On Tuesday, April 07, 1998 1:57 PM, Mikko Kurki-Suonio
> [SMTP:maxxon@swob.dna.fi] wrote:
> On Tue, 7 Apr 1998, Tim Jones wrote:
IIRC Netscape had a section in their help system I found that stated something
like the above about http: protocol for their browser.
> Erm, no... the protocol part of the URL is actually there for a
True your server has to support the other transmission protocols ftp:, file:,
gopher: which may not be the case so...
Given the fact that its not that easy for mortals to change their server side
MIME types. The easy fix I would suggest using a extension that is pretty
universally recognised as binary, server and browser side that is.zip (MIME
type
application/zip).
If you zip your spreadsheet and set the link to file using
http://myserver/thing.zip transmission
protocol it's more likely to work as you want.
Setting the MIME type in the browser doesn't always work as you expect. For
example I have
MIME type application/msword defined for all file .DOC and to launch MS
word as an action.
But trying to get a file by http://my_server/~docs/example.doc from the
local server doesn't launch MSword as expected but reads the binary file as
html. Which is the symptom I think people were reporting for the spread sheet.
I'm a Netscape user IE3/4 may behave differently.
> Short of that, you can also hope
To do what exactly?
> Short of that, you can also hope
Hey, you mean some computers have more than one button on the mouse??
<Big Mac-user type grin...>
> Ground Zero Games wrote:
Not to be to critical guys, but this line can go someplace far from
SciFi and FT in a hurry. Unless the Mac types wish to have a
big fight with the ship listings of all the players shooting it out. (Painted
and based ships only please. Otherwise, somebody may have an unfair
advantage.(
Bye for now,
> On Tue, 7 Apr 1998, Tim Jones wrote:
> IIRC Netscape had a section in their help system I found that stated
I wouldn't have expected anything less from them... if the IT business ever
dries up, their attitude will make them brilliant politicians or lawyers.
> True your server has to support the other transmission protocols ftp:
It may not even go to the same server (program)... and the use of file:
(technically obsolete equivalent of ftp:) for non-local files is
*depreciated* these days.
> If you zip your spreadsheet and set the link to file using
That's good advice. The "problem" here, if you want to see it as a problem, is
that HTTPd servers (IIS included), don't come with common Micro$oft file
extensions premapped. (Zip isn't M$, so it usually is premapped.)
> Setting the MIME type in the browser doesn't always work as you
That has nothing to do with it. This is a *very* common misconception.
The browser-side mappings are used ONLY if the server does not supply
a MIME type. But HTTP spec indicates that a server MUST supply a MIME
type -- if doesn't know explicitly, it is *required* to guess or use a
default value.
What happens is this: The server gets a request for xyzzy.doc. It checks
its MIME mapping, doesn't find.doc and slaps on the default
"text/plain". The browser gets back a file tagged as "text/plain" and
that's the way it will be displayed. The browser *can't* make "educated"
guesses based on the original URL.
Why? Consider a CGI program, "xyzzy.exe". If the browser made an educated
based on the.exe extension, you'd never get the CGI program to return
anything but application/octet-stream...
> >Short of that, you can also hope
To invoke "Save target as..." or equivalent (or however it is done in one's
fave browser).
You see, it's like this: You have this nifty camping utensil called
spoon-fork, because it has a spoon end and a fork end -- the idea being
that the most suitable end is used for each cuisine.
Then you have loads of people trying to eat soup with the fork end, blaming
the *cook* and asking: "Could make it a bit thicker?"
> Ground Zero Games wrote:
I just KNEW I'd rattle someone's cage with this one... agreed, we'd better
kill it now, before it gets into a Religious argument!