Automatic software downloads from an HTML page?

[Geoff Hart]

For various software utilities that I've downloaded, the Web site  
typically offers an automatic download function. For example, after  
filling out an HTML form to register my name and address, I click a  
Submit button, and once processing of the form is complete, the Web  
site redirects me to a download page. A typical page has the message  
"click here if the download doesn't start in 5 seconds", with a link  
to a file or file handler. Usually, the download begins  
automatically; if not, clicking the link starts the download.

So: How is this done? Is it a simple matter of specifying the URL for  
the file on the server? Does it require .ASP programming or a CGI (or  
other) script?

What I'd like to do is use Paypal's "but it now" buttons to handle  
the payment processing for a downloadable file. The documentation for  
this feature states that you can specify a redirect page (i.e., the  
next page the Web browser should display once payment processing is  
complete), so in theory, it should be possible to provide the URL of  
an automatic download page, and the file should download automatically.

In practice? Who knows! Has anyone tried this? Any obvious drawbacks  
I'm missing? I do have a shopping cart installed (CubeCart), but I'm  
not happy with how it works... it's not a particularly efficient  
interface, and the software e-mails a link to download the file  
instead of automatically downloading the file, and the e-mail is  
eliminated by spam filters more often than I'm comfortable with.


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-- Geoff Hart
ghart at videotron.ca / geoffhart at mac.com
www.geoff-hart.com
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