From: Randy Lawrence <jm@...>
Date: 2004-07-05T05:49:02+09:00
Subject: Re: http.post() problem only when using base64-encoded data

Randy Lawrence wrote:

> I'm able to do a simple http.post() but when the data I'm posting is 
> more complex than a simple string, I get a "permission denied" Apache 
> error.
> 
> One possibility is that encoding the data with base64 can result in 
> having '=' characters.  I'd really appreciate it if anyone can provide 
> some tips on how I can successfully http.post() more complex strings 
> without resorting to file uploads.
> 
> Here's the script I'm using (it fails only when somedata is assigned a 
> complex string such as base64-encoded rsa signature):
> 
> ----
> require 'net/http'
> somedata = 'hello'
> 
> Net::HTTP.start( 'www.somedomainxyz123.com', 80 ) {|http|
>     response = http.post( '/ruby/testpost.rbx',
>                           "foo=#{somedata}" )
>     puts response.body
> }
> ----
> 

Problem solved.

It turned out to be web server security settings forbidding character 
values outside of 32-126 range.  The base64 encoding was including 
carriage returns (10) which triggered the error.