Indexing .zip files

[Yossarian]

For the Scan Extensions, I added .zip. Under the Indexing Options tab, I have Filename selected.

I have a Zip Folder category and when i do a search, I see my zip folders. Which is great. However, when I click on one of the links, it goes to a "page cannot be found" instead of bringing up the Windows download dialog box. If I go to the page that has the zip folder download link, I get the download box.

Is there a way I can have a user search for a zip folder and be able to download it right from the search results page?

I'm currently running ver. 5.1 (build 1014) Professional Edition.

[Ray]

Is this website live and can you show us what you mean by providing some URLs? It seems like there might be more to the scenario than described.

If the search result links are wrong, then you most likely have an incorrect base URL. See this FAQ:
Q. When I click on a link in the search results, I get a 404 "Page Not Found" or "Page Cannot Be Found" error

If your other search result links are correct, but only the ZIP files do not download, then there's something else. Are you indexing in spider mode, and are these ZIP files served via download scripts (eg. "www.mysite.com/getfile.php?blah.zip")? If so, perhaps your download script requires additional parameteres or a certain referral before it will allow you to download the file. Take some notice in comparing the URL of the search result link and the download link you are expecting and tell us if there is any difference.

[Yossarian]

This was done offline and was just a simple test site.

The other pages work fine. I think it's something in the actually pages and download link themselves I need to correct.

[David]

Can you show us what you mean by providing some URLs, or by making the site live on the net.

[Yossarian]

Unfortunately, the information I'm using is considered classified by the boss.

It is a webhelp created with RoboHelp. When I'm on the physical page and click the download link, I get the Windows dialogue box asking if I want to open the file; save the file; or cancel.

When I try to index then a do a search by clicking the zip link in the results page, it basically acts like it is selecting the "open file" option by default; if there's a way to get that Windows dialogue box, that would be perfect.

[MergeThis]

Have you added the zip file to the Baggage Files folder in RH? If not, it might not have gotten published.

Are you indexing in the same directory, or have you sent the output to another directory?

That is, in the zoom_index.js file, does the pathname for the zip file actually match its location?


Good luck,
Leon

[Ray]

It is a webhelp created with RoboHelp. When I'm on the physical page and click the download link, I get the Windows dialogue box asking if I want to open the file; save the file; or cancel.

It is important that you provide the above information in your original description. Else we are forced to make assumptions and guesses, and it often lead us to bark up the wrong tree. Please consider this for future questions.

It would seem that this means the files are linked differently by RoboHelp than by the search results. We are not RoboHelp users (nor are we RoboHelp support), so we do not know how that would work. How does RoboHelp link to the file? Does it use special Javascript to do so?

When I try to index then a do a search by clicking the zip link in the results page, it basically acts like it is selecting the "open file" option by default; if there's a way to get that Windows dialogue box, that would be perfect.

This behaviour is different to your original description, which you say reports a "page cannot be found" error when you click on the link. Have you fixed this problem already and moved on to a different issue? You need to make this clear, otherwise we don't quite know what is happening, and can't provide any meaningful advice.