REST Connector automatic URL decoding removes already encoded elements

[sbuettner]

Describe the Bug

We received a support request from a client: https://jira.camunda.com/browse/SUPPORT-24612?focusedCommentId=382201&atlLinkOrigin=c2xhY2staW50ZWdyYXRpb258Y29tbWVudA%3D%3D

The REST Connector by default decodes incoming URLs to properly encoded them again. This removed already encoded elements of the incoming URL.

Example: "http://your.test.server/test%2Ftest" --> "http://your.test.server/test/test"

The server requires the last path segment to be encoded as "test%2Ftest" is the name of the resource.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Use an URL that contains encoded path segments: http://your.test.server/test%2Ftest
2. Pass it to the REST Connector as a process variable or a static string
3. The URL gets decoded and encoded again removing the previously encoded values
4. The final URL contains the decoded segments which lead to wring values as the path is now changed: "http://your.test.server/test/test instead of "http://your.test.server/test%2Ftest

One case this affects our users is the GitLab Connector.

Expected Behavior

• We should provided an option (hidden field) to deactivate the automatic URL decoding. This might have worked before as we used another HTTP Client: https://github.com/googleapis/google-http-java-client/blob/main/google-http-client/src/main/java/com/google/api/client/util/escape/CharEscapers.java

• Update the Gitlab Connector accordingly to avoid URL encoding there.

Environment

• Camunda Connectors 8.6