Scheduled Download

[mike2277]

Hi all,

I'm using CF MX 6.1, Windows 2003 and MS SQL.

I'm wondering if there is a way to use ColdFusion code to schedule that a movie clip be downloaded to my computer during a certain time of night?

I can usually generate a dynamic list of QuickTime movies the user can click on to download it to the computer. The issue though is bandwidth. The download are occuring during the business day and hogging bandwidth.

I'm wondering if I can find a way to allow the user to tell the system to download Movie A at night (when the file download would not have any competing files downloading over the network).

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[MorganGreylock]

Well if you want to set up this webpage do download the script, set that page as your browser's default homepage (starting page) then try using windows task scheduler to fire that browser up at 3am or whatever.

Not even sure it will work, but it seems simple enough to try.

MG

 

[ecobb]

Do you mean you want the CF Server to UPLOAD a movie to your local computer, or you want the CF Server to DOWNLOAD a movie from somewhere else?



Hope This Helps!

Ecobb
Beer Consumption Analyst

"My work is a game, a very serious game." - M.C. Escher

 

[mike2277]

I will take an idea on either method (upload or download). I guess the user would complete on online coldfusion form to enter a record in the db telling the CF server to upload Movie A to the user's computer at 3:00 a.m. on 12/13/04. Hopefully that could be possible...

Mike

 

[ecobb]

Oops, I submitted my post before I was finished.

If all you want to do is have your PC download something from the Internet, then MorganGreylock is right, it would be a lot easier to do something like that than try to write it yourself.



Hope This Helps!

Ecobb
Beer Consumption Analyst

"My work is a game, a very serious game." - M.C. Escher

 

[ecobb]

That's going to be pretty tricky. To start with, your user will have to have a dedicated, static IP address on their machine, and most likely they will have to have some type of FTP server set up to allow CF to pass the file to them. Then you run into firewalls and other little nasties.

Now, if they're all on your network and the CF Server has permissions, you may be able to "place" the file in a directory on their PC every night.

This all just depends on your setup.



Hope This Helps!

Ecobb
Beer Consumption Analyst

"My work is a game, a very serious game." - M.C. Escher

 

[TruthInSatire]

Good points ecobb,
either way this isn't a CF solution. CF can't "push" data to client without a request.

if you have the ability to use ftp i'd set up an OS level script to do the scheduled ftping, along with an FTP client running on the receiving PC. likewise, if you can "place" the image in the folder if you're networked, you can use OS features for that like synching folders and so on.

at best CF can email the movie with an attachment using CFMAIL

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
-Douglas Adams (1952-2001)

 

[mike2277]

Thanks for the ideas.

I never thought of using CFMAIL to do this. That might actually work for this instance.

Thanks again,

Mike

 

[ecobb]

One thing to note about using CFMAIL (or emailing the file in general), you need to be aware of the mailbox restrictions and limitations of your mail server and your user's mailboxes. If you're talking about trying to email a 125mb file to 300 users every night, forget it. You'll kill your server trying to do it, and most likely none of your users will ever get the file anyway. Most email accounts like hotmail, yahoo, etc., are going to have size limitations on attachments. Usually, any attachment over about 10mb stands a good chance at getting rejected by mail servers. I've seen some ISPs that won't allow anything over 3mb or 5mb.

Just a point. Make sure you CAN email it and your users CAN receive it before you start coding.



Hope This Helps!

Ecobb
Beer Consumption Analyst

"My work is a game, a very serious game." - M.C. Escher

 

[TruthInSatire]

And a good point at that. I didn't mean for that to be a solution, hence the sentance prefixed with "at best". I personally would sooner set the alarm and get up at 3am before using cfmail to do this.

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
-Douglas Adams (1952-2001)

 

[ecobb]

I personally would sooner set the alarm and get up at 3am before using cfmail to do this.

Yeah, I know the feeling. I just saw where mike2277 may be considering using cfmail for it, so I wanted him to check and make sure he knew he could use cfmail before he spend a few hours(or days) writing it.



Hope This Helps!

Ecobb
Beer Consumption Analyst

"My work is a game, a very serious game." - M.C. Escher