html: is there a way to tell a browser what application to use for a video?

BrianK · 04-07-2008, 05:08 PM

At my office, we have mplayer-plugin handling all our video files through the web browser.

The short question is: can I tell the browser which application to use (or to try) before it uses the preference setting?

The slightly longer question is: when someone clicks a direct link to an mp4, I want a particular application to launch it rather than mplayer-plugin. I know I can do this by editing the Iceweasel (firefox) prefs, but can I do it without altering the prefs, i.e. directly in the html/javascript?

To be clear, I'm not looking for another application to handle embedded objects, I'm looking for something to handle direct links to files, i.e.

< a href = 'foo.mp4' > link < /a > (this is what I'm asking about)

as opposed to

< embed src='foo.mp4' width='$x' height='$y'></embed> (this, I don't care as much about, but if it solves the problem, I'll take it).

I'm also not opposed to use object tags if that will do it.

Thanks

MS3FGX · 04-07-2008, 06:55 PM

I certainly can't think of any way to do it through HTML. HTML is only bringing the content to the client, it doesn't actually play it. It is up to the configuration in the browser to know what programs to associate with what file extensions.

BrianK · 04-07-2008, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MS3FGX

I certainly can't think of any way to do it through HTML. HTML is only bringing the content to the client, it doesn't actually play it. It is up to the configuration in the browser to know what programs to associate with what file extensions.

hmm... I figured as much.

In the mean time, I'm using this method of forcing a download - essentially just loading up a header that the browser treats as a download. It's a modified version of something I found on the web. This way, someone can chose the application to view the thing because they have the "Open With.." option.

PHP Code:



<?php 
 
$filename = $_GET['file']; 
 
// required for IE, otherwise Content-disposition is ignored 
if(ini_get('zlib.output_compression')) 
  ini_set('zlib.output_compression', 'Off'); 
 
// addition by Jorg Weske 
$file_extension = strtolower(substr(strrchr($filename,"."),1)); 
 
if( $filename == "" )  
{ 
  echo "<html><title>Error Downloading file</title>\n"; 
  echo "<body>ERROR: download file not specified.</body></html>\n"; 
  exit; 
} elseif ( ! file_exists( $filename ) )  
{ 
  echo "<html><title>Error Downloading</title>\n"; 
  echo "<body>ERROR: File not found.</body></html>\n"; 
  exit; 
}; 
header("Pragma: public"); // required 
header("Expires: 0"); 
header("Cache-Control: must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0"); 
header("Cache-Control: private",false); // required for certain browsers  
header("Content-Type: application/force-download"); 
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=\"".basename($filename)."\";" ); 
header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable"); 
header("Content-Length: ".filesize($filename)); 
readfile("$filename"); 
exit(); 
 
?>

then I use it like so:

< a href='./force_download.php?file=foo.mp4' >

This does work, but it's not very elegant. Would prefer a better solution.

ntubski · 04-07-2008, 08:53 PM

I think you can configure the server to identify the file as something to download. According to this page putting

Code:

AddType application/octet-stream    .mp4

in the .htaccess file should work (if you're using Apache that is). I wouldn't expect to able to choose which application, since that would pretty much allow any website to run arbitrary code on your computer...

BrianK · 04-07-2008, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ntubski

I think you can configure the server to identify the file as something to download. According to this page putting

Code:

AddType application/octet-stream    .mp4

in the .htaccess file should work (if you're using Apache that is). I wouldn't expect to able to choose which application, since that would pretty much allow any website to run arbitrary code on your computer...

ahh... good idea. Thanks!