Jampack And Non-Percent-Encoded Filenames Understanding The Issue
Hey guys! Let's dive into an interesting issue we've stumbled upon with Jampack and how it handles filenames that aren't percent-encoded. This is a crucial topic, especially if you're dealing with international characters or special symbols in your file names. So, buckle up, and let's get started!
Understanding the Problem with Jampack and Non-Percent-Encoded Filenames
When we talk about Jampack and non-percent-encoded filenames, we're essentially highlighting a scenario where Jampack, a tool used for optimizing web assets, struggles to locate files that have special characters in their names. These special characters, like accented letters or symbols, are often represented in URLs using percent-encoding (e.g., %C5%AB for Å«). However, sometimes the actual files on disk might not use this encoding, leading to a mismatch.
Let's break it down further. Imagine you have an HTML file that references an image using a percent-encoded URL, like this:
<picture><source srcset="/images/kerer%C5%AB.avif" type="image/avif" ><source srcset="/images/kerer%C5%AB.webp" type="image/webp" ><img
src="/images/kerer%C5%AB.jpg"
></picture>
In this snippet, kerer%C5%AB is the percent-encoded version of kererū. Now, if your file system stores the actual image files with the non-percent-encoded name, like so:
ls .public/images/ -l
-rw-rw-r-- 1 ieuan ieuan 591272 Jul 29 09:55 kererū.avif
-rw-rw-r-- 1 ieuan ieuan 2957896 Jul 29 09:55 kererū.jpg
-rw-rw-r-- 1 ieuan ieuan 466444 Jul 29 09:55 kererū.webp
...
You might run into a situation where Jampack throws an error. This is because Jampack, by default, searches for the file using the percent-encoded name, and if it doesn't find a direct match, it gives up. Check out the error message:
$ npm exec jampack ./public
â–¶ /index.html
erro Can't find img on disk src="/images/kerer%C5%AB.jpg"
erro Can't find img on disk src="/images/kerer%C5%AB.jpg"
This can be a real headache, especially when you have a lot of files and you're trying to optimize your website's performance. The core issue here is that Jampack isn't automatically recognizing the non-percent-encoded equivalent of the URL. It's like trying to find a friend using their online alias when you know them by their real name – you might not make the connection right away!
Why This Matters
So, why is this behavior a problem? Well, many web servers, such as Caddy and NGINX, are smart enough to handle this situation gracefully. They can automatically serve the correct non-percent-encoded file when a percent-encoded URL is requested. This is super convenient because it means you don't have to worry about encoding inconsistencies between your URLs and file names. However, Jampack's current behavior means that it doesn't align with this common web server practice.
This discrepancy can lead to confusion and extra work. Imagine you've carefully set up your server to handle these encodings, but then Jampack throws errors during the optimization process. It's like having a well-oiled machine with one tiny gear that's just a bit off, causing the whole system to hiccup.
The Desired Behavior
Ideally, we'd want Jampack to mimic the behavior of these web servers and automatically resolve the non-percent-encoded file when it encounters a percent-encoded URL. This would make the optimization process smoother and more intuitive. It would also save developers a lot of time and effort, as they wouldn't have to manually rename files or adjust URLs to match Jampack's expectations.
Diving Deeper: The Technical Aspects
Let’s get a bit more technical and explore why this issue arises and what it entails from a coding perspective. When Jampack processes an HTML file, it parses the document to identify resources like images, stylesheets, and scripts. It then attempts to locate these resources on the file system to perform optimizations such as minification, compression, and fingerprinting.
The challenge lies in the way Jampack handles URLs. Currently, it performs a direct string comparison between the URL found in the HTML and the file names on disk. This means that if the URL contains percent-encoded characters and the file name does not, Jampack will not find a match. It doesn't attempt to decode the URL and search for the corresponding non-encoded file.
The Percent-Encoding Process
To fully grasp the issue, let's quickly recap what percent-encoding is. Percent-encoding, also known as URL encoding, is a method of encoding certain characters in URLs by replacing them with a percent sign (%) followed by two hexadecimal digits representing the ASCII code of the character. For example, a space is encoded as %20, and the character Å« (as seen in our example) is encoded as %C5%AB.
This encoding is necessary because URLs can only contain a limited set of characters. Characters outside this set, such as spaces, special symbols, and international characters, need to be encoded to ensure that the URL is correctly interpreted by web browsers and servers.
The Disconnect
The problem arises because while web servers often automatically decode percent-encoded URLs to find the corresponding files, Jampack does not. This creates a disconnect between how the server serves the files and how Jampack processes them. It's like having two different languages – the server speaks both encoded and decoded URLs, while Jampack only speaks encoded URLs.
Potential Solutions
So, how can we fix this? There are a few potential solutions that could be implemented in Jampack:
- URL Decoding: The most straightforward solution would be to have Jampack decode the URLs before attempting to locate the files. This would involve using a URL decoding function to convert percent-encoded characters back to their original form. For example,
kerer%C5%AB.jpgwould be decoded tokererū.jpgbefore the file search is performed. - File System Iteration: Another approach could be to iterate over the files in the relevant directory and compare the decoded URL with the file names. This would be more computationally expensive but could be more robust in handling various encoding scenarios.
- Configuration Option: A more flexible solution might be to add a configuration option to Jampack that allows users to specify whether or not to decode URLs. This would allow users to choose the behavior that best suits their needs.
Real-World Implications and Use Cases
The issue of non-percent-encoded filenames might seem like a niche problem, but it has significant implications for real-world web development, especially for websites that cater to a global audience. Let's explore some use cases where this becomes particularly relevant.
Internationalized Websites
Websites that support multiple languages often use non-Latin characters in their file names. For instance, a Japanese website might have image files named with Japanese characters, or a German website might use umlauts (ä, ö, ü) in their file names. These characters are often percent-encoded in URLs, but the actual files on disk might retain the original characters. In such cases, Jampack's inability to handle non-percent-encoded filenames can be a major roadblock.
Imagine a scenario where a website has hundreds or even thousands of images with non-Latin characters in their names. If Jampack fails to locate these images, the optimization process could be severely hampered, leading to poor website performance and a frustrating developer experience. It's like trying to build a house with missing bricks – you can't complete the structure without addressing the gaps.
Content Management Systems (CMS)
Many modern websites are built using content management systems (CMS) like WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla. These systems often allow users to upload files with arbitrary names, which may include special characters. While the CMS and the web server might handle these files correctly, Jampack might struggle to process them if the filenames are not percent-encoded in the URLs. This can create compatibility issues and require developers to implement workarounds.
For example, a user might upload an image named über-uns.jpg (German for
