Well, I poured over gory details of URLs and MIME types,
and maybe now I understand the problem (big maybe) but I
still can't solve it. I will try to explain as briefly
as possible:
In my WWW directory which is
http://www.art.net/Studios/Performance/Dance/Troika_Ranch/
A have a file called "a2d.sit.hqx", which is a Mac-Binary encoded,
and Stuffit stuffed file.
Now, I have an anchor in my HTML that sez:
<A HREF="http://www.art.net/Studios/Performance/Dance/Troika_Ranch/a2d.sit.hqx">
When I click on this URL, instead of downloading and decompressing the
file, it just shows me the text.
After my research, I see that Netscape is looking for a
MIME type of application and subtype of mac-binhex40 for
a .hqx file. Normally, when you FTP, I guess the MIME stuff
is not included (an assumption) so Netscape resorts to
looking at the extension, i.e., hqx, and it successfully
decodes the file. My further assumption is that http: protocol
uses MIME identifiers that says, "this is a test file" about my
.hqx, and so Netscape just prints it out on the screen.
Q. Is there a way to specifiy the MIME type in the URL?
Q. Can I put my files in an FTP directory on art.net to
get around this problem.
These files are tools that will help other artists to
create their own computer sensors that can be used in
live performance, so I would very much like to include
them for downloading from my pages.
Sorry for the length, but I wanted to be specific because
I just can't figure this one out.
Thanks in advance,
Mark Coniglio
troika@art.net
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Mark Coniglio Troika Ranch
troika@panix.com
** Check out the Troika Ranch Interactive Music/Dance Web Page **
(point to www.art.net. Go into the Studios / Performing Artists)