Prompting a "save As" Dialog for PDF files in IIS using MIME types

Hi,

I have a web application where users typically have to download large PDF
files. However, when they do this, their browser typically attempts to
immediately open the file. This is a problem because when the browser does
this, it does not give any indication of how long the download is taking,
and then the user thinks his browser is 'locking up' because all he/she sees
is a blank white screen.

I tried setting the mime type for .pdf to application/x-unknown, but this
does not seem to fix the problem within IE. I even verified the correct mime
type is being served by using http://web-sniffer.net, and it is being served
with the application/x-unknown MIME type.

Is there anything else that I can do, short of either modifying the web
application or asking the users to change their browser settings (neither of
which can happen)?

Thanks!

-Mike

_
Thu May 10 09:33:08 CDT 2007

Nope.

Zip it and it will download instead, or instruct the users to right-click
and go to "save as".

What happens with that file tipe is pretty much up to the user's computer,
not what you do on the server.

"Michael Herchel" <mherchel**at**fhsaa.org> wrote in message
news:ucdSRYwkHHA.4188@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
>
> I have a web application where users typically have to download large PDF
> files. However, when they do this, their browser typically attempts to
> immediately open the file. This is a problem because when the browser does
> this, it does not give any indication of how long the download is taking,
> and then the user thinks his browser is 'locking up' because all he/she
> sees is a blank white screen.
>
> I tried setting the mime type for .pdf to application/x-unknown, but this
> does not seem to fix the problem within IE. I even verified the correct
> mime type is being served by using http://web-sniffer.net, and it is being
> served with the application/x-unknown MIME type.
>
> Is there anything else that I can do, short of either modifying the web
> application or asking the users to change their browser settings (neither
> of which can happen)?
>
> Thanks!
>
> -Mike
>
>

Michael
Thu May 10 10:25:16 CDT 2007

Yeah...

I've been instructing people to 'save target as'... but I was hoping for a
user-proof solution.

Thanks for the quick response.


".._.." <.._..@yourmom.mil> wrote in message
news:E2G0i.34385$G23.32800@newsreading01.news.tds.net...
> Nope.
>
> Zip it and it will download instead, or instruct the users to right-click
> and go to "save as".
>
> What happens with that file tipe is pretty much up to the user's computer,
> not what you do on the server.
>
> "Michael Herchel" <mherchel**at**fhsaa.org> wrote in message
> news:ucdSRYwkHHA.4188@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have a web application where users typically have to download large PDF
>> files. However, when they do this, their browser typically attempts to
>> immediately open the file. This is a problem because when the browser
>> does this, it does not give any indication of how long the download is
>> taking, and then the user thinks his browser is 'locking up' because all
>> he/she sees is a blank white screen.
>>
>> I tried setting the mime type for .pdf to application/x-unknown, but this
>> does not seem to fix the problem within IE. I even verified the correct
>> mime type is being served by using http://web-sniffer.net, and it is
>> being served with the application/x-unknown MIME type.
>>
>> Is there anything else that I can do, short of either modifying the web
>> application or asking the users to change their browser settings (neither
>> of which can happen)?
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> -Mike
>>
>>
>
>

Steve
Fri May 11 21:47:27 CDT 2007

Try disabling compression.
http://www.iislogs.com/articles/forcedialogandcompression/

--

Thank you,

Steve Schofield
Windows Server MVP - IIS
ASPInsider Member - MCP

http://www.orcsweb.com/
Managed Complex Hosting
#1 in Service and Support

"Michael Herchel" <mherchel**at**fhsaa.org> wrote in message
news:ucdSRYwkHHA.4188@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
>
> I have a web application where users typically have to download large PDF
> files. However, when they do this, their browser typically attempts to
> immediately open the file. This is a problem because when the browser does
> this, it does not give any indication of how long the download is taking,
> and then the user thinks his browser is 'locking up' because all he/she
> sees is a blank white screen.
>
> I tried setting the mime type for .pdf to application/x-unknown, but this
> does not seem to fix the problem within IE. I even verified the correct
> mime type is being served by using http://web-sniffer.net, and it is being
> served with the application/x-unknown MIME type.
>
> Is there anything else that I can do, short of either modifying the web
> application or asking the users to change their browser settings (neither
> of which can happen)?
>
> Thanks!
>
> -Mike
>
>