Re: viewable vs downloadble attachment links

On Mon, 11 Jan 1999, Ravindra Sharma wrote:
> It I include an attachment link
> HREF=http://company.com/docs/word.doc
Make sure the uri is quoted, as in:

  <A HREF="http://company.com/docs/word.doc"> ...  </A>
         ^^^                              ^^^
as ":" and "/" are not allowed in unquoted attribute values.

> Browsers launch the Word application and shows the document. So I
> call it a viewable attachment link.
> BUT if file size is too big, I want browser should not launch
> application, rather it should allow to download this file. I know,
> one would say put it on FTP. BUT, Is there any way I can allow user
> to download without putting on FTP. I mean using the href=http://...
> link.

This is not actually an HTML issue -- it depends entirely on the User
Agent (web browser) that your reader uses. HTML has no way of saying
what the user should do with the destination of a link.

In IE, for example, if you download the file by right clicking (left
clicking if the mouse is mirrored) on it and choose "Save target" (or
something) then it will save it to disk and not bring the associated
application up. In lynx, you press "D" for "Download", and then select
what you wish to do with the file from the menu. In Opera, it's a
right (left) click and select "Save Link Document As". In Emacs/W3,
you press "d" and then give a file name. In Netscape 4, it's a right
(left) click and select "Save Link As". In Netscape 3, a shift-click
does it.

(There is also the issue of ensuring the server sends the right mime
type, a subject that often crops up...)

-- 
Ian Hickson

Received on Monday, 11 January 1999 16:52:05 UTC