HTML Help

David Munoz · Joined: 20 Nov 2008 Posts: 4

I want to be able to open a .dot file on our network but open it in a way that it will function like the template it is. I guess I really don't want it to open but more so execute it? Sorry I'm new to this.. Any information would be greatly appreciated..

Corey Bryant · Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 7:18 am

Usually this is handled locally on the user's machine - depending on how the program is set up to handle this type of file (for security). The easier way would be to ZIP the file and then have the user unzip it and open it in the program that will handle the .dot extension.

Downloading doc without opening might offer a few other choices as well.

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Corey
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David Munoz · Joined: 20 Nov 2008 Posts: 4

Thanks for the response.
I know that if you were to double click on a .dot file in Explorer MS Word will not really open the file but use it as a template for a new document. This is the functionality I wish to maintain. We have a Dot Net Nuke intranet and have a simple html doc that has links to the file. The problem is that when clicked on, it opens the .dot and doesn't use it as a template. So when a user tries to save or saveas, it only allows the .dot extension and all others are grayed out. It also opens the doc in windows explorer and not MS Word... not sure if that's the problem..

Any thoughts on this? Thanks again and I appreciate any further info you can give..

Corey Bryant · Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 10:01 am

I have not used a .dot file for awhile, but I remember that both the .dot and .doc have very limited funcationalities since they are being opened in Microsoft IE and not Microsoft Word.

Can you open the .doc file via Microsoft Word to see if the .dot file will open with all functionality?

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David Munoz · Joined: 20 Nov 2008 Posts: 4

Yes these two file type do open correctly and have full functionality outside of the IE interface.

My ideal situation would be to have the link prompt a Save/Open dialog box for the file. This way if the user wants to download it to their desktop they can OR just click open, have it exectute the in the normal behavior a .dot would, and start a new document in Word based on that template.

Corey Bryant · Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:33 pm

The post downloading a document without saving will offer you some other URLs for code. You could also speak with your server admin about changing the mime type of the .dot file to accomplish the save as box. If you are on a windows server How To Raise a "File Download" Dialog Box for a Known MIME Type will help your server admin.

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Corey
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David Munoz · Joined: 20 Nov 2008 Posts: 4

Thank you for the information I really appreciate it..
I'll check out the information....

Thanks again, Take care...