Refine cannot load data from URL when run behind Proxy Server

[GoogleCodeExporter]

What steps will reproduce the problem?
1. Run a google refine on a computer that only has access to the internet 
through a web proxy.
2. Attempt to add a column by fetching a URL 

What is the expected output? What do you see instead?
Expect data to be returned, instead after a timeout a blank cell is returned or 
an error depending on settings

What version of Google Refine are you using?
Version 2.0 [r1836]

What operating system and browser are you using?
Windows 7 (Chrome and Firefox)

Please provide any additional information below.
The problem is caused by Java not detecting the proxy server defined in the 
system settings and may be particular to windows.

Original issue reported on code.google.com by kstur...@gmail.com on 2 Feb 2011 at 9:15

[GoogleCodeExporter]

There is a simple work-around to fix this behavior.

All you need to do is edit the file 'google-refine.l4j.ini' at the end of the 
file place the following line with your proxy server information.

-Dhttp.proxyHost=webproxy.mycompany.com

This will configure to java to use the proxy server when downloading data from 
any webservice.  Depending on proxy configuration you may need to also set 
http.proxyPort and http.nonProxyHosts.

Maybe this work around could be added to the wiki to make it easier to find.

Original comment by kstur...@gmail.com on 2 Feb 2011 at 9:19

[GoogleCodeExporter]

It is also possible to configure java to load the proxy information from the 
system settings. 

Edit the file 'google-refine.l4j.ini' and include the following line
-Djava.net.useSystemProxies=true

Original comment by kstur...@gmail.com on 2 Feb 2011 at 9:49

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Is there any reason that useSystemProxies=true shouldn't be the default?

Original comment by tfmorris on 3 Feb 2011 at 1:03

• Changed state: Accepted

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I think it should be the default.  I have never seen a situation where I wanted 
to disable the system default proxies.

Original comment by kstur...@gmail.com on 4 Feb 2011 at 3:49

[GoogleCodeExporter]

+1 agreed that it should be defaulted.

Original comment by thadguidry on 4 Feb 2011 at 4:16

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Fixed as described in conf/google-refine.l4j.ini.

Thanks for investigating and providing a patch.

Original comment by tfmorris on 4 Feb 2011 at 8:20

• Changed state: Fixed

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Original comment by tfmorris on 9 Jun 2011 at 7:58

• Added labels: Milestone-2.1