URL query "?a" results in 404 error

Squiz Matrix Support
1

Something odd that I just noticed by chance is appending ?a to any page seems to produce 404 error. I've tested on a few sites that appear to be using Matrix and here are a few links below:

http://www.puc.edu/academics

http://www.puc.edu/academics?a

 

http://www.action.act.gov.au/timetables_and_maps

http://www.action.act.gov.au/timetables_and_maps?a

 

http://pc-web01.squiz.net/projects

http://pc-web01.squiz.net/projects?a

 

http://www.beds.ac.uk/

http://www.beds.ac.uk/?a

 

http://www.griffith.edu.au/staff

http://www.griffith.edu.au/staff?a

 

 

It only seems to be the letter "a" lower-case. Normally if a query isn't actually used it is just ignored I thought, but it shouldn't cause an error. Can't remember reading anything about this in the manuals and it seems like a bug in Matrix or something that is reserved/restricted. Can anyone confirm if this is something that should be of concern or even as to why it is happening?

2

That is a reserved var. So, using our PUC example, you can load up a PDF file using both of the following URLs:

 

http://www.puc.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/5804/AVIA-01.pdf

http://www.puc.edu?a=5804

3

That is a reserved var. So, using our PUC example, you can load up a PDF file using both of the following URLs:

 

http://www.puc.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/5804/AVIA-01.pdf

http://www.puc.edu?a=5804

 

Oh yeah totally forgot about assets using the "a" value lol. I had a feeling when I posted that it would be something kind of simple.

 

I guess its a good idea to protect the asset id's to stop people viewing content on different sites that sit on the same Matrix instance then.

 

Cheers Nic.

4

I guess its a good idea to protect the asset id's to stop people viewing content on different sites that sit on the same Matrix instance then.

 

Permissions still kick in, even when using the ?a=xxx format. So they can't use it to access content they wouldn't normally be allowed to see.

 

If you use this format, the design and paint layout that get applied are based on the URL component. So if you have a URL like www.example.com/products?a=1234 it will print page 1234 using the design and paint layout of the www.example.com/products page. This can be used in advanced implementations to provide different views for content.