Using a question mark in a obj.conf redirect

Question

We seem to have a problem with the following obj.conf entry on iPlanet v6.1 SP4:
NameTrans fn="redirect" from="/xxxxxxxxx/?" url-prefix="http://www.domain.com/directory/?rid=zzzzzzzzz&"
The "?" is not recognized by the server so the redirect is never executed. We have also tried:
NameTrans fn="redirect" from="/xxxxxxxxx/%3f" url-prefix="http://www.domain.com/directory/?rid=zzzzzzzzz&"
This is also not recognized. Is the "?" a special character for iPlanet configuration?
Any help would be appreciated in solving this problem. Thanks

Answer 1

The from parameter specifies a path prefix. Paths don't include query strings (the stuff beginning with "?" in the URL).
I can't think of any easy way to do what you want in Sun ONE Web Server 6.1. However, the following could be used in Sun Java System Web Server 7.0:
<If defined $query>
NameTrans fn="redirect" from="/xxxxxxxxx/" url="http://www.domain.com/directory/?rid=zzzzzzzzz&$query"
</If>In 6.1, you'll probably need to write some code (Java Servlet, Java Filter, CGI program, or NSAPI plugin) to get the functionality you want.