Problem opening a file in IE Browser

[james0816]

Not sure why this is occuring but I am having an issue opening PDF files on my local intranet via a webpage I just created. I can access them if I use FILE:// but not HTTP://

Example:

FILE://<server>/<share>/test.pdf - I can open it this way

HTTP://<server>/<share>/test.pdf

- Page cannot be displayed

I can open PDF files in my browser. I tested by going to other sites on the internet.

What could be causing this?

Thx

 

[smah]

Is the web server providing the correct mime type information? Is it only your system or do others (using the same browser version) have the same problem?

 

[james0816]

i have tried from a couple other machines with the same results.

 

[smah]

Then it sounds like a server problem. What web server are you getting these files from (apache, IIS, or something else)?

 

[james0816]

I am using IIS

 

[feherke]

Hi

HTTP://<server>/<share>/test.pdf

-

The web server's document root is the same as the shared folder ? Not a common practice...

And what means "Page cannot be displayed" on IIS ? I mean what HTTP response code ?

Feherke.

http://rootshell.be/~feherke/

 

[smah]

Then this iw where I'll bow out. You might look in forum41. It's very likely that IIS is not providing the correct mime-type info to the browser. If it were apache, I could help, but I don't know where to tell you to look in IIS.

 

[james0816]

feherke...the webserver is a separate machine. not where the files are stored. Only the web pages are located here (html and php). The files I am trying to access are physically located on a seperate server.

 

[smah]

Here you go, check out netgator's post

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=834208&page=1

 

[james0816]

Even when not logging on to the web app I created (just opening up a browser and trying to point to that file)

http://<server>/<share>/<folder>/test.pdf

nothing...page cannot be displayed.

I am completely lost!

 

[smah]

Exactly. A .pdf file is a standard thing for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. Unless the server tells the browser what to do with it, the browser won't know.

 

[smah]

Thas should say: "A .pdf file is [!]not[/!] a standard thing...

 

[smah]

Also are you sure the web server is getting the file from the correct location? Feherke's question is probably a better place to start. If the file is not found (404 error), it won't matter what type it is. What do the server logs say?

 

[james0816]

yes...file is in correct location.

as stated above, I CAN access the file doing it this way:

FILE://<server>/<share>/test.pdf

I CANNOT access the file using this:

HTTP://<server>/<share>/test.pdf

I have verified that I can open PDF files (and other files for that matter) from my browser by visited other websites and opening files from there.

 

[smah]

As Feherke mentioned, the URL/path using the file:// reference is independant of the URL/path using the http:// reference. Put a simple text or html file in that same folder for testing. What is the actuall 3 digit error code returned by the web server? If you don't have access to the web server logs, turn off friendly error messages in your browser.

 

[james0816]

ok...if i type the following:

http://<server>/<folder>/<folder>/test.txt

I get the following:

The page cannot be displayed

No number code is given.

Where might i find the server logs? Sry...but I am not familiar with that aspect.

 

[smah]

The web server logs are somewhere on the IIS web server; I don't know where they are stored, but I'm sure it's specified within the IIS configuration.

 

[smah]

Also, are you sure the web server is even running? The only time that I see the 'can not display' error is when DNS resolves but the web site is down.

 

[james0816]

question...if my files are located on a different server, can i still use HTTP: to open them? Wondering if that may have something to do with it?

My web server runs on a different machine than that of where the files are stored.

so...to access the web app i use:

http://pc1/mysite/file.php

- this is my app

from within the app, I am trying to access the files located here:

http://srv2/hold/test.pdf

just curious.

 

[james0816]

yes .. web site is up. I can access the application...sign on to it....pull up all the data....i just cannot open files using http: