PDF link not working on webpage - html

Ok so I have a intranet webpage that I am making using HTML and I want to put a link (absolute or relative) on my page that opens a PDF.
The code I use is
Privacy and Security
Now what ends up happening is that I get this error:
404 - File or directory not found. The resource you are looking for
might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily
unavailable.
Is there anything wrong with my code or where I am placing the document?
Thank You

If you are running this on a local machine check the permissions on the PDF file that they are world readable. I have this happen a lot in my OS X web directory, some files dragged in seem to have different permissions.

I see a number of small... oddities... in your sample line, which may or may not be significant in themselves, but could cause problems if you're doing any post-processing of the line before it goes live.
http://harold.local/documents/sandP.pdf is a good destination, correct? If you drop that by itself in to the address line of your browser, you can confirm that the PDF document can be found and displayed?
If you're doing any further processing of that string, should you be escaping the slashes or backslashes by doubling each one?
There's a stray space between your target= argument and your _blank value, again a possible risk if something later on will attempt to parse the string.
There is what appears to be a stray Left Angle Bracket (or Less Than) symbol ("<") immediately in front of your Privacy and Security text, which could be misinterpreted as the start of a <p tag, probably not what you want.
I would start by verifying the destination, then adding the context around it a bit at a time until something breaks. Failing that, find a similar working example of the <a usage on your local machine, and use that as a starting point for the link to your sandP.pdf document.

Related

Use environment variable in link in email

I want to generate links that can be pasted in emails so I can show people folders in their directory structure such as where to edit their email signature manually.
I'm trying to put a link to the folder in an email but make it generic enough that when they forward it, everyone who opens it will get the link into their own directory structure properly so I need to use environment variables.
I type the text I want the link to say then highlight and CTRL-K then put %CSIDL_APPDATA%\Microsoft\Signatures\ in the link but Outlook changes my % symbols to %25's. I'd ask how to escape a % but it shouldn't be escaped I don't think since it's actually part of a link.
Environment variable list FYI:http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd560744(v=ws.10).aspx
Simple answer, you can't. When you're linking like that, the current directory looks like root / to the html. So you could look at a subfolder of current directory (which you aren't guaranteed to know since it could be different on different OS's or even per user configuration) but that won't really help you.
This project will let you edit the actual HTML of your email by adding an Advanced tab but even with full control of the HTML, it can't be done. "It would open up a security hole the size of Denver."
Here's a lot of quality info on Relative Addressing which is what you're trying to do.
this is because outlook parse your input as HTML link.
I did not test it but you should give a try to this file://%CSIDL_APPDATA%/Microsoft/Signatures/
See this answer too : ways to make an html link open a folder

Using a tilde in a url after a forward slash

I've come across a background image reference of this form in some HTML code I'm changing.
<a style="background: url('/~/media/Images/Shared/Logos/logo.png')" href="/">Home</a>
I'm not in a position to ask the original author, and I don't understand how the tilde is being evaluated here.
If the url string started "url('~/media/.....'" I understand would be the root of the media user (so you'd better be sure you create that user on all your deployment servers) but the / in front of the tilde has me confused.
All the searches I've done just bring back the home directory explanation, but it doesn't appear to be that.
[edit] This is part of a live site, the logo shows up correctly, I just don't know why.
[edit 2] The site is built using ASP.NET.
[edit 3] The above is a cleaned version of the url from a view/source on the site, not the ASP code.
[edit 4] For those that might be curious, here's the actual working url. I work for the same company, but a different division, and I'm building an internal support tool in Java EE which is borrowing some of the styling. I saw the "/~/...." and couldn't think of a good reason why it would work.
http://business.hibu.co.uk/~/media/Images/Shared/Logos/logo.png
In ASP.NET, a tilde represents the root of the application (not necessarily the root of the website). But it's only usable in certain circumstances (server controls, controls that are data-bound, or sometimes tags in the head section like script or link).
I wouldn't think an a tag in the regular body would handle it, and I don't think ASP.NET allows the tilde to go anywhere except the beginning of the string anyway.
So I'm guessing you simply actually have a physical directory named ~. In Windows, I don't think the tilde has any special meaning, so it's not the user's home directory or anything like that - just a funky name for a regular directory.
EDIT
After reading your comment that this is the way it's rendered in the browser, and it's working, I'm almost positive that there's a real directory called ~ on your web server. Either that or some kind of URL rewriting going on, which you'd need to see the web.config or IIS settings to see that.
That's likely from their local machine, meaning their home directory. It can never resolve properly from a remote server if the asset path was copied from their development machine.
Otherwise it's a path relative to the home directory on their server.

Sourcecode in the url

normally you go on a website and by right click you can choose to see the source code. Or you just use firebug and select an element you want to analyse. Is it possible to write the source code in the URL so that it wouldn't be shown by right click + choosing or selecting an element?
I'm asking because I've already seen this phenomenon once by using an iphone simulator in safari.
Any ideas or hints what I'm exactly looking for? Your help would be great.
Edit: Based on wrong information. You can see the sourcecode by rightclicking. But the url still contains all information about the site. I'll get back to you as soon as I got more information to write them down clearly. Sorry for all the confusion.
Edit: This is the code in the url containing information about the site.
data:text/html;charset=utf-8;base64,PCFET0NUWVBFIGh0bWw%2BDQo8aHRtbCBtYW5pZmVzdD0naHR0cDovL25vdm93ZWIubWZ1c2UuY29tL3dlYmFwcC9TcG9ydGluZ2JldC9wb3J0YWwvc3BvcnRpbmdiZXRQb3J0YWwubWFuaWZlc3QnPg0KPGhlYWQ%2BPHRpdGxlPlNwb3J0aW5nYmV0PC90aXRsZT4NCiAgICA8bWV0YSBodHRwLWVxdWl2PSdjb250ZW50LXR5cGUnIGNvbnRlbnQ9J3RleHQvaHRtbDsgY2hhcnNldD11dGYtOCc%2BDQoJPG1ldGEgbmFtZT0ndmlld3BvcnQnIGNvbnRlbnQ9J21heGltdW0tc2NhbGU9MSwgd2lkdGg9ZGV2aWNlLXdpZHRoLCBoZWlnaHQ9ZGV2aWNlLWhlaWdodCwgdXNlci1zY2FsYWJsZT1ubywgbWluaW11bS1zY2FsZT0xLjAnPg0KICAgIDxtZXRhIG5hbWU9J2FwcGxlLW1vYmlsZS13ZWItYXBwLWNhcGFibGUnIGNvbnRlbnQ9J1lFUyc%2BDQogICAgPG1ldGEgbmFtZT0nYXBwbGUtbW9iaWxlLXdlYi1hcHAtc3RhdHVzLWJhci1zdHlsZScgY29udGVudD0nYmxhY2snPg0KICAgIDxzY3JpcHQgdHlwZT0ndGV4dC9qYXZhc2NyaXB0JyBsYW5ndWFnZT0namF2YXNjcmlwdCc%2BDQogIGlmIChkb2N1bWVudC5yZWZlcnJlciA9PSAnJykNCiAgew0KICAgd2luZG93LmxvY2F0aW9uPSdkYXRhOnRleHQvaHRtbDtjaGFyc2V0PXV0Zi04O2Jhc2U2NCxQR2gwYld3JTJCUEdobFlXUSUyQlBHMWxkR0VnYm1GdFpUMG5kbWxsZDNCdmNuUW5JR052Ym5SbGJuUTlKMjFoZUdsdGRXMHRjMk5oYkdVOU1Td2dkMmxrZEdnOVpHVjJhV05sTFhkcFpIUm9MQ0IxYzJWeUxYTmpZV3hoWW14bFBXNXZMQ0J0YVc1cGJYVnRMWE5qWVd4bFBURXVNQ2MlMkJQRzFsZEdFZ2JtRnRaVDBuWVhCd2JHVXRiVzlpYVd4bExYZGxZaTFoY0hBdFkyRndZV0pzWlNjZ1kyOXVkR1Z1ZEQwbldVVlRKejQ4YldWMFlTQnVZVzFsUFNkaGNIQnNaUzF0YjJKcGJHVXRkMlZpTFdGd2NDMXpkR0YwZFhNdFltRnlMWE4wZVd4bEp5QmpiMjUwWlc1MFBTZGliR0ZqYXljJTJCUEUxRlZFRWdhSFIwY0MxbGNYVnBkajBuY21WbWNtVnphQ2NnWTI5dWRHVnVkRDBuTVR0VlVrdzlhSFIwY0hNNkx5OTNaV0poY0hBdWJXWjFjMlV1WTI5dEwxTndiM0owYVc1blltVjBMMmx3YUc5dVpTOXBibVJsZUMxbGJsOUhRaTVvZEcxc1AybGtQVFUzTkRVME1qa3lNRUUwTURRMk1UVXdNVE01TUVaRFFUTTRNREJFTkRnNEpteHZZMkZzWlQxbGJsOUhRaVpoWm1acGJHbGhkR1ZKUkQwblBqd3ZhR1ZoWkQ0OGMzUjViR1UlMkJZbTlrZVh0aVlXTnJaM0p2ZFc1a0xXTnZiRzl5T2lNd01EQTdkR1Y0ZEMxaGJHbG5ianBqWlc1MFpYSTdZMjlzYjNJNkkwWkdSanRtYjI1MExXWmhiV2xzZVRwQmNtbGhiQ3dnU0dWc2RtVjBhV05oTENCellXNXpMWE5sY21sbU8yWnZiblF0YzJsNlpUb3lNSEI0TzMwOEwzTjBlV3hsUGp4aWIyUjVQanh3UG14dllXUnBibWN1TGk0OEwzQSUyQlBDOWliMlI1UGp3dmFIUnRiRDQ9Jw0KCSB9DQogICAgPC9zY3JpcHQ%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%2BPC9zY3JpcHQ%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%2BPC9zY3JpcHQ%2BDQogICAgPHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSd0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQnIHNyYz0naHR0cDovL25vdm93ZWIubWZ1c2UuY29tL3dlYmFwcC9TcG9ydGluZ2JldC9wb3J0YWwvUGFydHMvQnV0dG9uSGFuZGxlci5qcycgY2hhcnNldD0ndXRmLTgnPjwvc2NyaXB0Pg0KICAgIDxzY3JpcHQgdHlwZT0ndGV4dC9qYXZhc2NyaXB0JyBzcmM9J2h0dHA6Ly9ub3Zvd2ViLm1mdXNlLmNvbS93ZWJhcHAvU3BvcnRpbmdiZXQvcG9ydGFsL1BhcnRzL1RyYW5zaXRpb25zLmpzJyBjaGFyc2V0PSd1dGYtOCc%2BPC9zY3JpcHQ%2BDQogICAgPHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSd0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQnIHNyYz0naHR0cDovL25vdm93ZWIubWZ1c2UuY29tL3dlYmFwcC9TcG9ydGluZ2JldC9wb3J0YWwvUGFydHMvU3RhY2tMYXlvdXQuanMnIGNoYXJzZXQ9J3V0Zi04Jz48L3NjcmlwdD4NCjwvaGVhZD4NCjxib2R5IG9uTG9hZD0nbG9hZCgpOyc%2BDQogICAgPGRpdiBpZD0nc3RhY2tMYXlvdXQnPjxkaXYgaWQ9J3NlbGVjdGlvbi1wYWdlJz4NCiAgICAgICAgICAgIDxkaXYgaWQ9J2xhbmRpbmdwYWdlJz4NCiAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICA8ZGl2IGlkPSdjZW50cmVUb3BCRyc%2BPC9kaXY%2BPGRpdiBpZD0nY2VudHJlQm90dG9tQkcnPjwvZGl2Pg0KICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgIDxkaXYgaWQ9J2xvZ28nPjwvZGl2Pg0KICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgIDxkaXYgaWQ9J2ljb24nPjwvZGl2Pg0KICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgIDxkaXYgaWQ9J2Rpc3BhbHlib3gnPg0KICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICA8ZGl2IGlkPSd0ZXh0cDEnPjwvZGl2Pg0KICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICA8ZGl2IGlkPSd0ZXh0cDInPjwvZGl2Pg0KICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgIDwvZGl2Pg0KICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgIDxkaXYgY2xhc3M9J3ZpZXcyJyBpZD0naXBob25lJz48L2Rpdj4NCiAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICA8ZGl2IGNsYXNzPSd2aWV3MicgaWQ9J2Nhc2lubyc%2BPC9kaXY%2BDQogICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgPGRpdiBpZD0nZGlzcGFseWJveDMnPg0KICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICA8ZGl2IGlkPSd0ZXh0cDUnPjwvZGl2Pg0KICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICA8ZGl2IGlkPSd0ZXh0cDYnPjwvZGl2Pg0KICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICA8ZGl2IGlkPSd0ZXh0cDcnPjwvZGl2Pg0KICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICA8ZGl2IGlkPSd0ZXh0cDgnPjwvZGl2Pg0KICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgIC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No, it's not possible to hide a website's source code. The reason for that is simply that the browser needs that code to display the website, so whenever you see a website, you'll always be able to see as much code as is needed to make the website look like that.
You can mangle the code a bit, but as you have said yourself, things like Firebug are able to display the current state of a website, so you'll also be able to see the correct code.
edit
Just a note: Just because Safari with an iPhone user agent isn't able to display the source code, it doesn't mean that the code is not there or somehow encrypted into the URL. If you can see the website, the code is there.
I guess it's a bug (or a feature?) that Safari isn't able to display it in iPhone mode (maybe because the iPhone itself isn't able to display the code either).
edit 2
Okay, it indeed set the URL to the following for me:
data:text/html;charset=utf-8;base64,PGh0bWw%2BPGhlYWQ%2BPG1ldGEgbmFtZT0ndmlld3BvcnQnIGNvbnRlbnQ9J21heGltdW0tc2NhbGU9MSwgd2lkdGg9ZGV2aWNlLXdpZHRoLCB1c2VyLXNjYWxhYmxlPW5vLCBtaW5pbXVtLXNjYWxlPTEuMCc%2BPG1ldGEgbmFtZT0nYXBwbGUtbW9iaWxlLXdlYi1hcHAtY2FwYWJsZScgY29udGVudD0nWUVTJz48bWV0YSBuYW1lPSdhcHBsZS1tb2JpbGUtd2ViLWFwcC1zdGF0dXMtYmFyLXN0eWxlJyBjb250ZW50PSdibGFjayc%2BPE1FVEEgaHR0cC1lcXVpdj0ncmVmcmVzaCcgY29udGVudD0nMTtVUkw9aHR0cHM6Ly93ZWJhcHAubWZ1c2UuY29tL1Nwb3J0aW5nYmV0L2lwaG9uZS9pbmRleC1lbl9HQi5odG1sP2lkPTU4NjIwNEE2MEE0MDQ2MTUwMTM5MEZDQTFBQTdGNDFBJmxvY2FsZT1lbl9HQiZhZmZpbGlhdGVJRD0nPjwvaGVhZD48c3R5bGU%2BYm9keXtiYWNrZ3JvdW5kLWNvbG9yOiMwMDA7dGV4dC1hbGlnbjpjZW50ZXI7Y29sb3I6I0ZGRjtmb250LWZhbWlseTpBcmlhbCwgSGVsdmV0aWNhLCBzYW5zLXNlcmlmO2ZvbnQtc2l6ZToyMHB4O308L3N0eWxlPjxib2R5PjxwPmxvYWRpbmcuLi48L3A%2BPC9ib2R5PjwvaHRtbD4=
This however just encodes to a loading & redirect page that itself redirects to a different webpage with a special session-like parameter. I guess they didn't want to create real server side sessions for this and just put the parameter into the redirect page and encoded the whole junk using the data: URI to not create a custom page for it. This however does neither help the browser (in terms of speed or anything else) nor does it hide the source code, as you can just decode it again to see the original source code.
What you're referring to is the data URI scheme, which allows base64 encoded data to be included locally (within a request), where normally http/etc URLs are used to initiate new requests.
The data URI scheme is a URI scheme
that provides a way to include data
in-line in web pages as if they were
external resources. It tends to be
simpler than other inclusion methods,
such as MIME with cid or mid URIs.
Read the Wikipedia page for more details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_URI_scheme
i don't know what you're trying to achive, but if you want to hide the source code because of "anybody can steal my code": that isn't possible. the sourcecode has to get to the browser in any way, so the browser can display it - and if the code is on the client-machine (in the browser) there will always be a possibility to grab it.
Even if you restrict right clicking, or viewing the source, it is impossible to hide it from everybody. Also, placing it in the URL would be bad, very bad (I can't even imagine it).
the html is needed for the browser to render the UI. You can't hide it.
You could compress and obfuscate the javascript though, to make it difficult to read and understand. But that's evil :)
Internet Explorer has a character limit of 2048 characters, so you would have to compress the content and pray it will fit in the url after it's been base64 encoded. Then you can use javascript to decode it. It will also be extremely difficult to update your pages or allow for bookmarking. It could also result in users exploiting the system.
Chances are nobody will want your sauce code anyway, and if they did, it wouldn't affect you one little bit. Facebook shows it's sauce, I don't see it's popularity dropping. So just stick with serving your pages the normal way.
1. The length of an URL is limited, so that you couldn't write a whole page into it even if it were possible.
2. Once a thing has been displayed at a client machine the code cannot be protected.
(well, using javascript right-click disabling could repell a few noobs, but it is still fairly easy to grab the code)

How to link a relative html file in the scenario where user can call the files from the browser by adding a / at the end

(Sorry I am not able to frame question correctly.)
Following is the scenario.
I have 2 Html files.
File1.Html has
Click Me
File2.Html has
Click Me
Now when I open the file1.html in browser by typing following in browser.
http://Localhost/File1.html
The file1.html with a link is shown and when clicked it goes to
http://Localhost/File2.html
BUT
If I open the file1.html in browser by typing following in browser(note the / at the end).
http://Localhost/File1.html/
The file1.html with a link is shown and when clicked it goes to
http://Localhost/File1.html/File2.html
I know this is not a right way to do in browser but you cant stop user doing so.
The above example I have used just to simplify the issue. My real production issue issue is while using the MVC url are actually routed. So a user can legally use http://example.com/Employee Or http://example.com/Employee/ and due to this my jqGrid is not working.
Please guide me for a workaround.
UPDATE:
This works ok in IExplorer : wierd.
You want a link relative to the root. The following:
Click Me
(note the '/' at the start of the href) will link to http://Localhost/File1.html wherever the page containing the link is (so long as it's on the same host).
not relative to root i need it relative to parent
That's not possible. If you are using routed URIs there can be all sorts of /path/segments following the base name. The browser has no way of knowing what the real ‘parent’ is.
The usual solution is to use root-relative URIs as suggested by Joe. If you need to allow your application to be mounted at a configurable prefix under the root, that prefix will need to be copied out into the link.
Your question reminds me of a technique for search friendly URLs, implemented in PHP.
Things like:
http://localhost/index.php/2009/09/
It was described on Sitepoint.com The idea was that index.php could retrieve the trailing part of the URL from the web server and decide what to do with it. Including whether to deal with a final / or not.
It won't be relevant to html files (which could not, after all, retrieve the trailing part of a URL) but it might provide further ideas.

File:// link doing nothing in all browsers

I have a link being generated that looks like so:
<a target="_blank" title="Test" href="file:///c:/test.xls">Test</a>
This link is inside an iframe.
When I click on it (in any major browser), nothing happens. Fiddler records no traffic.
Pasting the URL into the nav bar works fine - the file download box comes up, and I can download the file no problem.
I've tried every variant of the URL structure (correct and incorrect, colons, slashes, backslashes, etc.) that I can think of.
I'm certain that it's some kind of security restriction, but I can't for the life of me find out what it is or how to get around it. I'm feeling pretty foolish at this point. Any simple explanations?
Sorry, if you are pulling this page off of a server (acessing it as http://), the security settings won't let you link to local content (acess links as file://). I've had this same problem accessing shared .doc files in a wiki. Never came up with a good solution.
Try a colon instead of a pipe ;)