Can AFP Open a File?

[rshah]

I would like to have a link that opens a file. Right now when you click on the link, it only opens in Finder. Is it possible to launch a document using AFP?

For example:
afp://myserver/Share/test.pdf

I would like to open/launch test.pdf, but right now, when I click on the link, it only opens the shared folder in a finder window with the document highlighted.

Thanks for reading
Raj

[luis]

How are you planning to open this file? what is coing to execute the command?

[rshah]

Thanks for the comment, it clarified the issues for me.

My goal was to have a link in the mac Address Book or a web page that linked to a PDF. I was hoping if I used afp, I could get the PDF reader to open the page at the correct location. This way if a person edits the file, they can just hit save and not have to figure out the correct location. But it looks like if I use AFP, the user will have to open the file through the finder window.

My other option is to use http to serve the files. The problem here is that Safari will download the PDF files and so users will have to renavigate through the file structure to save the file.

I am just trying to make it easy for my users. It looks like neither http or afp will do exactly what I want.

Any advice?

[cyngus]

I don’t know if this will work for your purposes, but it might. You could write an Applescript to open the file. I assume that the file or files will change over time. If this is the case then you just have to write the AppleScript to parse the web page containing the link to the file. Unfortunately I don’t know of a way to launch an applescript from a web browser. I guess it would help to know a little more about what file(s) will need to be opened, how they change over time, how many of them there are, etc.

[rshah]

Thanks cyngus for an interesting idea

I have a PDF form that I want to attach to contacts in the address book. The PDF just contains more information than can be held in the address book. My goal was to make it easy for anyone to view or edit the information in the PDF file.

I could probably use an Applescript in Address Book to open the PDF file (and not download like in Safari, which means that if someone edits the document they have to know the correct location to put the file). The script would just open the document listed in the hompage field of Address book with a PDF reader. I don’t know for sure, but it seems that applescript could do that.

I was hoping for even a simpler solution that would involve just a link. (Using a script is a few more steps for the user). But I think that applescript is probably my best solution. Now I have to figure out how to do this with applescript.

Thanks for all of your help

[Author]

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