Getting logged out of applications using Fluid (SSBs)/Webkit

[JonBischke]

I'm using FluidApp to run site-specific browsers for various
applications (GMail, RememberTheMilk, etc.). However, I'm finding
that I'm getting logged out frequently of these applications despite
always checking the box to have my log-ins remembered. FluidApp
utilizes WebKit (Safari) and so I'm not exactly sure what is causing
this. I have FluidApp set to navigate to any URL and don't see
anything strange in my Safari security settings.

Any suggestions?

[Benjamin Stein]

I'm having the same problem. Jon, what version of Safari are you
using? I just upgraded to 2.3.1 -- maybe that's it?

[Benjamin Stein]

I'm guessing this has something to do with cookies. Possibly an issue
with third party cookies? Rumor has it that there's a recent change
that doesn't properly set the "expires" field on your cookie when
using javascript...

On Dec 24, 5:33 pm, JonBischke <jonbisc...@gmail.com> wrote:

[todd.dit...@gmail.com]

jon & ben, I've just heard thru another user that they were using the
webkit nightly when this happened. do either of you use that?

thx

td

[todd.dit...@gmail.com]

Todd here, i just received an email stating that Coda attempted to
post the message below. I tried to approve it thru the Google Groups
UI, but for some reason it is not appearing. maybe i accidentally
deleted it rather than approved it? anyhow, im posting it here now
manually to keep the info in this thread here. Thx to Coda for the
detailed report. i will be investigating this tonight.

Subject: Re: Getting logged out of applications using Fluid (SSBs)/
Webkit
From: Coda
To: fluidapp <flui...@googlegroups.com>

On Dec 24, 2:33=A0pm, JonBischke <jonbisc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm using FluidApp to run site-specific browsers for various

> applications (GMail, RememberTheMilk, etc.). =A0However, I'm finding

> that I'm getting logged out frequently of these applications despite

> always checking the box to have my log-ins remembered. =A0FluidApp

> utilizes WebKit (Safari) and so I'm not exactly sure what is causing

> this. =A0I have FluidApp set to navigate to any URL and don't see

> anything strange in my Safari security settings.

I just experienced this, and narrowed it down pretty quickly.

It started as you described, being logged out rather prematurely from
Google Reader. I deleted all cookies matching "google" and logged back
in. Maybe a minute later, I was logged back out. I checked my cookies
again, and *all* of the cookies I deleted were back -- even ones
related to sites I hadn't visited in weeks (e.g., Google Docs). I
deleted them again, and repeated -- in under a minute, all of them
were back.

I opened up Terminal and navigated to ~/Library/Cookies, and ran
`watch -n 1 ls -al` (you'll need to install watch via MacPorts or
tarball yourself, it doesn't come with OS X) to get a directory
listing every second. Deleting those cookies dropped the .plist file
from 2.1MB to 2.0MB, and perhaps 30 seconds later it would bounce back
up to 2.1MB.

I closed Adium and any changes to cookies.plist were still
automatically clobbered.

I closed iCal to no effect (I was going down my dock, thus the order).

I closed a Fluid app for campfirenow.com, and the clobbering stopped.

I opened it back up again, and the clobbering started again.

Some other details which may indeed be important:
* I use Adium, but not for Facebook chat.
* I'm using a WebKit nightly (r39474), not the standard Safari
build.

Do let me know if there's any further information you need.

[todd.dit...@gmail.com]

Coda, I am able to reproduce this behavior on my macbook running
10.5.6, Safari 3.2.1 and Fluid 0.9.5.

so, yeah, i'm seeing this too. I'm thinking this may have happened
with the 10.5.6 update? if anyone can provide any info confirming or
denying that, please do.

For the record, Fluid does not include *ANY* code that either inspects
or alters cookies stored by any app. All cookie-handling behavior in
Fluid is provided by the version of WebKit on your system (which it
uses to render webpages).

The only cookie-related code in Fluid SSBs is the preference for
setting your cookie accept policy (in Preferences -> Security). That
feature calls only a single public api call, and does not alter/
inspect/delete/add any cookies.

so again, all cookie behavior is provided automatically by WebKit.

I'm continuing to investigate.

thx.

td

[todd.dit...@gmail.com]

Update folks:

I have been able to reproduce this same behavior using other webkit-
based applications on two separate macs. Specifically NetNewsWire and
Shiira. Both NNW and Shiira use the WebKit located on your system.
just like Fluid. I *cannot* reproduce this in OmniWeb which ships with
its *own*, private (presumably custom) WebKit framework.

In other words, this behavior is *not* specific to Fluid SSBs, but
rather seems to be affecting any WebKit-based application that uses
the WebKit framework already located on your system.

As soon as you perform some network activity in one of these apps, it
seems to clobber cookie changes you've made in safari. (note launching
the app is not enough. you have to do something that performs a
network request... looks like ajax or traditional http requests both
do the trick). I even used HTTPScoop.app to confirm this. It happens
immediately after a silent/background ajax request.

So if this is a bug (and it seems like it probably is), its looking
like a bug in WebKit. I'm not sure if this behavior is new to 10.5.6,
or some specific version of WebKit, but I dont recall seeing or
hearing about this before... plz correct me on that if i'm wrong.

td

[Benjamin Stein]

Yes, it started happening to me as soon as I upgraded to 10.5.6. I
also upgraded to Safari 3.2.1 (5525.27.1) in the same system update,
so I can't confirm if it's one or the other.

Just some more notes, in case it's helpful:

I do get the logout problem in Facebook, but I'm also getting strange
Gmail functionality. After some period of time, it appears to think
I'm offline (I get a Google's javascript "not connected, retrying in
60 seconds" message). And then other times Gmail.app just displays
"Bad Request Error 400". I need to restart the app (reload or new
window doesn't help). This started happening right after my update,
so I can only conclude it's just a different manifestation of the same
problem.

HTH,
--Ben

[todd.dit...@gmail.com]

thanks for the details ben. i rarely use safari, so other than the
notes from you guys here, I cant tell when this began, but it sounds
like its prolly a 10.5.6/3.2.1 issue.

i'm working on a bug for apple (i like to be thorough).

td

[todd.dit...@gmail.com]

i've done some testing on a machine running OS X 10.5.5 with Safari
3.2.1 (the exact same build of safari i have tested on 10.5.6 which i
believe is the very latest public release of safari).

I *cannot* reproduce the strange behavior on 10.5.5 using either
Shiira or a Fluid 0.9.5 SSB.

If I had to guess, I would say this is a new problem in CFNetwork
(which webkit uses for http networking/cookies) shipping with 10.5.6.
AFAICT, the issue is not present in 10.5.5. However, I do not have
conclusive evidence of that. (one should always keep in mind that most
systems have many extensions and applications installed, and should
never be too quick to point fingers... different apps/plugins/
extensions can interact in surprising ways).

now I'm going to work on a bug report for apple including all this
info. i kinda doubt this will be news to them tho.

td

[Benjamin Stein]

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8680137#8680137

[Benjamin Stein]

This seems to have fixed the problem for me:
rm ~/Library/Cookies/Cookies.plist

[Benjamin Stein]

That seems to have been a premature post. Still broken :(

[JonBischke]

I'm seeing exactly the same behavior as Ben (particularly this "And

then other times Gmail.app just displays

"Bad Request Error 400"). I did all the stuff in the Apple thread
(repair permissions, reinstall Safari, etc.) and nothing seems to
help. GMail is the app that's most affected for me. I did try
Facebook on Safari last night (usually use Firefox) and had problems
with it as well. My other FluidApps (Campfire, RTM, etc.) seem to
work OK.

Really interested to get a solution to this one! :)

-J

[Benjamin Stein]

Hey all, just wondering if anyone got resolution to this. The thread
at Apple support is still open. I haven't been able to use Fluid for
over a month now. Nor has anyone in my office. Pretty frustrating.

It's also strange that not everyone in this group has the problem...
Have people not updated to 3.2.1?