I'll give it a go without the file extension for the uni link and see if it even offers to open it.
If it works then the extra step isn't really a problem since it'll be the lesser of two evils whilst being part of a huge benefit.
With the database I'll be giving myself a far better way to see what data I have available and it also means not clicking through a directory structure which is about 10 folders deep on a slow network.
Right.
Setup the DB, pushing and pulling data to and from it easy enough.
One problem. I can generate a link which is correct
"file:///Z:/Docs/Uni/MPhil/NMR/2008-10-09-AB-49/10/fid"
But when I click it nothing happens, whereas if I copy and paste it to the address bar and press enter it gives me the open file dialog as I want.
Why does the link refuse to work?
If I give it an extension it makes no difference.
I've just tried it in IE7 and without an extension it opens the dialog box asking to either save or go online to find an app that can do it, but not to pick an app of my own. With an extension you can choose the app, then tell it not to ask again so it just opens any .fid file in Spinworks straight away. For once IE wants to work properly instead of Firefox :(
WIthout reading the thread much (on mobile) exec lets you run a command on the server (as opposed to the client).
To do it as a link just pass a variable through. sanitise it though, to stop people running anything on your server.
I gave up on the getting things to open in Spinworks idea since it seems way more hassle than it's worth right now, but with what I've decided to do I've come across a problem.
When I open a full entry to show the full set of data I want to click a link to show any of the spectra as a PNG or JPEG. I want this image to load underneath the main content area, in an extra DIV. Is this possible easily? Or is the alternative an iframe? (which I was trying to avoid)
Also, are there are any batch converters for PDF to PNG/JPEG? I tried irfanview but it was being an arse not being able to recognise PDFs properly even after installing the relevant plugins.