downloading .xls and .doc files...

[albie101]

Hi All,

I have been reading through a whole heap of threads on downloading files, and most people say you either need to create .zip files or use right mouse click. I think there must be a way to do this without using either of those methods. Have a look at:

http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/templategallery/

if you don't know what I mean. I would like to have these files open from a link straight into the application so users can edit them.

Does anyone know how to do this?

Any help at all would be appreciated!

Thanks
Em

 

[njitter]

I've been looking at these pages myself and i have not yet been able to figure out how it works.

There's a bit of Javascript inside the page that says:

 <A HREF=&quot;javascript:StartEdit(930,'PowerPoint')&quot;>

with '930' being the file-number and 'PowerPoint' the application that is needed to open the file.

This is the code that links to the ppt file. After clicking you get some popup window that shows ''Downloading' with a progress bar.

My guess is that this javascript code calls the component that is installed before you open the page.

Since this component is configured for the MS site, i don't think it would work on some other page.

So let's just hope MS decides to release to knowledge to the public.

Njit


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There are no stupid Questions -- just stupid People

 

[njitter]

Digged deep inside the .CAB file and indeed..StartEdit is a command used inside this DLL. It uses the number and application as arguments to start the correct application (word, powerpoint, excel, publisher).

But still no clue on how to hack this for my own usage..


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There are no stupid Questions -- just stupid People

 

[Cirrus9]

Here is a link to a Microsoft solution of what I think you are looking for.

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q178/2/22.asp

Since the Code Blue virus, many server administrators (including my own) have limited the permissions for browsers opening these types of files from the server directly. You may want to ask your Hosting provider, if you use one, to tell you if they will allow files other than zip type files to be downloaded directly.
I have in the past also used an <A> link (example: <A HREF=&quot;http:/

http://www.domain.com/docfiles/document.doc&quot;

TARGET=&quot;new&quot;>Download Doc</A>) directly to the file such as .doc and it launched the document in a browser and it was able to be edited and saved.
I also made the file available by .zip download. I hope this is what you were looking for.

 

[njitter]

Cirrus9,

i've seen this page myself. It's not the same technique as it was used on the Template Gallery. That one installs a CAB file on the client pc and makes system calls to it using javascript.

But i guess MS won't make it available to the public

Njit
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There are no stupid Questions -- just stupid People

 

[albie101]

Thanks guys - I will give it a go.
Em