I have the following HAML code ...
%ul %li{'class' => list_item_L3} %div{'id' => getting_started_div} %span{'id' => getting_started_span} %a{'id' => getting_started_a, 'href' => '/videos/msg_ralph2.shnelvar.wmv} Shnelvar
The link displays correctly but IE8 and FireFox both attempt to play the file instead of putting up a prompt to download the wmv.
How can I force a download rather than a play?
Ralph Shnelvar wrote in post #970593:
I have the following HAML code ...
%ul %li{'class' => list_item_L3} %div{'id' => getting_started_div} %span{'id' => getting_started_span} %a{'id' => getting_started_a, 'href' => '/videos/msg_ralph2.shnelvar.wmv} Shnelvar
The link displays correctly but IE8 and FireFox both attempt to play the file instead of putting up a prompt to download the wmv.
How can I force a download rather than a play?
There are things you can do with HTTP headers. BUT PLEASE DON'T. In most browsers, it is easy to download a document that is displayed in the browser, but it is impossible to display in the browser a document that is automatically downloaded.
By automatically downloading, you are depriving the user of the choice of what he wants to do with that file. (You might want him to download it, but he might prefer to take a quick listen in the browser before he does so.). That's a UI mistake. Again, don't do it.
Best,
Marnen Laibow-Koser wrote in post #970622:
By automatically downloading, you are depriving the user of the choice of what he wants to do with that file. (You might want him to download it, but he might prefer to take a quick listen in the browser before he does so.). That's a UI mistake. Again, don't do it.
Ok ... how do I allow them to do either? View locally or download, as the user sees fit?
Create two separate paths, and on one, force the download by setting the file-type to application/binary or something equally un-playable. On the other, let the file-type come naturally (default behavior). The two different paths point to the same file, but one is kinked to always be something that can't be played in a browser.
Walter
Ralph Shnelvar wrote in post #970656:
Marnen Laibow-Koser wrote in post #970622:
By automatically downloading, you are depriving the user of the choice of what he wants to do with that file. (You might want him to download it, but he might prefer to take a quick listen in the browser before he does so.). That's a UI mistake. Again, don't do it.
Ok ... how do I allow them to do either? View locally or download, as the user sees fit?
Just provide an ordinary link. If the user wants to download, he can use the browser's Save command. I explained this in my earlier post.
Best,
Walter Davis wrote in post #970659:
as the user sees fit?
Create two separate paths, and on one, force the download by setting the file-type to application/binary or something equally un-playable.
No! Do not mess with MIME types, ever, for any reason like this. The proper way involves the content-disposition header.
On the other, let the file-type come naturally (default behavior). The two different paths point to the same file, but one is kinked to always be something that can't be played in a browser.
That is a terrible idea. The point of a MIME type is to tell what the file is, not to play stupid games like these.
Walter
Best,