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Topic: Browser problem at cyberhymnal.org (Read 5097 times) previous topic - next topic

Browser problem at cyberhymnal.org

I was trying to look at a hymn at Cyber Hymnal, but when using Netscape 7.02 I got a display of [NWZ] followed by random characters--Noteworthy did not open the file.  The NoteWorthy web check-out tool says:

Content-Type: text/plain

The Content-Type does not appear to be set correctly.

However the MS Internet Explorer let NWC open the file with no problems.

Has anyone had similar problems or know the reason for this?! TIA
Since 1998

Re: Browser problem at cyberhymnal.org

Reply #1
Most of the time, IE ignores the MIME type sent by the web server. It sees the .nwc extension and handles the file accordingly, even when the MIME type indicates that the data is actually text.

See also: https://forum.noteworthycomposer.com/?topic=3276, faq #94

Re: Browser problem at cyberhymnal.org

Reply #2
For purposes of Netscape, the htaccess code (discussed in another thread) must be installed on the website in the directory in which the nwc files are located.

After fixing my own site, I wrote to cyberhymnal about the problem and fix. You may want to nudge them a bit also, since it is a great site.

You can, by the way, download the nwc file by rightclicking.

Quick note on Internet Explorer. Used to be that the htaccess file was not needed for the NWC plug in. Unfortunately, Microsoft changed some code. The plug in now no longer works with or without the htaccess. Sigh . . .

Sounds as though you may have an earlier version of IE that still allowed the plug in.


 

Re: Browser problem at cyberhymnal.org

Reply #4
Some ISP's are stupid about the mime-type issue -- my present one included. Though they're running Apache servers, user control of mime types using .htaccess files is disabled.

I had quite an extensive go-around with them, and they refused to either 1) let me set my own mime-type, or 2) set it for me, on my home user account. Of course, if I were to pay twice as much for a "business" account, then suddenly everything becomes possible. Buggers.

They did make one concession, which I suppose is better than nothing, in setting the mime-type for .nwc to an existing binary type; application/octet-stream, to be precise. As you can see by clicking on this link this does at least let you download it properly from Netscape 7, Mozilla, Galeon, etc.  (without trying to display it as text), even though it doesn't work with the browser plugin.

From Netscape 7.1 and recent versions of Mozilla you also have the option of "opening using the default application" (usually NWC, though NWP would work also) if the application/octet-stream mime type is used.

Re: Browser problem at cyberhymnal.org

Reply #5
I have written to cyberhymnal about this and received a polite reply from them, but they were ".. unable to reproduce the problem."  NoteWorthy was cc:ed a copy of my correspondence with them.

Fred, I was able to link to your site and Netscape 7.02 opened it without any problem except the strings were muted.  On F2, the window said the playback device was <unavailable>.  Got the same message when IE was used in the link.
Since 1998

Re: Browser problem at cyberhymnal.org

Reply #6
Might I graciously suggest that if you want to make ANY kind of application file type available on the Internet, then you make a version available in some sort of universal wrapper (such as ZIP, in a version that is universally used, rather than gz or bz)?

That ruins the immediacy of presentation, of course. But at least it gets the file across.

Re: Browser problem at cyberhymnal.org

Reply #7
Warren - sorry, that was a definite "oops." Apparently I experimented with a second device for the strings and forgot to change it back. The file has been corrected (you will probably have to clear your cache to get the updated version.)

Furthermore, this was probably not the best choice of a sample file. Unless you happen to have Yamaha XG sound, it's unlikely that you'll hear it as intended.

A hardware-independant recording of the piece is available at My IUMA site