Posted by AES/newspost on September 18, 2004, 5:06 pm
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On many web sites or pages (including my own home page) clicking on
certain links will start downloading a PDF file, sometimes without the
author having provided any warning in the text of the page that this is
going to happen (although in some -- all? -- browsers the "next link"
line at the bottom of the browser window may show that the next line is
a ".pdf" file).
I was recently on a page in which clicking on a link brought up a small
"File Download" window which displayed som info on the PDF file and
allowed a choice of actually invoking the download or returning to the
original page.
Is there some special HTML capability I've not yet found that can be
used to implement this, with all coding right on a single main page? Or
does it require setting up an additional page (i.e., file) to implement
this "File Download" capability?
And on the same subject: Is there an HTML syntax that creates a link
that will just punch any browser's Back button? (so that no matter how
you get to a specific page, clicking this link will take you back to the
page you came from, as contrasted to using an anchor tag that points
back to a specific page)
Thanks for patience with novice queries.
Posted by Leif K-Brooks on September 18, 2004, 9:42 pm
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AES/newspost wrote:
> On many web sites or pages (including my own home page) clicking on
> certain links will start downloading a PDF file, sometimes without the
> author having provided any warning in the text of the page that this is
> going to happen [...]
Right. The page author has no control over whether it's downloaded,
displayed, or used as toilet paper; she just links to it and lets your
browser do
> I was recently on a page in which clicking on a link brought up a small
> "File Download" window which displayed som info on the PDF file and
> allowed a choice of actually invoking the download or returning to the
> original page.
>
> Is there some special HTML capability I've not yet found that can be
> used to implement this, with all coding right on a single main page?
I haven't seem the page in question, but it was probably just a second
page being linked to, and the second page linked to the actual PDF file.
Nothing special.
> And on the same subject: Is there an HTML syntax that creates a link
> that will just punch any browser's Back button?
Why do you want to do that? Your visitor knows how to use his browser's
back button; why does he need another one?
Posted by AES/newspost on September 19, 2004, 11:23 am
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> AES/newspost wrote:
> > On many web sites or pages (including my own home page) clicking on
> > certain links will start downloading a PDF file, sometimes without the
> > author having provided any warning in the text of the page that this is
> > going to happen [...]
>
> Right. The page author has no control over whether it's downloaded,
> displayed, or used as toilet paper; she just links to it and lets your
> browser do
If the text of a page says something like
". . . Here's some more info on <auto repair> [PDF,800K] . . ."
where <auto repair> is the clickable link, she'll have some warning that
the download may be slow, depending on her connection speed, and it may
take some time for the Acrobat plug-in to start up (my browser's plug-in
is very slow to load for some reason).
Including something like the "[PDF,800K]" warning in a case like this
seems to me to be a small courtesy, at least for large PDFs.
> > And on the same subject: Is there an HTML syntax that creates a link
> > that will just punch any browser's Back button?
>
> Why do you want to do that? Your visitor knows how to use his browser's
> back button; why does he need another one?
Why not? Does no harm; could be useful on a complex site; lets the user
keep their attention focused on the page content; if placed in certain
locations, can considerably reduce the amount of mouse travel needed to
go Back; and could allow the browser's toolbar to be turned off,
providing more useful screen real estate in some cases.
So, is there such an HTML command? (You've implicitly implied that
every browser _has_ a back button; so can it be triggered with HTML?)
Posted by Brian on September 19, 2004, 6:49 pm
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AES/newspost wrote:
>
>
>> AES/newspost wrote:
>>>
>>> Is there an HTML syntax that creates a link that will just punch
>>> any browser's Back button?
>>
>> Why do you want to do that? Your visitor knows how to use his
>> browser's back button; why does he need another one?
>
>
>
> Why not? Does no harm;
Yes, it does do harm. You've provided a link that may not work at all.
Or, if it does work, it will only work on your site. Giving users a new
feature to learn only for your site is bad usability. Every browser has
a back function. Every user seems to learn how to use it, and quickly.
There is no point in trying to duplicate it.
> So, is there such an HTML command?
No. In fact, there is no such thing as any HTML command. HTML is a
markup, not programming, language. It describes things, but does not do
anything.
> (You've implicitly implied that every browser _has_ a back button; so
> can it be triggered with HTML?)
You can try to replicate a back button with javascript. It'll be a
fragile, poor replacement for the real back function. Still want to do
it? Then ask in a javascript group. Better yet, read the archives of
e.g. comp.lang.javascript. You'll likely find the answer there.
--
Brian (remove "invalid" to email me)
http://www.tsmchughs.com/
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