I am trying to open a PPT file. I don't want to show the Save As dialog. I instead just want to open the file immediately on click. How can this be done?
views:
42answers:
2
+3
A:
You need to take two things into account:
The HTTP
Content-Dispositionheader -if any- should be set toinline, notattachment. The later will indeed force the client to display a Save As dialogue.The HTTP
Content-Typeheader should contain a mime type which is recognized by the client as being a PPT file which is usuallyapplication/vnd.ms-powerpoint. When usinginlineand the browser really don't know what to do with it (i.e. there is no application associated with the content type or extension according to the underlying platform/OS), then it will open the Save As regardless.
You can debug the response headers using tools like Firebug. You can modify response headers in server side code and/or webserver configuration. If you tell which language and/or webserver you're using, then we may be able to give more specific solutions.
BalusC
2010-08-03 15:10:15
He is opening it through a link
Sarfraz
2010-08-03 15:12:01
@Sarfraz: And..?
Matti Virkkunen
2010-08-03 15:14:06
@Sarfraz: that's correct. Do you understand the problem/question anyway?
BalusC
2010-08-03 15:14:20
@BalusC: I didn't for sure :) +1
Sarfraz
2010-08-03 15:16:08
+1 for setting Content-Disposition to inline - I had to do something similar recently myself - @silverlightCache, do you have access to your server? Can you ssh in to it? If so, you might be able to stick a perl script into the cgi-bin (if you have one) that sets the Content-Header. If you're using a scripting language for your development, then look at the reference materials to see if there's a pre-baked method to let you set the headers. Failing that, you can always modify your Apache Config (or Nginx config) to set the Headers.
stephenmurdoch
2010-08-03 15:20:20
+1
A:
This is a browser setting. You can try to force a save dialog with Content-disposition, but not vice-versa. I don't think there's much you can except tell your users to choose to "Always open files of this type".
Matti Virkkunen
2010-08-03 15:15:56
Correct, but you can cheat, forcing a specific MIME-type (like application).
Konerak
2010-08-03 15:17:08
@Konerak: Sending the wrong MIME type would be nasty. I hope people don't start doing that.
Matti Virkkunen
2010-08-03 15:18:52
This (Firefox-typical) browser setting only applies to `Content-Disposition: attachment`. When using `inline` and the browser really don't know what to do with it (i.e. no application associated with contenttype/extension according to the underlying platform/OS), then it will open the *Save As* regardless.
BalusC
2010-08-03 15:20:38
I'm quite sure there is no way to force a browser to launch an external application automatically from the server side, even if an application has already been associated with the file type. Plugins are another thing, but I don't remember MSOffice coming with browser plugins.
Matti Virkkunen
2010-08-03 15:22:03