I wouldn't classify this as off topic, it's all part of the web environment and standards (or lack thereof) of real practical cases are all part of the discussion! imho.
I have heard it is possible to configure a webserver in a way that when someone accesses a PDF/DOC (whatever file types have been configured) the browser will spawn an application instance to open the file, rather than opening in the browser window. I dunno if this is true and if it is, how it can be done. I would *like* to know. I've been meaning to find out for some time ... thanks for raising the topic! Having a quick look around on the web it seems this is related to the "Content-Disposition:" HTTP header. (There you go: HTTP is a "web standard" ;) Anyone know how to use this properly? Any known pitfalls? FYI, on windows there are a couple of "file types" settings which control the local behaviour for opening documents / spawning windows. Open up windows explorer, and choose "Folder options..." from the "Tools" menu, then select the "File Types" tab. Select the desired file/document type from the list. Press the "Advanced" button. You should see a window that lists Actions associated with this file type. Below this are a couple of checkboxes. The "Confirm open after download" and "Browse in the same window" controls the behaviour when you click on a link in IE for a matching file/document type. cheers Ben ***************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ *****************************************************
