Links

[MasterRacker]

Being an HTML beginner, hopefully this is an easy question.

A) How do I create a link to a Word Document that will actually fire up Word and open the document rather than loading the document in the browser?


Can this be done in HTML? Do I need to use JavaScript? Is is worse than that?
Jeff
masterracker@hotmail.com

If everything seems to be going well: you don't have enough information.......

 

[WebGodiva]

you can do it simply by not using the default word extension. If the browser doesn't know what program to use, it will cause the user to save it to disk so avoid using the .doc extension when saving a document that you want to create a link with.

 

[MasterRacker]

That solution doesn't accomplish what I need because of all the operations of saving to disk, renaming with .dot and opening in Word. It defeats the purpose of the on-line forms that I'm trying to create.

What I want is a link that when clicked on opens Word with a "Document1" based on the template the link is pointed at. At this point the user can rename and save, print or, most importantly, File>Send through e-mail.

I can get this behavior if I place the templates in a shared folder outside the website and point a link to the folder because the IE view turns into a Windows Explorer like view when that link is clicked. I can then double-click a document template and and it opens normally in Word, creating a new document, etc.

If I move that same folder inside the website, I get a FTP like view wherein a click on a document template acts just like a direct link to the document: it is loaded into a DDE linked Word plug-in. I doesn't create a new document, instead trying to open the .dot file itself. A File>Save As or a File>Send Page by Email saves or sends a xxxx.dot.htm that's not usable.
Jeff
masterracker@hotmail.com

If everything seems to be going well: you don't have enough information.......

 

[sophisticate]

Well.. unless Microsoft takes a strong turn toward insanity, you will never accomplish this. I'm sorry. The biggest reason is probably those godforsaken macros in Microsoft Office. You may be aware of the many security holes/viruses that have erupted using the macro stuff. To allow some Joe Blow with a website access to open Office on an arbitrary machine on which he is not a legitimate user *and* send a document over which could contain threatening macros is not a good idea.

 

[MasterRacker]

Good point. This is all for creating "electronic" forms on an intranet. My workaround relies on having access to another shared folder on an internal server which will work on an internal network.

I'm trying to avoid having to code all our internal forms and simply use the existing Word documents. I suppose I'm going to have to code 'em....
Jeff
masterracker@hotmail.com

If everything seems to be going well: you don't have enough information.......

 

[MasterRacker]

Sophisticate,

I have just found out that this is indeed possible. Every link to a Word document on this page

http://research.microsoft.com/~gray/

spawns the actual Word program in a separate window and loads the document. Unfortunately the page is locked somehow so I cannot do a "View>Source" to look at the links.
Jeff
masterracker@hotmail.com

If everything seems to be going well: you don't have enough information.......

 

[kjonnnnn]

I can do view sourse Ill send it to ya

 

[MasterRacker]

I spoke too soon. I now have the final lowdown on this and can put it to bed:

We just began rolling out IE5.5. The guy who configured it enabled a new feature he called "web folders". (Looking at my machine, I believe the actual checkbox is the one labeled "Enable folder view for FTP sites.&quot

Using simple links to Word documents will do the folowing:
IE 4.01 - load Word embedded in IE and load the document.
IE 5.5 - Spaw a second window for the full Word application and load the document.

Since this is an Intranet and all clients will be configured the same, my problem is solved. *:->*
Jeff
masterracker@hotmail.com

If everything seems to be going well: you don't have enough information.......

 

[gollyg]

Just an idea, but you can get similar functionality (ie sending formated and editable forms) through Acrobat. This will automatically open the form and allow it to be resubmitted. Downside is you need the full version of Acrobat to do it, and maybe you required more extensive editability. Just a thought.

gollyg

 

[MasterRacker]

In our case it has to be Word. Looks like it will work fine once we get all IE seats upgraded.
Jeff
masterracker@hotmail.com

If everything seems to be going well: you don't have enough information.......