Today I had a nasty issue with the Yahoo Messenger client on Windows XP. Due to some internal upgrades the network gateway configuration had change and requires all the traffic to go through a web proxy (squid). I knew about it and updated the YM settings (use proxy). But no connection was possible, the only result was the sign-in problem dialog. I’ve change the connection settings but I got the same dialog no matter which alternatives I’ve tried.
After a few minutes of tests and frustration I’ve found the source of the issue and the solution.
Trying to test the webmessenger functionality (YM had some connection failures last week so some Yahoo server errors were not ruled out) I’ve start Internet Explorer and… it didn’t work. The cause was immediate as the proxy was not used (I’m using the Microsoft browser only for some internal web application). After filling in the correct values everything started to function, including the standalone messenger. Surprise, it seems there it is a connection between the client and the IE.
Actually the surprise is not in the existence of the relation (as the YM is using IE as rendering engine and network connection engine) but in how it is managed. Providing the proxy data into the messenger connection setting should override the system (IE) proxy settings but this happens only partially and I view it is a bug (I don’t think it is sufficiently evolved to be seen as a feature :p; not yet).
If you wish to test this behavior you can do that very simply: just set the IE proxy to something which does not work (localhost address, some unused port, does not matter as long as it is not a valid proxy) and login in YM. It should give the the connection error, regardless of the YM settings. After you switch off the IE proxy usage or fill a working proxy the client will login…
Technical note: It is not entirely accurate to say the YM is using the IE networking engine. Actually it is using the Windows network connection infrastructure which can be configure from IE, also. So, if you setup a proxy in IE Options dialog then that proxy will be used by the entire Windows. But each application can override the proxy settings or use the default one. In this case the YM is overriding the settings for some modules and using the default ones from some other modules. When the two proxy settings are not synchronized or one of them is not working then the client will not login… Nice feature, Yahoo!
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