[Discuss] Yet another reason why Internet Explorer is bad....

[Brij Charan]

I second the mime-type fix.

I had the same situation when uploading a jar file for firefox themes.

You need to setup the server correctly because IE uses the servers
mime-type, and I'm guessing firefox uses the files mime-type.

hope that helps.

On 10/16/07, R. Langkamer <vlug at langkamerit.com> wrote:
>
> On 10/16/07 2:39 PM, Adam Parkin wrote:
> > Okay, I know this is preaching to the choir as I'm sure that 100% of
> > VLUG readers don't use Internet Explorer as their browser, but I'm
> > justifying this mini-rant as a "sharing info that perhaps we should be
> > aware of".
> >
> > I'm the TA for CSC 212 this term at UVic and for the course students
> > need to grab a Java jar file from the course website, download it to
> > their lab machine and run the software.
> >
> > I figured no biggie, just put a link to the jar file on the course
> > website, and when students click the link they get the "Open or Save As"
> > dialog.  In Firefox this of course works as it should, when the user
> > clicks Save As, it saves a copy of the jar file to their local machine.
> >
> > In IE however, it realizes that a Jar file is just a Zip file in
> > disguise, and *automatically renames the file* to become a zip file
> > instead.  Thus, then what happens is students get a zip file on their
> > desktop instead of a Java jar file, and when double-clicking it they get
> > the standard compressed file viewer in Windows instead of running the
> > actual software creating confusion as to why the software won't work as
> > it should.
> >
> > In what possible way could a browser automatically renaming a file that
> > the user has asked to download be a good idea?  In the Windows world of
> > file extensions determining a file's type this completely changes the
> > meaning of what the file is and how it's handled.  Recall as well that
> > by default Windows will hide file extensions from the user, so there's
> > no way for users to fix the problem unless they go into Windows
> > Explorer's options and turn on "Show File Extensions" (which any decent
> > user *should* do, but of course the default is what ACTUALLY happens in
> >  most cases).  Even then they still need to know that the file should be
> > renamed to have an extension of jar and not zip.
> >
> > Horribly, horribly poor design decision by MS.
> >
> > Note: this was tested in IE 7 as that's what's installed in the UVic
> > labs, and the only version on my office machine.  Don't know if prior
> > versions do the same thing.
>
>
>         One thing you could try (if you have the access), is to set the
> mime
> type/header that is reported by the server when an "http client"
> requests the file. It might be that the server is sending it as a "zip"
> file instead of "as-is" or text.
>
>         Of course I could be way off here and it just might indeed be a
> "microsoft-ism". ;)
>
> --
>
> Sincerely,
>
> R. Langkamer
>
> cross platform specialist
> Mac - Linux - windows
>
> Langkamer I.T.
> on-site/remote tutorials, support & training
> (T) 250.391.8972
> (F) 250.391.8972
> (E) ruairi @ langkamerit . com
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-- 
Brij Charan
Software Developer, Specializing in UI Development.