www.auctionsieve.com

[wickmesh]

Hi Nev,

An unusual one this. I've found it twice today.

When in AS I have searched for something, added it to my AS Watchlist, and then wish to open it in ebay, I might click on the boxes for 30 or so items in my AS Watchlist - then click the AS View button.

Normally (in each tab) AS will open a file something like:
file:///C:/Users/[user]/AppData/Roaming/AuctionSieve/tmp/view09.html

which then transparently forwards to the item:
e.g. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232440289210

BUT twice today I've been left with a blank browser screen, and a web address like this:
http://rover.ebay.co.uk/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?kw=lg&kwid=902099&toolid=10001&customid=AuctionSieve2.8.1&icep_item=232440289210&icep_ff3=2&mtid=824&campid=5335846438&icep_vectorid=229508&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fitm%2F232440289210%3Fclk_rvr_id%3D1278956840298%26rmvSB%3Dtrue&pub=5574642922&ipn=psmain&cguid=553830e11360a0aa14e58345ffcdf8a5&chocolateSauce=http%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-53481-19255-0%2F1%3Ficep_ff3%3D2%26pub%3D5574642922%26toolid%3D10001%26campid%3D5335846438%26ipn%3Dpsmain%26icep_vectorid%3D229508%26kwid%3D902099%26mtid%3D824%26kw%3Dlg%26customid%3DAuctionSieve2.8.1%26icep_item%3D232440289210

(I thought I'd lost the other one but it was in my browser history):
http://rover.ebay.co.uk/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?kw=lg&kwid=902099&toolid=10001&customid=AuctionSieve2.8.1&icep_item=332335370836&icep_ff3=2&mtid=824&campid=5335846438&icep_vectorid=229508&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fitm%2F332335370836%3Fclk_rvr_id%3D1278484004857%26rmvSB%3Dtrue&pub=5574642922&ipn=psmain&cguid=553830e11360a0aa14e58345ffcdf8a5&chocolateSauce=http%3A%2%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-53481-19255-0%2F1%3Ficep_ff3%3D2%26pub%3D5574642922%26toolid%3D10001%26campid%3D5335846438%26ipn%3Dpsmain%26icep_vectorid%3D229508%26kwid%3D902099%26mtid%3D824%26kw%3Dlg%26customid%3DAuctionSieve2.8.1%26icep_item%3D332335370836

Both links consistently bring up a blank browser tab for me.

It might be an ebay glitch - as closing all my tabs I'd "View"ed and re "View"ing only 5 a time seems to sidestep the problem - or it might be a sign of things to come.

Viewing only 5 is a workaround and a bit of a pain, as to open (View) 500 odd items 5 at a time takes a lot longer than opening (Viewing) them 30odd at a time!

Hopefully it's nothing, but if the issue continues, there's some record of it here now!

Thanks
Andrew

[nev]

Very strange.
I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that the listing has ended?

Clicking on that first link works for me and the second one gives me the blank white page like you get.

The first ends up at
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232440289210?clk_rvr_id=1278956840298&rmvSB=true

If I replace the item number with the item number in the second link, that shows:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/332335370836?clk_rvr_id=1278956840298&rmvSB=true

which is the Nikko Land Rover and the listing is ended.

This might be a red herring though...

Hm, ok, that's not it. If I take the first long url and substitute in the item id in the correct places, it works.

Ah, I found the problem with the second link. On the last line you'll see it has
%3A%2%2Frover
which should be
%3A%2F%2Frover

Then that link works.

Now, just to confirm - do you get to the item if you click on the first long url you pasted above?

And I assume you've copied the second long url correctly.

In which case, I think I can confirm it's a bug at eBay's end - because those long urls are generated by eBay redirects.

To confirm this, the next time it happens, have a look in that AuctionSieve/tmp directory, sort by most recent, and open up the viewXX.html files until you find one that exhibits the behaviour and send it to me.

[wickmesh]

I doubt it's anything to do with the listing having ended - both would have been active when I found and tried to view them.

However... it does bring up an interesting result - that is that in both cases it is extremely likely the item was the very first one in my AS Watchlist. I wonder if that has something to do with it?

The error in the second link might be my fault, sorry - I keep catching the touchpad on my laptop when typing and typing in the wrong place and I did that on that link. I thought I'd corrected it...

When I click on either long link, unfortunately I still get a blank page.

Even when I correct the second link to:
http://rover.ebay.co.uk/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?kw=lg&kwid=902099&toolid=10001&customid=AuctionSieve2.8.1&icep_item=332335370836&icep_ff3=2&mtid=824&campid=5335846438&icep_vectorid=229508&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fitm%2F332335370836%3Fclk_rvr_id%3D1278484004857%26rmvSB%3Dtrue&pub=5574642922&ipn=psmain&cguid=553830e11360a0aa14e58345ffcdf8a5&chocolateSauce=http%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-53481-19255-0%2F1%3Ficep_ff3%3D2%26pub%3D5574642922%26toolid%3D10001%26campid%3D5335846438%26ipn%3Dpsmain%26icep_vectorid%3D229508%26kwid%3D902099%26mtid%3D824%26kw%3Dlg%26customid%3DAuctionSieve2.8.1%26icep_item%3D332335370836

Yes, when (if) it happens next I'll look through the temp files and find the one with the issue. (And I'll re-open all 30ish items/tabs in one go to see if it's repeatable, and if there's a pattern.)

[wickmesh]

Straight away this morning (during the very first batch of items viewed since opening the program), it's done it again. So I've done some digging...

Long URL:
http://rover.ebay.co.uk/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?kw=lg&kwid=902099&toolid=10001&customid=AuctionSieve2.8.1&icep_item=252067657314&icep_ff3=2&mtid=824&campid=5335846438&icep_vectorid=229508&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fitm%2F252067657314%3Fclk_rvr_id%3D1279424000227%26rmvSB%3Dtrue&pub=5574642922&ipn=psmain&cguid=553830e11360a0aa14e58345ffcdf8a5&chocolateSauce=http%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-53481-19255-0%2F1%3Ficep_ff3%3D2%26pub%3D5574642922%26toolid%3D10001%26campid%3D5335846438%26ipn%3Dpsmain%26icep_vectorid%3D229508%26kwid%3D902099%26mtid%3D824%26kw%3Dlg%26customid%3DAuctionSieve2.8.1%26icep_item%3D252067657314

- I know which item is the issue (it's http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252067657314)
- That item is the first one in my AS watchlist that I have ticked and tried to View (as in it's nearest the top of the list, and also the first of the 36 I would have ticked)
- I have the temp html file (and will email it to you)
- By temp file creation date, it is one of the last (if not the last) that AS created from the batch of 36 items I had ticked and tried to view

Is the error consistent?
- If I click on the item image in AS (to View the single item) the item opens absolutely fine (I have temp html files from doing this too, for comparison)
- Now if I click View on all 36... all the items open fine, including this one (Again I have temp html file from this for comparison)
(And again, by file creation date, the html temp file for this item is the most recent one that AS created)
- Repeatedly opening all 36 then gives the same result - all (including this item) are OK.
- Going back to the html temp file that has the issue... yes it is consistent and always brings up a blank page for me.

Closing and re-opening AS:
- The issue reappears on the first item I clicked!!! (Same item this time.) The problem is repeatable.
- This time, 10 items selected and viewed (same first item), long URL (looks the same to me):
http://rover.ebay.co.uk/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?kw=lg&kwid=902099&toolid=10001&customid=AuctionSieve2.8.1&icep_item=252067657314&icep_ff3=2&mtid=824&campid=5335846438&icep_vectorid=229508&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fitm%2F252067657314%3Fclk_rvr_id%3D1279415707787%26rmvSB%3Dtrue&pub=5574642922&ipn=psmain&cguid=553830e11360a0aa14e58345ffcdf8a5&chocolateSauce=http%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-53481-19255-0%2F1%3Ficep_ff3%3D2%26pub%3D5574642922%26toolid%3D10001%26campid%3D5335846438%26ipn%3Dpsmain%26icep_vectorid%3D229508%26kwid%3D902099%26mtid%3D824%26kw%3Dlg%26customid%3DAuctionSieve2.8.1%26icep_item%3D252067657314
- Repeatedly re-viewing all 10 items and clicking on the item image to view it on its own shows no issue.
- Html temp files saved.

Closing and re-opening AS:
- Try clicking a different item first... And yes, the problem is consistent!
Long url (different item, only 4 ticked this time before I clicked View):
http://rover.ebay.co.uk/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?kw=lg&kwid=902099&toolid=10001&customid=AuctionSieve2.8.1&icep_item=352136063511&icep_ff3=2&mtid=824&campid=5335846438&icep_vectorid=229508&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fitm%2F352136063511%3Fclk_rvr_id%3D1279382715605%26rmvSB%3Dtrue&pub=5574642922&ipn=psmain&cguid=553830e11360a0aa14e58345ffcdf8a5&chocolateSauce=http%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-53481-19255-0%2F1%3Ficep_ff3%3D2%26pub%3D5574642922%26toolid%3D10001%26campid%3D5335846438%26ipn%3Dpsmain%26icep_vectorid%3D229508%26kwid%3D902099%26mtid%3D824%26kw%3Dlg%26customid%3DAuctionSieve2.8.1%26icep_item%3D352136063511
- Repeatedly re-viewing all 4 items and clicking on the item image to view it on its own shows no issue.
- Html temp files saved. Interesting pattern appearing... it's always viewall10.html that exhibits the problem.

Closing and re-opening AS:
- Does it happen with just one item ticked?
- Yes it does - and yes it's viewall10.html again! Long URL:
http://rover.ebay.co.uk/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?kw=lg&kwid=902099&toolid=10001&customid=AuctionSieve2.8.1&icep_item=262065710346&icep_ff3=2&mtid=824&campid=5335846438&icep_vectorid=229508&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fitm%2F262065710346%3Fclk_rvr_id%3D1279447900019%26rmvSB%3Dtrue&pub=5574642922&ipn=psmain&cguid=553830e11360a0aa14e58345ffcdf8a5&chocolateSauce=http%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-53481-19255-0%2F1%3Ficep_ff3%3D2%26pub%3D5574642922%26toolid%3D10001%26campid%3D5335846438%26ipn%3Dpsmain%26icep_vectorid%3D229508%26kwid%3D902099%26mtid%3D824%26kw%3Dlg%26customid%3DAuctionSieve2.8.1%26icep_item%3D262065710346
- Repeatedly re-viewing this 1 item and clicking on the item image to view it on its own shows no issue.
- Html temp files saved.

Closing and re-opening AS:
- Does it do it first time when (if) I click on the item image to View, rather than tick and use the View button?
- If I respond "Yes" to the question "Is Ebay Already Open In Your Browser?" then there is no problem.

Closing and re-opening AS:
- Does it do it first time when (if) I click on the item image to View, rather than tick and use the View button?
- But if I respond "No" to the question "Is Ebay Already Open In Your Browser?" then the problem is evident. I think this is the key!
- This time it wasn't viewall10.html with the problem, but viewall01.html
- Then clicking on the item image to view it on its own shows no issue.

Conclusions: Assumptions/Possibilities?
- The issue only happens once, only the first time after freshly opening AS
- It affects the first ticked item in the AS watchlist, whatever item that is
- It doesn't matter how many other items are ticked
- If I click on the item image, the issue happens if I answer "No" to "Is Ebay Open In Your Browser?"
- It seems to be an issue with the item AS is using to "open" ebay in my browser...

So... I have a batch of files to email you. Hopefully the html temp files have clues!

[wickmesh]

So there are two workarounds.

As the first View action after opening AS, either:

(1) Click on any item image in the Watchlist and answer "Yes" to "Is Ebay Already Open In Your Browser?"

(2) Tick a single item, click view, allow a blank tab to open. Close the blank tab.

...then tick and view items as normal.

[nev]

Ok, so here's something I should have realised and told you to save you a bunch of testing...

In AuctionSieve, the first time you click to view an item on eBay, it generates what's called a rover link - that long url. This tells eBay where the click has come from and they put a cookie in your browser that lasts for 24 hours.

On subsequent view clicks, AuctionSieve goes straight to the item without the rover link because the cookie should already exist from the first click.

Ok, so with that out of the way, back to those long links.

Are you saying that if you click on this link:
http://rover.ebay.co.uk/rover/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?kw=lg&kwid=902099&toolid=10001&customid=AuctionSieve2.8.1&icep_item=232440289210&icep_ff3=2&mtid=824&campid=5335846438&icep_vectorid=229508&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fitm%2F232440289210%3Fclk_rvr_id%3D1278956840298%26rmvSB%3Dtrue&pub=5574642922&ipn=psmain&cguid=553830e11360a0aa14e58345ffcdf8a5&chocolateSauce=http%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-53481-19255-0%2F1%3Ficep_ff3%3D2%26pub%3D5574642922%26toolid%3D10001%26campid%3D5335846438%26ipn%3Dpsmain%26icep_vectorid%3D229508%26kwid%3D902099%26mtid%3D824%26kw%3Dlg%26customid%3DAuctionSieve2.8.1%26icep_item%3D232440289210

you get a blank browser screen?

In which case try copying it and pasting it into a different browser - chrome, firefox, IE, and see what happens.

[wickmesh]

Hi Nev,

Thanks for the explanation!

Yes, I get a blank tab in Firefox 54.0.1. (And I've checked with my Ad blocker disabled, too...)

If I copy and paste the same long link to MS Edge or Internet Explorer, the long link forwards to http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232440289210?clk_rvr_id=1278956840298&rmvSB=true and an item page is displayed OK.

So could this be a Firefox issue then?

Surely this could be a problem for you; if the cookie is not being placed then items sourced by AS are not getting credited to you, and you will not be getting your cut from ebay?

Thanks
Andrew

[nev]

Yeah, that's a bit weird.

I'm on the same version of Firefox and that link forwards just fine for me.

So it looks like there's something funny with your Firefox.

Perhaps temporarily disable all your plugins and see if that makes a difference?

One other thing you can try in Firefox, go to the menu, select Developer and then Network and have a look at what happens when you try to go to the url.

[wickmesh]

Firefox differences? I'm on the 32 bit version under Windows 10.

Trying "Web Developer, Network" brings up 0 bytes transferred, a 502 status and this message from Firefox:
"The character encoding of the plain text document was not declared. The document will render with garbled text in some browser configurations if the document contains characters from outside the US-ASCII range. The character encoding of the file needs to be declared in the transfer protocol or file needs to use a byte order mark as an encoding signature."

There's no difference in result (or message) with all my add-ons disabled.

[nev]

Wracking my brains here...

I seem to have exactly the same setup as you, Windows 10, Firefox 54.0.1 32 bit.

Do you by any chance have another computer or laptop?
Do they exhibit the same problem in Firefox?

Do you have any sort of proxy?
Are you able to use your current computer but on a different network?

Ok, here's something you can try.
Go to the View menu (press alt to show the menus if hidden).
Submenu Text Encoding
What's selected?

Also have a look at Tools > Options > Content > Advanced
What does Fallback text encoding say?

[wickmesh]

And just like that - the problem has gone!

The long links above forward as the should (and items are shown), there are no blank tabs - and the first item clicked on to View from AS also no longer brings up a blank tab.

I guess something has been updated somewhere, but I don't remember there being a Firefox update - in fact the last one was on 30th June. I can't find any updated add-ons either.

Most odd...

[nev]

Weird...