----- Original Message ----- From: "Jerry Bryan" <c24m48@hotmail.com> To: <FAMILY-ORIGINS-USERS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2001 9:10 PM Subject: [FO] Download GEDCOM problem > >I tried to download my own GEDCOM > >using IE 5.5 (my default browser, if that matters) and got only the text > >version of the information to show up on my monitor, and not the dialog > >asking if you want to "save it to disk." > > This is because in your folder options, under file types, you have the > gedcom or .ged file type set up with the "content type (MIME)" box > showing it to be a text/plain file. To make your browser ask if you > want to save it to disk instead of displaying it, edit the gedcom file > type and delete the contents of that "content type (MIME)" box so that > it is blank. Your browser will then ask about it because it won't > know what to do with it. (That will not bother or change any > associated action you may have for when you double click on a gedcom > file in windows explorer). > > (There is nothing wrong with the way you have your gedcom file on your > website.) > > Wayne League > > > I'm confused. This explanation makes total sense except for one thing. Why > wouldn't the Windows file type options apply equally to both Netscape and > IE? > > Jerry Bryan > When David's gedcom link is clicked in my browser (IE5.5) it opens it in text form also, and in my case the File Types Options do not HAVE an association for files of type Gedcom (or .ged). At least I cannot find anyplace where it has been "registered". In researching this, I believe that the problem lies in the fact that the HTML code for David's gedcom link is a "FILE:// link" instead of a "HTTP:// link". By that I mean he assigned the filename "index.ged" to the link, instead of "http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~decann/genealogy/brewer_notes/index.ged". If the extension is not registered and you are downloading the file from a FILE:// link, Internet Explorer tries to determine the type of file that it is downloading on its own. However, if the file you are downloading contains plain text (but has an extension not associated with text files), Internet Explorer detects that it is a plain text file and downloads it into the browser so you can view it. When you use an HTTP:// link to download a file, the file type is associated correctly because the MIME type (file type) is sent by the server. Therefore, the browser does not try to determine the file type on its own from the file contents. I'd be curious to see if that would work (if David could make the change)! Meantime....if you just "right-click" and choose "save target as", then it will allow the download to take place. Hope this makes sense and is plausible. The only reference I could find was to IE3 versus IE4 in this regard.(see http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q216/8/42.ASP). -=Kevin=-