Internet explorer shows an error message when I try to open a local html file with parameters

Question

I've got an offline html page on my hdd with some javascript that does different things depending on the url parameters. when I open this page in firefox and opera everything works fine but IE does not allow me to attach anything to the url. it shows an error that reads "windows cannot find 'filename'". I guess the IE takes it for a file and the file with .html?param=val cannot be found.

do I have to change any IE setting so that it recognizes the html file and it parameters?

Answer 1

This is caused because the file:/// protocol, used by Windows to access local files, does not support parameter values. This is because the file:/// is not a protocol (e.g. the HTTP protocol uses GET /.../?param=value HTTP/1.1) at all, but it's an interface used internally to request files.

I recommend using # instead of ? since anchors (this is how #s are called) are supported in both HTTP and the file protocol.