Want to be able to put full resolution PDF booklets online for our clients to download and yes you can right click but most don’t they just click and the PDF opens in their browser window. Example of what we are looking for is on Actions Forge, click on the link and the action downloads.
How do we set up a link so that when the user clicks on it the PDF downloads to there desktop?
One way to do this is to put the pdf into a zip file and then the file
will be unzipped on the clients computer into the pdf.
What happens to an actual pdf downloaded from a web site is a function
of the browser on the clients computer.
You may be able to set file attributes of the pdf on the server such
that the browser thinks it is a binary file and thus forces a download
and save.
Of course, even if the browser opens the pdf for the client to read,
it is actually on the clients computer and can be saved if the client
wants to keep it.
However, I put files in a zip file when I want to force a simple
download and save.
Lou
On Sep 27, 2009, at 12:12 PM, TeamSDA wrote:
Want to be able to put full resolution PDF booklets online for our
clients to download and yes you can right click but most don’t they
just click and the PDF opens in their browser window. Example of
what we are looking for is on Actions Forge, click on the link and
the action downloads.
How do we set up a link so that when the user clicks on it the PDF
downloads to there desktop?
What happens to an actual pdf downloaded from a web site is a
function of the browser on the clients computer.
I believe it is possible - with an Apache web server - to force the
browser to download a PDF rather than attempt to display it. Walter
can give the low-down here, but I think it is a tad techie - and I
don’t know if it is a 100% certain fix.
The zip technique seems to work great. I was concerned that it would download the zip file then we would have those who don’t understand what a zip file is and so on. On my Mac it immediately downloads the zipped file, by clicking on a graphic link, and places it on my desktop in its native format (PDF).
Are there other unforeseen problems with other browsers and Such? In other words is this only working because I am testing it on a Mac running Safari?
Are there other unforeseen problems with other browsers and Such? In
other words is this only working because I am testing it on a Mac
running Safari?
I’m not sure how universal unzip ability is on Windows. But if you
made that zip file on a Mac it will show an extra file when unzipped
in Windows. I can’t remember exactly what it is off-hand, but it can
cause some confusion.
Any other way around this or another way to make the zip without
creating the second file that is showing up on the PC?
Use a third-party tool rather than the built-in Mac OS X feature.
Start by looking on http://www.versiontracker.com/ for zip utilities
and read through the info for each one. You may even find one that
trims that file out of Mac OS X-generates zip archives. But I’m
afraid I don’t know of one off the top of my head.
This doesn’t appear to be a problem. I just tried zipping a singe file
and opening it on Windows and there were no unexpected files (just the
zip and the file in the zip).
Joe
On 28 Sep 2009, at 08:39, Keith Martin wrote:
Any other way around this or another way to make the zip without
creating the second file that is showing up on the PC?
Use a third-party tool rather than the built-in Mac OS X feature.
Start by looking on http://www.versiontracker.com/ for zip utilities
and read through the info for each one. You may even find one that
trims that file out of Mac OS X-generates zip archives. But I’m
afraid I don’t know of one off the top of my head.
Yep, I think it’s also the case on other systems as long as you just
select one or more files in the same folder and archive/compress them.
Hidden files (.DS_Store) get generated in a folder when a new folder
is created. AFAIK all they do is store how the folder should be
presented in the GUI; they won’t get added to a zip archive unless you:
a) specifically select them (hidden files need to be turned on in this
case) for zipping or
b) select a regular folder and zip that (the entire contents will be
zipped, including hidden files)
If Dave is just going through and zipping single PDFs then all will be
fine.
Joe
On 28 Sep 2009, at 11:10, Keith Martin wrote:
I just tried zipping a singe file and opening it on Windows and
there were no unexpected files (just the zip and the file in the
zip).
I’m not sure how universal unzip ability is on Windows. But if you
made that zip file on a Mac it will show an extra file when unzipped
in Windows. I can’t remember exactly what it is off-hand, but it can
cause some confusion.