magic_mark...
The error message you're getting is consistent with using
a single left-click on the link for the file. That would
also be the case for the message you used to receive.
Something has changed, and, while I can't easily figure
out what that might have been and restore your previous
way of functioning, I should be able to satisfy your
question, "how can I do that?".
Whereas left-clicking used to provide you with a dialog
which would allow for downloading, as well as opening the
file, this option is no longer available from a left-click.
However, there is an option which should resolve this with
no problem. In Windows, you could simply right-click on the
same link to access a context menu which would allow you to
"Save Target As".
According to my research, IE for Mac is slightly different
than IE for Windows, so instead of right-clicking the link
with your mouse in Windows, you should be able to Ctrl click
or Option click, in Mac, on the same link, to obtain a context
menu, and one of the options should be "Save Target As".
Selecting that should open a dialog box allowing you to choose
where on your hard drive you want to save the file, and to
change the name of the file, if you choose. Of course you can
leave the name of the file unchanged, so if it was answer.csv,
you can retain that name, as well.
Please do not rate this answer until you are satisfied that
the answer cannot be improved upon by way of a dialog
established through the "Request for Clarification" process.
sublime1-ga
Searches done, via Google:
IE Mac "save target as"
://www.google.com/search?q=IE+Mac+%22save+target+as%22 |
Request for Answer Clarification by
magic_mark-ga
on
28 Apr 2005 11:20 PDT
Sublime--
Thanks for your quick response.
Yes, I know about "right click" in Windows, and "option/control click"
in Macintosh. I had tried those before opening this question, and
just, I tried them again. Neither gives me a dialog box that includes
"Save as File." I do remember seeing that dialog box in the past,
under some circumstances.
This time, I happened to notice that the Download Manager showed an
error, with address "javascript:downloadStatementForm_4_submit();" and
an error of "an error has occurred (-50)".
What can we try next?
TIA.
--Mark
|
Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
28 Apr 2005 13:08 PDT
Darn. I was hoping that, for once, the simple answer might
be the right one. I'm not a Mac user, so this might get to
be beyond my ability to research. If that's the case, don't
rate the answer, which would close the question permanently.
I can ask the editors to remove my answer and give you a
fresh start with other researchers.
You note that "option/control" clicking doesn't give you a
dialog box that includes "Save as File". What does it give
you? You mention a "Download Manager", though with an error.
Does the Download Manager not give you options for saving
the file (when there's no error)? Is this a third-party
Download Manager? If so, these can sometimes interfere
with and override the normal functioning of IE's download
process. Uninstalling it might allow IE to revert to its
normal behavior.
In researching the error you got, "an error has occurred (-50)",
I only found a reference to a solution involving removing
periods or colons from pertinent folder names. That doesn't
seem like a likely issue, here, but worth mentioning, if it
rings a bell for you.
sublime1-ga
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
magic_mark-ga
on
29 Apr 2005 12:16 PDT
Sublime--
Yes, I know the feeling of hoping that the simple answer might be the right one!
Yes, I suspect this question will require a Mac person to answer.
I won't rate the answer until you tell me.
You asked what "option/control" clicking does give me. The options
they give are vertically positioned. Here are the gory details:
I have two cases. One is the situation I've been describing, where
the dialog box I get doesn't give me the choice of saving to disk. On
those links, "option click" gives me nothing, and "control click"
gives me these options:
Internet Explorer Help
Back
Refresh page
Open page in new window
Add page to favorites
Add page to toolbar favorites
Track page with Auction Manager
Set home page
View Source
On the links that do work correctly, "option click" gives the same
choices as "control click," which are:
Internet Explorer help
Open link in new window
Download link to disk
Copy link to clipboard
Add link to favorites
Open image in new window
Download image to disk
Copy image to clipboard
Reload
You asked what the "Download Manager" is. It's not a third-party
product; it's an integral part of Internet Explorer for the Mac. No,
it doesn't give options for saving the file.
Thanks for mention the "an error has occurred (-50)" might be due to a
colon or period in a folder name. That doesn't apply, as far as I can
tell.
We'll keep working at it!
--Mark
|
Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
29 Apr 2005 14:07 PDT
Hi again...
In researching, I've come across another option for the Mac,
besides option/control click. That is, 'click and hold' on
the pertinent link. This is supposed to open up a context
menu, which *may* be different than the ones you're seeing.
The entries where I read this did not specify a right-click,
so presumably this is a 'left-click and hold', but if that
doesn't work, you can try a 'right-click and hold'.
Further research on the specifics of your situation have
turned up nothing useful. You may be the first!
An option I would consider, if I were in your shoes, would
be to first, download an updated version of IE for Mac.
Then uninstall the version you have, rather than installing
over the old copy. This would make it less likely that you
would inherit the quirky dynamics that you're currently
experiencing. Then install the newer version, and see if
your download options have improved. You might want to find
and archive your IE bookmarks before uninstalling the older
version. If this idea is distasteful to you, for some reason,
I would understand, but it might be your best shot at fixing
this.
If this turns out to involve some setting in the Mac system
rather than a settings in IE, so that the IE upgrade does not
solve the problem, or if you choose not to upgrade IE, I will
ask the editors to remove my answer, and you can see if there
are some Mac experts out there who can help you.
sublime1-ga
|
Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
29 Apr 2005 14:12 PDT
P.S. It's been awhile since I've asked to have an answer removed.
It may be that, in the process of removing my answer, all the
clarifications that you and I posted will also be removed. If
that's the case, you may want to copy the content of your posts
to add to a new clarification you can make after the removal.
Of course, that's if the IE upgrade doesn't work, or isn't a
feasible option for you, and the 'click and hold' idea fails.
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
magic_mark-ga
on
30 Apr 2005 18:54 PDT
Sublime--
When I do any of the combinations you suggested, I get:
Internext Explorer Help?
Open link in new window.
Copy link to clipboard.
Add link to favorites.
The "copy to clipboard" yields this text:
javascript:downloadStatementForm_4_submit();
None of the others are useful. As a last resort, then I asked
Explorer for Explorer help. What a concept! It told me:
Download a file to your computer
* Do one of the following:
* To download a file by following a link on a Web page, point
to the link, hold down the mouse button, and then click
Download Link to Disk on the contextual menu.
* To download a file by typing its address, in the Address
box, type the address of the file you want to download,
and then press OPTION+RETURN.
It never gave me a "Download link to disk" option, nor an "Address"
option. Just for fun, I tried clicking while holding OPTION+RETURN,
and it didn?t help either. Gee, what a surprise.
If by "remove your answer" you mean you don't get paid, nonsense!
You've *more* than earned your money while frustrating yourself on
this! I'll pay you for this answer and rate you an A for effort.
It's not your fault that Mac's are so different from Windows.
I'll try the clean installation of Explorer from scratch. I'll let
you know the outcome.
--Mark
|
Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
30 Apr 2005 20:31 PDT
magic_mark...
I very much appreciate your willingness to accept my work,
even if it doesn't lead to the perfect result we've been
trying for. Such an attitude is somewhat rare, and very
much helps to strengthen my motivation for doing this work.
Thank you.
I'm pretty sure, at this point, that a re-install would be
the best bet, but in reference to the help file:
"To download a file by typing its address, in the Address
box, type the address of the file you want to download,
and then press OPTION+RETURN."
...this is saying to put the address of the link to the
file that you want to download into the browser's address
box, rather than an address box in some dialog window
that pops up. You might try doing that, and pressing
OPTION+RETURN, and see if that works before re-installing.
To get the link URL into the browser's address bar, you
would, ideally, use 'Copy Link to Clipboard' and then
highlight what's in the address bar already (in order to
replace it) and paste it in. Hitting OPTION+RETURN at
that point apparently has the same effect in Mac as
hitting SHIFT+RETURN in Windows, and opens a download
dialog box, whereas just hitting RETURN results in an
error.
However, you mentioned getting the text:
javascript:downloadStatementForm_4_submit();
when you Copy Link to Clipboard, so I don't know if
the copy is successful and the message superfluous,
or if the copy fails. A search on the text above
produces no results, whatsoever.
Another option for getting the link URL to the browser
address bar might be drag-and-drop, though I don't know
if this works on a Mac. Simply click on the link and
hold down while dragging the cursor to the browser
address bar. It may try to go to that link, and it may
produce an error message, at first, rather than a
download dialog, but if you dismiss the error message
and then press SHIFT+RETURN, a dialog box should appear.
This works well in Windows, so give it a try before you
uninstall/re-install. Even if one of these methods does
work, which would be good to know, your normal method of
downloading may be restored by the re-install.
Do let me know!
sublime1-ga
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
magic_mark-ga
on
01 May 2005 20:11 PDT
Sublime--
I tried those new ideas, and no soap. Indeed the literal text "
javascript:downloadStatementForm_4_submit();" is the "link address".
But of course, it ain't a valid URL, so what can one do?
I have a spare hard disk, onto which I can easiy do a clean install of
MacOS 9.2, then Internet Explorer.
If you'd like to try clinking on exactly the same "download" button
that fails for me, it's in Bank of America (if you have a VISA account
with them). First click on your account, then "download" to get to a
screen where you describe what to download and in what format, then
finally click on "Download" (for any of the 7 formats; I've tried only
CSV and plain text).
--I'll keep you posted.
|
Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
01 May 2005 21:46 PDT
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!
I wish you'd mentioned this earlier. I don't know whether to
laugh or cry.
As it turns out, I *do* have a BOA account, though I've never
downloaded the information. So I went to the page you talked
about, and immediately saw the problem.
The Download Button they use on their site is not a true link
to a file, in that it doesn't link to a url ending in a file
named file.csv, as in http://www.boa.net/accounts/file.csv
If it did, you could see this URL in the status bar at the
bottom of your browser, as you hover over the link.
Instead, what you'll see in the status bar is javascript:void
This is a way of creating a popup using javascript (and you
must *not* have popups disabled when you click this link),
which, in this case, pops up a download dialog. One of the
advantages of doing this is that no user can see the full
URL of the file link, which would be a first step in hacking
a secure site such as your bank uses.
The message you originally reported receiving:
"You do not have the plug-in needed to view the 'xxx/yyy'
type information on this page. To get the plug-in now,
click View Plug-in Page."
...may be pertinent if we can't resolve this simply, so
I may ask you to provide the exact wording later, but I
believe you may be able to fix this simply by activating
javascript in your browser preferences, and making sure
you're not blocking any popups.
This if for IE6, for Windows, so the navigation may vary
for your version of IE in Mac, but should be similar:
Go to Tools -> Internet Options -> Security Tab ->
Select the Internet Zone -> Click on the button that
allows you to view, change or customize settings.
Then scroll down to almost the bottom and look for
an Entry for Scripting, with a subheading Active Scripting.
This is javascript. Make sure the radio button next to
'Enable' is selected. This should be the case in all
the 'Web Content Zones' in addition to 'Internet', except
for the 'Restricted' Zone. It may be helpful to completely
close all browser sessions afterwards, and restart the
browser before testing the setting, if you changed it.
If you found the settings to indicate that javascript was
already activated, or if you still get an error message
after activating it, please copy the text exactly when
you report back.
sublime1-ga
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
magic_mark-ga
on
02 May 2005 21:40 PDT
Sublime--
Boy howdy, Brother, you and I is living in diff'rnt worlds!
Remember the great book, "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus"?
Well, those differences are trivial compared to your Windows Internet
Explorer and my Macintosh version.
"Tools" doesn't show me anything like "Internet Options."
I really appreciate your attitude of "Never give up!"
"Edit-->Preferences" does take me to a dialog box titled "Internet
Explorer Preferences." All along its left edge is a scrollable box
containing these choices: "Web Browser", "Forms AutoFill", "Receiving
Files", "Network, and "E-mail". Each one has a right-pointing
triangle to collapse its sublist, which I can click to expand its
sublist.
Gosh, I wish I could send you a screen print, rather than tax both our
brains by describing a picture in more than 1000 words.
Under "Web Browser" is a radio button named "Java". It has a radio
button "Enable Java (Apple MRJ)", which of course I have checked.
Nothing else on this "Java" sub-dialog box looks anything like what
you described.
Also under "Web Browser" is a radio button named "Security", which has
to do with certificate authorities.
Also under "Web Browser" is a radio button named "Security Zones"
(we're getting closer, Sublime!). That dialog box has a "Zone:"
choice of: "Local intranet zone", "Trusted sites zone", "Internet
zone", and "Restricted sites zone."
For each zone, I can choose one of the following security levels:
"High", "Medium", "Low", or "Custom (for expert users)". Only the
"Custom" choice has anything that looks like what you're describing.
When I click this "Custom" radio button, I get another dialog box with
lots of options, including ones similar to yours. I have everything
set to either "Enable" or "Prompt." That includes "ActiveX Controls
and Plug-ins", "Downloads", and "Scripting."
HOWEVER, I don't have any sites defined in the "Trusted sites" zone,
so I could set their "Custom" settings!
BUT, when I did add my BofA site to the "Trusted sites zone," and
entered its "Custom" settings to enable or prompt on everything, I
still got the error. This time I noticed that on the very bottom of
my Explorer window, the "status" line says, "Loading plugin 'default
plugin'?"
Sigh.
You asked for the exact text of my error message. That's what I
already gave you. (I, too, am in Tech Support, for an IBM mainframe,
and I always want my customers to give me the complete text of any
error message.) Once again the message is:
"You do not have the plug-in needed to view the 'application/csv'
type information on this page. To get the plug-in now, click View
Plug-in Page."
Below that, side by side, are options "View Plugin Page" and "Cancel",
with the latter being the default.
On March 21 I had made a backup of my system. Today I restored it to
an unused hard-disk. When I booted that, everything worked as we
wanted it to (namely, gave me all 4 options, include "save to disk).
The Java stuff shows on status bar, like I wrote above. This backup
system has I.E. 5.1.6 (rather than the 5.1.7 on my "real" machine),
but even when I boot my "real" system and launch the old 5.1.6, I
still get the error. Probably something small is different between my
two systems, but a bit-by-bit comparison will drive me into the funny
farm.
With all due respect to you (and I have a lot of it), in the future
I'd suggest that Macintosh questions be directed toward Macintosh
researchers.
--Mark
|
Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
02 May 2005 23:04 PDT
Mark...
Actually, the "different worlds" is more a product of the
much older version of IE that you're using than the fact
that it's on a Mac - at least I'm pretty sure. I remember
that when I upgraded from IE5 to IE6, there were a *lot*
of changes in the interface.
But, per your report, you did a fine job of navigating,
and it sounds like you did what was needed by setting
'Scripting' to enable or prompt.
Here's where you lost me:
"Today I restored it to an unused hard-disk. When I
booted that, everything worked as we wanted it to
(namely, gave me all 4 options, include "save to disk).
The Java stuff shows on status bar, like I wrote above.
This backup system has I.E. 5.1.6 (rather than the 5.1.7
on my "real" machine), but even when I boot my "real"
system and launch the old 5.1.6, I still get the error."
It sounds like you're saying that you're booting the
backup 'system' on another hard drive in the same PC.
But the you say that "when I boot my "real" system and
launch the old 5.1.6, I still get the error".
If your "real" system is the usual hard drive, vs the
backup, how are you launching the "old 5.16"? Or are
you talking about the backup system and the real
system as 2 different PCs? Even then, how are you
launching the "old 5.1.6" on the "real" system.
If you slaved the backup drive, and you're launching
the old version from a different drive or directory
on your "real" system, you may actually be launching
the newer version, if it's installed in a different
location. This is because IE shortcuts name the
'Start in' path differently than most programs, using
scripted shortcuts, like:
%HOMEDRIVE%%HOMEPATH%
...instead of C:\ or D:\
So, if your 5.1.6 installation is on the F drive,
the shortcut may still launch the version on the
main drive.
You can check which version is *actually* launching
by checking the version when you click 'Help', and
seeing if it's not actually 5.1.7
Another thought that occurs, while we're talking of
using the browser at a bank site, is that, one of the
reasons I upgraded the browser from 5.5 (I think) to
6.0, was because 5.5 only had 64-bit encryption, and
6.0 was upgraded to 128-bit encryption, which was soon
to be the level of encryption required by many secure
sites, especially banks. I *really* didn't want to
give up 5.5, as it worked flawlessly, but I finally
bit the bullet, and it hasn't been too bad.
You can check the level of encryption for your version
of IE by clicking on Help with the browser open. If
it says 64-bit, it would be advisable to upgrade to
128-bit even if that's not relevant to this particular
problem you're having (though it might be pertinent).
So, let me know what you find out about which version
is *really* launching when you get that error, but I
think an upgrade is definitely in order, especially if
you discover yours is 64-bit encryption. And I think
that will also fix the download problem, as well
(though remember my caution to uninstall the older
version of the browser, first, to minimize the chance
that undesirable settings will get carried over).
sublime1-ga
|
Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
02 May 2005 23:29 PDT
Yep. I just found it:
"To ensure the security of your account information,
Online Banking also uses 128-bit SSL encryption."
http://www.bankofamerica.com/military/index.cfm?view=BANKONLINE&template=FAQS
|
Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
02 May 2005 23:53 PDT
P.S. Thanks for the remarks about the never-give-up attitude
and your respect. Believe me, it's mutual. I couldn't have
gotten anywhere near where we are without you, and your
equally impressive willingness to dialog with precision.
Your Tech Support background serves us both well, and it's
been a pleasure working with you.
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
magic_mark-ga
on
03 May 2005 12:04 PDT
Sublime--
Yes, it is fun working together on a tough problem. Teamwork--I love it!
You said you were impressed by my willingness to "dialog with
precision." Is there any other way to dialog? If you're gonna dialog
with somebody, why do it sloppily?
I still think we're suffering from a language (operating system)
barrier, as follows:
1. Macintoshes don't have "drive C:\" and "drive D:\".
They have names for their volumes, rather than letter
designations for their drives.
2. The sad news is that for Macintoshes, IE5 is the last
version Microsoft will produce. I can't upgrade to IE6.
3. I find my version of IE by clicking "About Internet
Explorer?", not by clicking "Help".
4. The same as (3) for my level of encryption.
5. When you boot a Mac, you specify which volume (i.e.,
drive) you want to boot from. The machine then loads
the entire operating system from that volume/drive.
6. When I launch a program, I point directly to that
program on the volume/drive that I want. It's not at
all like the Windows notion of "Start-->Programs-->
Explorer". No "shortcut" exists.
I already verified which version of IE was running when. I certainly
didn't want to waste your time by giving you ambiguous results.
I hate to disappoint you, but I'm already using 128-bit encryption.
Thanks for quoting the paragraph where "I lost you." When I wrote
that, I was very tired at the end of a long day, and I think I
remember knowing I wasn't writing very well at the time.
To clarify, here's the scenario I described. I have two complete
systems on two different hard-disk volumes (different "drives", in
your terminology):
System X:
IE 5.1.7
my entire OS and Preferences as of May 2
System Y:
IE 5.1.6
my entire OS and Preferences as of March 21.
The following is what happens when I try to download from BofA:
1. When I boot System X, launch its IE 5.1.7, and try to
download, it gives me a pop-up, with TWO options ("look
for plugin" or "cancel"). This is my original problem
that prompted me to open this issue.
2. When I boot System Y, launch its IE 5.1.6, and try to
download from BofA, it gives me a pop-up with FOUR
options ("store the file on disk", "configure a Helper
Application", "look for plugin", or "cancel"). (Storing
on disk would make me a happy camper.)
3. When I boot System X, and then launch the IE 1.5.6 from
the hard-drive for System Y, it fails in the same way
as (1) immediately above.
---------------------
Now that I've wasted your time with all that information, I think I've
found the source of the problem, and a work-around. After doing the
tests just above (and taking a nap), I realized that the problem
didn't depended on which version of IE I ran, but instead it depended
on which System (X vs. Y) that I ran. What might be different between
them? Extensions, Control Panels, and Preferences. (Do you have
those in Windows?) I looked in the Preferences folder, and found
folders "Explorer", "Explorer Control", and a single file "Internet
Preferences."
I started with System X that failed, and from System copied these
three pieces one at a time, until it worked. Sure enough, the lone
"Internet Preferences"
I started with System X that fails, and copied items (one at a time)
from System Y that succeeds. Copying the lone "Internet Preferences"
made it work!
Thus, the conclusions are:
1. Some time between March 21 and last week, I changed
something in the IE preferences that caused this peculiar
type of download to fail.
2. I'll leave the Preferences set as of March 21, and
whenever I change any IE Preferences, I will immediately
test this BofA download, to see if it still works. If
not, I will have discovered which needle in the haystack
makes the whole stack rot.
---------------------
Thanks a lot for your fun help! We solved this together. When I
close this question, I will certainly rate you with straight A's.
--Mark
|
Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
03 May 2005 13:03 PDT
Mark...
There's nothing like sleeping on the problem! I think
the nap did the trick... : )
I'm thrilled to hear that the problem has been resolved,
even if the underlying cause remains a mystery. Windows
does have Control Panel - accessible through the Start
Menu or as a folder in Explorer. Extensions is available
through the menu in Windows Explorer, and Internet
Preferences is available through the path I gave you for
changing javascript settings, but it's certainly not
available as a single file in a Preferences folder.
Still, presumably that file contains a summary of the
settings you were playing with the other day, where
you were looking at all the radio buttons for the
various functions like java, security, javascript and
so forth. Presumably, when you make a change in that
graphic interface, the settings are then summarized in
that single file. That's a very handy tool, for backup
and restoration purposes!
Many is the time, that, short of having such a file,
I had to tiptoe through all the detailed settings of
Internet Preferences in order to discover what was
causing a particular glitch - painstaking work.
In Windows, About Internet Explorer is a sub-heading
under Help. The other differences you mention, such
as volume labels and bootup options, are significant,
and I'll certainly avoid Mac questions in the future.
As initially noted, I was hoping that the simple
answer might be the right one. Quoth the raven,
"Nevermore!"
That's about it, then...it's been a pleasure and a
challenge, and that's what makes life interesting.
At this point, you can close the question by rating
it. If you post additional Clarifications, I will
have to respond to them to clear my board of notice,
but we can still make Comments, as may be useful.
sublime1-ga
|
