Unable to open attached Excel file

Tom · Sep 11, 2006

rsalhus said:
..now compare what you see in the Properties window when you right click on Tom's last link with what you see when you right click on the 'here' link in the library for D2's file.

Rolf, they're identical in Firefox.

Tom · Sep 11, 2006

D2 said:
Since I posted the spreadsheets four days ago, I have not received one entry to add to the spreadsheet.....I suggest you delete the post and the library entry and close this topic as there does not seem to be the interest I expected.

I'd suggest a little more patience. Some folks might be traveling or otherwise unable to get online. Some of our members check in once a week or even once a month.

rsalhus · Sep 11, 2006

Tom, they aren't identical here.? BTW, I didn't have any trouble viewing your snapshot.? What does that say, that's a file and not a web address. ???? I forgot how to send a snapshot so I can show you what I see in the Properties window.

D2, don't give up on your spreadsheet.? I'm looking forward to downloading that and using it for future reference.? I think it's a wonderful resource for a lot of RVers.? You just need a way to get people to contribute in an easier manner.

Wendy, did you ever say what you see in the upper left of the properties window?? Is it a file name or a php script?

AlGriefer · Sep 12, 2006

OK, I'm using XP Pro SP2 with Norton Internet Security 2006, all with all current maintenance applied. When I click on the link, I get a popup from Windows asking if I want to save index.php. When I save it as x.xls, I can open it with Excel.

I think we may have an issue with settings in IE.

I'll see if I can download Firefox and try taht.

Al

AlGriefer · Sep 12, 2006

OK, I downloaded Firefox and it works just fine; the only difference is the browser i used.

Perhaps it has to do with the IE Internet Option settings?

Al

Tom · Sep 12, 2006

I didn't have any trouble viewing your snapshot. What does that say, that's a file and not a web address. ???

Rolf, the link in my message was still a URL pointing to a file, just as the one you can't access. The only difference is the file type of the respective attached files that the links point to; One points to an xls file and the other points to a png file. The format of the links is identical.

I forgot how to send a snapshot

The way I do it is to click PrintScreen which saves the image to the clipboard, open my image viewer, click Paste, then save the resulting file. To attach it to a message/reply, click Additional options, then Browse to find the file on your PC. Don't forget to click Post to post the message and attachment.

Tom · Sep 12, 2006

Thanks Al. I haven't used IE for so long I don't recall the settings, although I do vaguely recall that there were lots of them and it wasn't always obvious which ones had to be set where.

Ned · Sep 12, 2006

I tried toggling the File Download Enable/Disable setting in the security settings, but disabling just prevents the download, enabling allow it. I don't see anything in the Advanced settings that would affect this behaviour but there are just too many to test individually. Al, can you try different security levels to see if something in there is causing the problem?

Betty Brewer · Sep 12, 2006

D2 said:
Tom, I suggest you delete the post and the library entry and close this topic as there does not seem to be the interest I expected.

Hi D2,

Please don't give up yet. I have not yet had time to post enteries . I think it is a great idea ! Honestly, I thought that the issues being discussed needed resolution before I could post. I' m not computer savy!

Hang in there.

Betty

D2 · Sep 12, 2006

Thanks, Betty. We all look forward to your contribution as I know you are a very seasoned traveler and will have many suggestions. Hey, you can cover the whole state of Alaska!

Wendy · Sep 12, 2006

D2, I haven't sent anything yet but I've been making notes. I think it's a great idea and even if it ends up not being used here, I'm still going to set up the spreadsheet on my computer.

D2 · Sep 12, 2006

Thanks, Wendy. I wish I had started it when we began our travels out West in April and I would have been able to add more restaurants. Memory just isn't what it used to be.

As Betty said, some folks may have waited until the kinks got worked out with the spreadsheet, which I didn't think about since it seemed to only be affecting a few folks.

We have received input from a couple of folks and look forward to any you can provide.

rsalhus · Sep 12, 2006

OK, I'm inserting a picture containing two snapshots of my Properties windows below. The Properties window on the left is when I click on D2's link at the start of this topic and the one on the right is when I click on an Excel file in the library. As you can see, the Properties window of the one from the library contains the file name (TravelR.xls) at the top of the properties window and a valid file type (xls file). The Properties window from D2's link doesn't contain his file name at the top (it contains a php script) and also has an invalid file type. Could the invalid file type be what's messing IE6 up?

Tom · Sep 12, 2006

Rolf, both those images show the correct respective addresses (note that they're quite different addreses because the locations are physically different). The 'file type' is something determined by your computer, but I don't know if that's Windows or your browser.

The fact that I and others here can download the file and it open confirms that the file type is correct (xls). Hopefully one of our gurus can help figure out what's running interference.

Ned · Sep 12, 2006

What you see in the properties of the link is irrelevant, it's what happens when you left click on the link. In the first case, the index.php script executes using the parameters in the link after the ? and present the specified file. In the second, the link is to the file directly so there is no script to execute and the file is also presented for download. In both cases, the end result is the same, at least for most of us, the file is shown in a dialog window that lets us choose to either open the file with the associated program or save it to disk.

rsalhus · Sep 12, 2006

Tom, I learned from OnaQuest that when he left clicks on D2's blank Travel Recommendations.xls link, he gets a file named index.php on his system and when he double left clicks on that file name it brings up Excel with that file open. And the file type php is not even defined in his system. So somehow his system knows that the index.php file is an Excel file, but I don't know how. I now think the incorrect file type that is displayed in the Properties window could be a part of what is causing some browsers to hiccup when downloading a file from the Forum.

Ned · Sep 12, 2006

php is NOT an incorrect file type, it's a server side script that is used to send the actual file to the browser. Some browsers are apparently either misconfigured or being interferred with by some other software on the users computer to prevent that from happening and are assigning the index.php name to the .xls file. This is NOT a problem with the forum software, it's something on the users computer. So far, we have not found a common thread, other than it appears to be limited to Internet Explorer. Firefox and Opera work correctly with the link.

What we have not seen is a screen shot of the window that's presented when left clicking on the link. Also, are these problem systems showing the same thing with other than .xls file links, like the .png file link above?

See the attached for what I see in IE when I left click on the link.

Tom · Sep 12, 2006

Thanks Ned. I didn't try to explain what the script does in case it confused folks even more. You explained it succinctly.

rsalhus · Sep 12, 2006

What you see in the properties of the link is irrelevant

Irrelevant? The IE browser thinks the file type is "0;ID=3963" and that's irrelevant? The browser uses the file type to find the application to bring up if you should choose to open the file. I don't know what IE does if the file type field is garbage or is undefined, but I would think it would ask you for the application that you wanted to open the file with. But it's apparently not doing that, so either the file type is OK (and displayed wrong) or else the browser is determining the file type some other way.

Ned · Sep 12, 2006

The properties of the index.php link as shown in the screen shot are correct, but the index.php is NOT the file that is ultimately presented when the index.php script is executed on the server. I see exactly the same properties for the link in Firefox, Opera, and IE, but when I left click the link to execute the index.php script, I am presented with the file as shown in my previous attachment.

The index.php link is NOT the file.

Unable to open attached Excel file

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