How to properly decode HTTP traffic

Question

I'm looking at HTTP traffic, and seeing a POST request that is "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" with strange characters in it:

t=%d8%94%b2%bc+%cb%ae%c9%ab

Various URL decodes that I tried running on this complain that it's not UTF-8 encoded.
I know that in theory a web request can be encoded in any given encoding scheme, but if so, how can I tell which scheme is being used (in order for me to decode it properly)?

I see no hint in the request itself.

This is not a language-specific question (more of a question about the HTTP protocol, I think.)

Any help will be appreciated!

Craig S. Anderson · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-30 23:45:45Z

1

Your question actually contains the answer (form-urlencoded). The request is URL encoded. See this link for more information.

The strange characters decode to non-ASCII characters except for the '+'. There are decoders on the Web where you can cut and paste your text to see what it really is.

answered Oct 30, 2014 at 23:45

Craig S. Anderson

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2 Comments

moomima Over a year ago

Thanks for the link! Ok, so I see that it's URL-encoded, but is it URL-encoded junk? Or is it something in some language? After URL decoding it, it fails UTF-8 decoding. Is there a way to tell if it's UTF-8, or something else, or just random data that is URL-encoded? I found this link that talks about it: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_encodings_in_HTML I'm beginning to think that "%d8%94%b2%bc+%cb%ae%c9%ab" is just random URL-encoded junk... But something inside me tells me that I'm just missing something....

Craig S. Anderson Over a year ago

It looks like random characters. When you decode URL encoded characters, you get back decoded characters, not UTF-8 encoded characters (though they may look similar). So UTF-8 decoding the result is not correct.

shobhita · Accepted Answer · 2014-10-31 09:40:05Z

1

The link mentioned by Craig is correct. It decodes to Ø”²¼+Ë®É«

answered Oct 31, 2014 at 9:40

shobhita

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