Force Downloading instead of streaming and the reverse

They have: 24 posts

Joined: Feb 2002

How could I force a link to download of say an MP3 instead of streaming it? I would also like to know how to force the streaming (without the use of embed) of MP3s, rmis, mids, etc. rather than run the chance of clicking the link and downloading unexpectantly.

Suzanne's picture

She has: 5,507 posts

Joined: Feb 2000

To "force" downloading, you should store the file in a medium that isn't opened by the browser or plugins. Notably, zip or sit file formats.

To do streaming, you can set up a .m3u file, and do it for a set of files, or for each file.

They have: 24 posts

Joined: Feb 2002

The problem is that the media is constantly changing sometimes they are not even mp3s and I know how to make server-side zips through perl but their should be a way people can just click and download.

I don't really mean streaming, so by streaming I mean users play the media without the download screen and plays (stream if neccessary) when they click the link.

Suzanne's picture

She has: 5,507 posts

Joined: Feb 2000

you don't mean streaming, you meaning streaming?!

look, make a list of the media types, then find a solution for each media type. test for the media type and serve your two options (zipped or streaming/direct link) from there.

I'm not sure where you're getting hung up here, please explain?

Suzanne's picture

She has: 5,507 posts

Joined: Feb 2000

of course, you do know that people can right-click (or control-click on a mac) and download the file, right? there isn't really much need other than to tell people that, if you want to make it really simple.

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