Calling Computer Gurus: Opening Web Docs on a Mac

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

We're having problems opening our website documents on a MacBook or an Iphone. I just tested it and you get weird garble instead of the Word or Excel file when using Safari. Is there a way to fix without telling our customers to download another browser?

[yermom]

sounds like it could be a MIME-type issue on the server

they .docx, etc... files?

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

Is there a way to fix it? The site was created in ASPX.

[yermom]

i'm guessing one way would be to save in .doc format (or .xls) and post those files to the server.

to fix the server, i'm thinking something like this:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/179315/downloading-docx-from-ie-setting-mime-types-in-iis

[49r]

HEY! GET A ROOM YOU TWO!!!!

:mad:

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

It has something to do with the ASPX. Here is the code with my company name hidden.

<a href="showdoc.aspx?docurl=http://ABCDlive/Folder/docname.doc">Download here</a>

[yermom]

i've got to run, but my short answer is not to use asp anything ;)

[Ike]

Convert to PDF and upload?


proprietary format documents are the devil. Especially if you are expecting all your clients/customers to be able to open them.

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

i've got to run, but my short answer is not to use asp anything ;)Yeah, our dumbass web developer we had under contract told us that was the be all end all.


Convert to PDF and upload?


proprietary format documents are the devil. Especially if you are expecting all your clients/customers to be able to open them.I don't know that would solve it. It's just an issue with downloading from our site.

[yermom]

Other searches I did seemed to involve opening PDFs through aspx

Most anything should open .doc anymore

Is it generating some dynamic files on the fly or something? Pulling from a database?

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

Other searches I did seemed to involve opening PDFs through aspx

Most anything should open .doc anymore

Is it generating some dynamic files on the fly or something? Pulling from a database?It's pulling from a database. It pulls the documents from a Sharepoint server and uses ASPX to post them using that docurl code.

[yermom]

i don't suppose you have access to the logs to see the difference between a working HTTP request and a failed one, do you?

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

i don't suppose you have access to the logs to see the difference between a working HTTP request and a failed one, do you?I might. The common denominator is Mac/Apple products. On PC it works fine. I don't know if that helps. Where would I find said logs?

[yermom]

Find or View Log Files
To find or view the log files that are generated by IIS, you must locate the folder that is used to store these files. To find the folder and location for a log file, follow these steps:
Log on to the Web server computer as Administrator.
Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
Double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Internet Services Manager.
Select the Web site from the list of different served sites in the pane on the left.
Right-click the Web site, and then point to Properties.
Select the Website tab.
Click Properties to open the extended properties dialog box.
Click the General Properties tab. View the bottom of the window. IIS displays the format and location of the log files that are generated. You can open and view the file and viewed with WordPad, Microsoft Word, or another text file viewer.

isolating a known Mac and a known PC entry in the logs may help to see what the difference is, and make finding a solution easier.

the search terms i'm using are finding things about different problems, and this thread :biggrin:

actual log entries might trigger something else

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

Thanks! I'll check with our IT peeps.

[47straight]

Obviously the problem is with the PC. Mac's are perfect.

[yermom]

If by "PC" you mean Microsoft and their disdain for open file formats and sloppy implementations for protocols, then yeah ;)

[Sooner Born Sooner Bred]

Yermom, If I PM you a link will you take a look at it? I think I found a way to Okie Engineer the links.

[yermom]

word.