 '13 at 14:07
1

I usually resort to http://www.wireshark.org/ when I can't figure out if the requests being sent are correct (compare with something you know is working). Its like shooting birds with GAU-8 cannons, but it works. – mzedeler Apr 01 '13 at 14:10
Hmm, good suggestion! Unfortunately there is SSL in between. I used Firefox + Tamper data to see a working request. Let me see if I can figure a way around SSL to see what perl is actually doing. – sb0373 Apr 01 '13 at 14:14
Dear mzedeler, I tried adding the single quotes around the objects that you mentioned. This made the request work. Is the reason, that perl did not throw an error message on the "-" because it is treating it as an arithmic operation? So if I would have put the left hand side name as 5-2, it is treated like 3? Overall, this is a place where I definetely did not look for the error. Thanks a lot! – sb0373 Apr 01 '13 at 14:36

perl LWP POST using special characters

1 Answers1