OK, so the iFrame is a good solution, then.
On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 1:08 PM, Shane Ó Conchúir <spiderb...@gmail.com>wrote:
> My problem with target='_blank' is the opening of a new tab/window which
> hides the GUI until the user closes it. I dislike the aesthetic which may
> just be me being picky.
>
> I *have* learned that it is a bad thing to reuse the current page
> reference to trigger downloads though because, as you say, this could wreak
> havoc with applets of any kind on the page.
>
> Thanks,
> Shane
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 6:06 AM, Robert Hanson <hans...@stolaf.edu> wrote:
>
>> I'm pretty sure target=_blank is what you want. But your iFrame idea
>> seems to work as well. Either way, it's important not to use <a href=...>
>> on a page you don't want to rewrite.
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 10:46 PM, Shane Ó Conchúir
>> <spiderb...@gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> Sorry, I should have been clearer above. The webpage displays
>>> information about protein structures. There are links to download PyMOL
>>> sessions, PDB files, PDF files etc. so the user can open the files locally.
>>> The behavior I want is that a user can *left-click* on a link to open a
>>> 'Save to' dialog. The webpage also has a JSmol applet which can be used to
>>> view the structures inside the page. The files to be downloaded are not
>>> meant to be used by the JSmol applet.
>>> > Q: what if you use <a target=_blank href=?.....>
>>>
>>> This is a very good point. I think that will open a separate
>>> tab/window (I can test this tomorrow) which interrupts the user's
>>> interaction with the webpage which is why I did not take this approach.
>>> Therefore, my problem is particular to this concern.
>>> > Q: What is the purpose of this link? You say this reloads the whole
>>> page? Why do you want to do that?
>>>
>>> The purpose of the links are to download the PSE, PDB, etc. files. I do
>>> not wish to reload the page which is why I omit the target and set the
>>> content disposition to 'attachment'. This seems to avoid a page reload from
>>> the user's perspective - the behavior is as if they had right-clicked a
>>> link to the file and chosen to save it to disk - however I suspect that a
>>> page reload event is triggered which probably calls the garbage collector.
>>>
>>> > Q: Prints this where? How?
>>> > I'm not familiar with using attachment with page loads. I think it
>>> just destroys the applet. Any page load would be disastrous for an applet
>>> of any kind.
>>> > Q: Can't you avoid a page download?
>>>
>>> This file is 'printed' to the user's browser as a HTTP response.
>>> 'printed' is probably the wrong term to use.
>>> From the user's perspective, no page reload happens but I suspect that
>>> behind the scenes, some event is triggered which kills the JSmol applet -
>>> and would probably kill any other applet as you say.
>>>
>>> One way to avoid a page load is to open a new tab/window as you suggest
>>> above. This would probably fix the problem but would make the interface
>>> less user-friendly as they would then have to close the tab. I could have
>>> the tab auto-close but then there could be a brief interruption. The iframe
>>> solution behaves nicely.
>>> > Q: Why not just load the file using JSmol's functions and AJAX?
>>>
>>> I was not clear about this in my previous email. The downloadable files
>>> are not meant to be loaded into JSmol.
>>>
>>> In summary, I am doing something particular where I wish to avoid
>>> opening new tabs/windows when a user tries to download a file but do so
>>> without breaking applets on the page. One solution to this is using the
>>> iframe approach in my first email but there may be better approaches.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Shane
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 7:56 PM, Robert Hanson <hans...@stolaf.edu>wrote:
>>>
>>>> what if you use
>>>>
>>>> <a target=_blank href=?.....>
>>>>
>>>> ?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 9:50 PM, Robert Hanson <hans...@stolaf.edu>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 9:02 PM, Shane Ó Conchúir <
>>>>> spiderb...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I hit a problem where opening a link on my page which triggers a file
>>>>>> download breaks the JSmol applet (jsmol-13.1.14b) in Chrome
>>>>>> 23.0.1271.95 under Linux Mint 13 (Maya). I do not know whether this
>>>>>> problem exists on other platforms/browsers. I also have a solution which
>>>>>> works for me (below) but thought I would share the problem in case this
>>>>>> is
>>>>>> something the devs wish to look into and also to share the solution for
>>>>>> anyone hitting the same problem. Also, someone may point out if there is
>>>>>> a
>>>>>> simpler fix to mine below / that I was doing something silly :-).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm doing the following
>>>>>>
>>>>>> - The page has links to download files from the database. The links
>>>>>> have the form
>>>>>> <a href='?query=downloadfile&ID=6&download=gz'>...</a>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Q: What is the purpose of this link? You say this reloads the whole
>>>>> page? Why do you want to do that?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Clicking on a link causes a page reload which reads the file from
>>>>>> the database and prints the following:
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Q: Prints this where? How?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Content-Type: application/x-gzip
>>>>>> Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="somefilename"
>>>>>> Content-Length: somelength
>>>>>>
>>>>>> [contents of file]
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Because the new page is an attachment, the page does not visibly
>>>>>> reload so the user gets the usual file download dialog. However, the page
>>>>>> load breaks the JSmol applet, maybe due to garbage collection.
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm not familiar with using attachment with page loads. I think it
>>>>> just destroys the applet. Any page load would be disastrous for an applet
>>>>> of any kind.
>>>>>
>>>>> Q: Can't you avoid a page download?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My solution to this was to use an iframe. First, I replaced the links
>>>>>> with ones as follows:
>>>>>> <a id='PSELink-6' href=''>...</a>
>>>>>> Then I include the following in $(document).ready:
>>>>>> $('[id^="PSELink-"]').click(function() {
>>>>>> this_id = $(this).attr('id');
>>>>>> ID = parseInt(this_id.split('-')[1]);
>>>>>> var iframe = document.createElement("iframe");
>>>>>> iframe.src = '
>>>>>> http://my.server.com/mywebpage.py?query=downloadfile&ID=<http://my.server.com/mywebpage.py?query=downloadfile&ID=>'
>>>>>> + ID + '&download=gz';
>>>>>> iframe.style.display = "none";
>>>>>> document.body.appendChild(iframe);
>>>>>> return false; // prevent page reload
>>>>>> });
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Clicking on the link still triggers a file download but (I'm guessing
>>>>>> since the page does not reload) the JSmol applet continues to function.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>> Q: Why not just load the file using JSmol's functions and AJAX?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>> Shane
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>> Precog is a next-generation analytics platform capable of advanced
>>>>>> analytics on semi-structured data. The platform includes APIs for
>>>>>> building
>>>>>> apps and a phenomenal toolset for data science. Developers can use
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>>>>>> account!
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>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>> Jmol-developers@lists.sourceforge.net
>>>>>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/jmol-developers
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Robert M. Hanson
>>>>> Larson-Anderson Professor of Chemistry
>>>>> Chair, Chemistry Department
>>>>> St. Olaf College
>>>>> Northfield, MN
>>>>> http://www.stolaf.edu/people/hansonr
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> If nature does not answer first what we want,
>>>>> it is better to take what answer we get.
>>>>>
>>>>> -- Josiah Willard Gibbs, Lecture XXX, Monday, February 5, 1900
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Robert M. Hanson
>>>> Larson-Anderson Professor of Chemistry
>>>> Chair, Chemistry Department
>>>> St. Olaf College
>>>> Northfield, MN
>>>> http://www.stolaf.edu/people/hansonr
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> If nature does not answer first what we want,
>>>> it is better to take what answer we get.
>>>>
>>>> -- Josiah Willard Gibbs, Lecture XXX, Monday, February 5, 1900
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>> Precog is a next-generation analytics platform capable of advanced
>>>> analytics on semi-structured data. The platform includes APIs for
>>>> building
>>>> apps and a phenomenal toolset for data science. Developers can use
>>>> our toolset for easy data analysis & visualization. Get a free account!
>>>> http://www2.precog.com/precogplatform/slashdotnewsletter
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Jmol-developers mailing list
>>>> Jmol-developers@lists.sourceforge.net
>>>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/jmol-developers
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> Precog is a next-generation analytics platform capable of advanced
>>> analytics on semi-structured data. The platform includes APIs for
>>> building
>>> apps and a phenomenal toolset for data science. Developers can use
>>> our toolset for easy data analysis & visualization. Get a free account!
>>> http://www2.precog.com/precogplatform/slashdotnewsletter
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Jmol-developers mailing list
>>> Jmol-developers@lists.sourceforge.net
>>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/jmol-developers
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Robert M. Hanson
>> Larson-Anderson Professor of Chemistry
>> Chair, Chemistry Department
>> St. Olaf College
>> Northfield, MN
>> http://www.stolaf.edu/people/hansonr
>>
>>
>> If nature does not answer first what we want,
>> it is better to take what answer we get.
>>
>> -- Josiah Willard Gibbs, Lecture XXX, Monday, February 5, 1900
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> Precog is a next-generation analytics platform capable of advanced
>> analytics on semi-structured data. The platform includes APIs for building
>> apps and a phenomenal toolset for data science. Developers can use
>> our toolset for easy data analysis & visualization. Get a free account!
>> http://www2.precog.com/precogplatform/slashdotnewsletter
>> _______________________________________________
>> Jmol-developers mailing list
>> Jmol-developers@lists.sourceforge.net
>> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/jmol-developers
>>
>>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Precog is a next-generation analytics platform capable of advanced
> analytics on semi-structured data. The platform includes APIs for building
> apps and a phenomenal toolset for data science. Developers can use
> our toolset for easy data analysis & visualization. Get a free account!
> http://www2.precog.com/precogplatform/slashdotnewsletter
> _______________________________________________
> Jmol-developers mailing list
> Jmol-developers@lists.sourceforge.net
> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/jmol-developers
>
>
--
Robert M. Hanson
Larson-Anderson Professor of Chemistry
Chair, Chemistry Department
St. Olaf College
Northfield, MN
http://www.stolaf.edu/people/hansonr
If nature does not answer first what we want,
it is better to take what answer we get.
-- Josiah Willard Gibbs, Lecture XXX, Monday, February 5, 1900
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Precog is a next-generation analytics platform capable of advanced
analytics on semi-structured data. The platform includes APIs for building
apps and a phenomenal toolset for data science. Developers can use
our toolset for easy data analysis & visualization. Get a free account!
http://www2.precog.com/precogplatform/slashdotnewsletter
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