HTML Forum

**Trusted Sage** · 02-21-2010, 03:45 PM

I will appreciate any advice or insight on this HTML issue that has me stumped. Using Google Chrome (on win32 XP ) a page is fetched from the server with pure html that contains the following code:

<a href="file:///C:/KB/X/Y//19747598.pdf">Launch Document!</a>

The page contains ONE Meta statement in the <HEAD> of the document as follows:

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="application/pdf">

The desired (an expected) result is for Adobe Acrobat to appear in the current window and display the client resident .pdf. Unfortunatly, nothing happens.

When the local filename ("file:///C:/KB/X/Y//19747598.pdf") is entered directly into the browser's address window Adobe Acrobat is displayed correctly from its clint drive location. Have tried in Chrome, Firefox and IE-8 with same results in all 3 browsers. MS IE-8 does quickly flash an "errors encountered' in the status bar on the lower left pane.

I think I need additional META directives but my efforts have not been successful.

Thanks in advance for everyone's help.

Regards,

Walt

**chrishirst** · 02-21-2010, 03:57 PM

Well UNLESS everybody who clicked on the link had a copy of the file already on their local drive in that particular folder nothing would happen!!

**Trusted Sage** · 02-21-2010, 06:48 PM

I assumed that anyone who was going to comment/reply would be responding from factual knowledge/experience as a result of visual inspection of the code. If the reader dismissed the documented post or felt they needed to "see for themselves", it is left for them to select a .pdf file from a location on their own system and experiment/recreate on their own.

**chrishirst** · 02-22-2010, 08:33 AM

Yep, that is FACTUAL knowledge after B"visual inspection of the code"

Let's make it simpler!

"file:///C:/KB/X/Y//19747598.pdf" refers to a location on the MACHINE that the browser or useragent is running on.

NOW as the browser runs on the CLIENT (end user) computer where do you think it is going to look for the file???

When files are located on a WEB SERVER they need to be referenced to the location they are ON THE SERVER. NOT from where they are ON YOUR COMPUTER!!

**Trusted Sage** · 02-22-2010, 11:47 AM

The problem is that a HTML script is requesting that a correctly specified client resident resource be presented by launching an application (Acrobat) and presenting the client resident source within the browser and fails.

When the HTML script containing the directives is located on the client the HTML performs as expected. When the HTML script is fetched by the browser from the external server the command is ignored (nothing happens).

The code in question is a VALID correctly formatted directive. A sequence of commands (HTML) presented to a browser should yield the same results regardless of where the code is received from.

The only thing on the SERVER is the HTML script containing the directive for the Browser to fulfill.

Problem remains open. All advice/comments appreciated.

Regards,

Walt

Regards,

Walt

**chrishirst** · 02-22-2010, 12:32 PM

HTML is NOT a script. It is a MARKUP language

The problem is that the path to the PDF document you want to open is WRONG!!

**Trusted Sage** · 02-22-2010, 01:26 PM

Hello Chris,

Nothing would please me more then finding out I've been formatting the references incorrectly.

Kindly post an example of correctly formatted HTML that can be hosted on a web server and when referenced from within a client browser (ie. not just past the client's url into the address window) will display a client resident .pdf within browser's viewing area using Adobe Acrobat.

Thanks for your assistance.

Regards,

Walt

**chrishirst** · 02-22-2010, 01:46 PM

1: Some browsers will BLOCK opening such paths even IF the file does exist at the specified location UNLESS the HTML file is opened in the same context (Cross site scripting).

2: You cannot know that the file exists in the same place on any particular client machine.

The only way it could work reliably is for the PDF to be on the server. Even then the end user settings may NOT open the PDF in the browser directly.

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