Network Problems

I'm in Alaska, back Thursday. Saw Denali today.--Percy

I think now that it was only a coincidence that when I investigated a while back that someone was banging hard on the server at the same time. I don't think it was a DOS attack. The outages that have occurred since then have not been accompanied by any intensive accesses as recorded in the access log file. I am actively investigating.--Percy

We're on a Linux server. I've reengaged with the Webhosting company and we're exploring other avenues. We'll eventually get this fixed, but one of the nice side effects is that we now have 4GB instead of 2.--Percy

There's no code to automatically log people out. You should be able to have hundreds of EvC pages open simultaneously, and if you log out or log in on one of them, then that new login status will become the status for all the pages (once refreshed). This is because cookies are shared by browser/domain across of pages open on that browser/domain. All cookies of EvC pages open in, say, Chrome are the same. It isn't possible to be logged in on one Chrome/EvC page while simultaneously logged out on another. It might look that way temporarily, but once both pages are refreshed you'll find that they're either both logged in or both logged out.An EvC page that says you're, say, logged out when you're actually logged in cannot cause you to become logged out. Your status of being logged in or logged out is controlled by cookies, not by the static text near the top of the page that indicates your login status (it'll say "Welcome, Member Percy" if you're logged in or "Welcome! You are not logged in." if you're not logged in).Cookies become confused if you have one page using "evcforum.net" and another using " EvC Forum: Home Page ", but the software forces all accesses to EvC to be " EvC Forum: Home Page ". It shouldn't be possible to have a page using "evcforum.net", but if you've somehow managed to do that then that could account for the problem. Trying to think of possible ways that could happen, I've never played with Incognito mode, maybe that's a possibility.If anyone learns anything more about this problem please let me know, maybe something will give me a clue that helps solve this.--Percy

This shouldn't be possible. Whether you're logged in or not is controlled by cookies, which the software controls, but which can also be cleared on your Profile page (the link is at the bottom) or through your browser settings page or changed/deleted by malicious software. The Online Now list is maintained in the database. If you're name is on the Online Now list but you're not logged in then your cookies are not being cleared by the board software.On the login page there's a checkbox called "Remember my login for future visits". If you check this box then your login will be remembered for a year, and each time you access any page that year is renewed. In other words, if you use EvC Forum at least once a year, you'll never have to log in again (for that browser on that machine).But if you don't check this box then your login only survives for as long as you have at least one open EvC page. Once you close that last EvC page then the browser deletes all the cookies.--Percy

If you checked the Remember box the 2nd time you logged in then that's a good starting point. If not then log out and log in again, this time checking the Remember box.--Percy

Looking at the code, cookies are not erased unless you specifically request it through your profile page. It doesn't remove you from the Online Now list since the assumption is that if you're clicking on the "Delete All Cookies" link that you didn't do that as a way of logging out but are working through some problem and will log in again.You can get logged out if an irregularity is detected in your cookies, such as your password cookie not matching your password in the database (passwords are encrypted, of course). This could happen if, for example, you're accessing EvC through Internet Explorer in one window, then go to Chrome in another window and change your EvC password, then go back to Internet Explorer and try to access an EvC page and it will log you out and take you to the login page, printing a message in red near the top that your password has changed and to log in again.But irregularities shouldn't happen in your cookies with just normal use. Plus when you get logged out it removes you from the Online Now list. And if you get logged out while trying to perform an action and are taken to the login page, such as when trying to post a message, then once you log in again it will automatically perform that action. If that message didn't get posted when you logged in again then something is, uh, weird.So we'll have to look for the cause. Let's start by examining your cookies. Are you using Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge?--Percy

Here's how you find out your cookies on Microsoft Edge:

• Click on the horizontal three dots near the top right hand side of the Microsoft Edge Window. This will display a menu of selections.
• Click on Developer Tools
• The Developer Tools window will open. There is black line of menu items at the top. Click on Debugger.
• In the left hand navigation bar will be a list of items. Click on Cookies.
• Beneath Cookies will be the name of the EvC code module you're currently running. It could be Threads.php or Forums.php or dm.php or any other code module, it doesn't matter. Click on it.
• A list of cookies will appear in the center column. Please send me the following information for each cookie:
  • Name
  • Value
  • Domain (should be " EvC Forum: Home Page " for all of them)
  • Path (should be "/" for all of them)
  • Expires date

--Percy

The "Back" button works fine, too. For even greater assurance you won't lose anything, hit CTRL-A CTRL-C just before you click "Submit Reply" - if something should go haywire then just get back into the reply box and hit CTRL-V.--Percy

Were you displaying a page from EvC when you clicked on Developer Tools? If not then first open a page at EvC.The "Cookies" item should have a right arrow to its left. If you click on "Cookies" the right arrow should turn into a down/right arrow and you should see the name of the code module at EvC that you're displaying. Click on the code module name.--Percy

Those fields actually expand. If you hover your mouse over the vertical lines at the top of the columns you'll get a little horizontal double arrow that you can drag to make the field wider so you can see the entire value. You can also drag the edges of the pane and make the entire pane larger.The partial information I can see looks normal and okay, but I'd really like to see those expiration dates (when a cookie reaches its expiration date it disappears, and since these are the login cookies then when they disappear you're no longer logged in). I can tell they're all on a Monday, but whether that Monday is today or Monday a year from now I can't tell. They're probably Monday a year from now, but if by some weirdness they happen to be Monday today then later today you might suddenly find yourself logged out. And if they are Monday today then that's a good clue for me because it would mean there's some path through my software that can produce very short-term expiration dates (instead of a year out), and once I know that path exists it will make it easier to find it. It is the curse of debugging that believing something isn't possible makes it impossible to find the problem.Don't give out any information about your password cookie - malicious people probably know how to fake cookie values on their own system and log on as you.--Percy

Nice job working your way through this. This eliminates the cookie expiration date as the cause of the problem. The next time you're automatically logged out first make sure no message appears on the page - if my software cleared your cookies then it should also tell you why. If there's no message then immediately check your cookie values again - they should all be gone, and if any are present then it would represent a clue.You're only removed from the Online Now list when you explicitly log out. If you just delete cookies (or something deletes them for you) then you're not removed from the Online Now list until 30 minutes of inactivity have gone by.--Percy

And there was no informational message near the top of the page? That the cookies have expiration dates in 2019 means that they're all defined and will not expire until sometime in 2019, probably exactly a year from the date/time you tried to edit that post.If those cookies are all defined then the board software will assume you're logged in UNLESS it detects some problem with your cookies, for example, that the password cookie value doesn't match the password in the database. But a cookie problem causes an informational message to be printed near the top of the page, so if there's no message then I don't know what to think. If an idea occurs to me I'll let you know.--Percy

Interesting. Did this problem begin when you switched from Internet Explorer to Microsoft Edge? Can you try switching to IE, FireFox or Chrome to see if the problem occurs there too?--Percy

Getting to Internet Explorer is easy. On the far right side of the Microsoft Edge window near the top are three horizontal dots. Click on this icon and you'll get a menu. One of the selections in the menu is "Open with Internet Explorer". Click on this and Internet Explorer will open.--Percy