Question:
I have a successful ASP application that returns data to an IE4 browser and requests that the browser display the data as an Excel spreadsheet. When I save the file, the File Save As dialog box defaults the type to an excel workbook. This is accomplished with the statement:Response.ContentType = “application/vnd.ms-excel”.
In another ASP application I am following a similar process, but need the data to appear as a Word document. I am using the following statement (which I found in a copy of Visual Basic Programmer’s Journal): “Response.ContentType = “application/msword”. The menu bar reflects both IE and Word options, and the data can be manipulated as Word data; however, when I try to save the file, the File Save As dialog box defines the type as an HTML document.
Will you please tell me if there is another value I should use in the ContentType variable so the document can be saved as a Word document file type? Or does my result indicate some sort of bug?
Thanks for your help.
Answer:
This sounds like a bug in IE4 that was causing it to lose track of file extensions if the user had checked the checkbox for “Hide MS-DOS file extensions for file types that are registered.” In your case, it may be substituting the default extension from a Web page.
You might want to install IE4 service pack 1 to see if the problem is fixed.
