Questions and topics relative to the usage of different browsers.
What browser versions have known problems?
- Microsoft security patch side effects in NetWeaver
- BSP application does not work within frame with IE6.0
What browsers are supported by the HTMLB family of rendering engines?
How to see error messages in the browser?
Every now and then, an error message is received, which is very difficult to understand. Effectively, all that we have to work with is the string "page cannot be displayed". This is just the browser using friendly messages to display error pages. These pages are friendly only in the sense that they hide the real truth from the end user. Whether this helps is doubtful. It is highly recommended to disable friendly messages at all times so that the correct error page returned from the server is shown.
The more interesting aspect is the "HTTP 500" at the bottom. This is the clue that tells us the request to the server encountered a severe error, and that the server returned a response with HTTP return code 500. But usually in the response there is also an error text. So how to display the real server error?
The approach is to just switch off the browser's friendly mode to see the real problem text as returned by the Web server. This can be configured via the menu entry: Tools --> Internet Options --> Advanced Tab. Clear both "friendly" checkboxes.
Thereafter, the exact text in the response will be displayed.
Even although this is not really friendlier, the benefit is that one can now start to track the real problem.
Why are sometimes no detailed error message displayed?
Very seldom, no error message (other than the error itself) is displayed.
This is usually because the error message is not available in the specific language in use. (Although these cases are reduced dramatically in the lifetime of a WebAS version. It is usually only seen in the first few months of a new release.) In such cases, it is highly recommended to run the program in German once more, and return the text to SAP for translation.
To force a specific language, use the URL parameter "sap-language=DE", or change the browser language settings. This can be done via the menu entry: Tools --> Internet Options --> General Tab --> Languages button.
How to detect JavaScript errors?
JavaScript errors happen quite often, especially during development. Even in productive use, there are a number of reasons for these script errors to occur. In the browser, JavaScript error conditions are displayed in the status bar.
As a general troubleshooting approach, you should always configure the browser so that all JavaScript errors are displayed. Also configure browser so that when an error occurs, the JavaScript debugger is started. In this case, the debugger will show the relevant code immediately, and it is much easier to identify the problem.
These settings can be made via the menu entry: Tools --> Internet Options --> Advanced Tab. Clear "Disable Script Debugging" checkbox and check the "Display a Notification about every Script Error" checkbox.