HTML File Naming Problem

Anonymous Monk has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I have a cgi script which is used to both link to and then pipe the file to the user. It creates the link as follows:

<a href="http://www.myserver.com/cgi-bin/my_script.pl?filename">filena
+me</a>
[download]

when this link is clicked on and the file is downloaded it wants to save the file as "my_script.pl" instead of the real filename. I tried setting "Content-Name: $filename", but it didn't work (probably since it brings the save-as box up before the file is really sent).

What is the best way to go about solving this problem?

Comment on HTML File Naming Problem Download Code

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Re: HTML File Naming Problem by blokhead (Monsignor) on Jan 21, 2003 at 15:26 UTC
For downloadable links (not HTML pages), I've had luck with setting headers like this: `Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="xyz.gif"` Keep in mind there's nothing you can do if the user shift-clicks -- it will be saved as 'my_script.pl'. As you say, the save-as dialog will pop up before it gets any of your headers. Perhaps a cleaner way of all this is to have a `ScriptAlias` for my_script.pl in your apache httpd.conf. Then you can make links to /cgi-bin/my_script.pl/filename, and the browser will make a better guess in the save-as dialog. blokhead	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Re: HTML File Naming Problem by Anonymous Monk on Jan 21, 2003 at 16:08 UTC
This works nicely, except with Netscape 4.x. Perhaps, it will be incentive for people to finally upgrade.	[reply]
Re: HTML File Naming Problem by valdez (Monsignor) on Jan 21, 2003 at 15:38 UTC
Using Super Search I found the following nodes: Download, don't redirect. File Download Downloading things from a database Serving files without revealing their location There you will find explanations about Content-Disposition and related security issues. Ciao, Valerio	[reply]