PRB: Dialog Box Displayed When Downloading .cab File with IE3

• Microsoft Internet Explorer (Programming), versions 3.0, 3.01, 3.02

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to download a .cab file to using the CODEBASE tag on a Web page in Internet Explorer (IE) 3.x, a dialog box appears that asks you to specify the location of a file.

CAUSE

This can occur for one of two reasons.

• The .inf file marked read-only inside the .cab file.
• You are downloading to a Windows 95 platform and the .cab file contains an .inf file that was created for use with a Setup application. These Setup applications are typically run from a setup disk or CD-ROM.

RESOLUTION

Set the .inf file for read-write access and re-cab the file using Cabarc.exe. See Solution 1 below for more information.

-or-

Rewrite the .inf file with code download syntax. See Solution 2 below for more information.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

Solution 1

To set your .inf file for read-write access, perform the following steps:

1. Go to a Command prompt

2. Create a new directory. Copy your .cab file into this new directory.

3. Use the CABARC utility to extract the files from the .cab file. The CABARC utility is included in CABSDK. The CABSDK is included with the ActiveX SDK and the Internet Client SDK. If you are using Internet Explorer 3.x, use the CABARC utility that is included with the ActiveX SDK. If you are using Internet Explorer 4.x, use the CABARC utility that is included with the Internet Client SDK.

   For example, if your .cab file was named Yourcab.cab, use the following command:

         cabarc X yourcab.cab
   

   This will extract the contents of the .cab file to the current directory.

4. Remove the Read-only attribute from your .inf file using the following command:

         attrib -r *.*
   

5. Re-create the .cab file using this command-line string:

         cabarc -s 6144 N yourinf.inf yourfiles
   

   where yourfiles are all the files other than the .inf file that were extracted from the .cab file in step 3.

Solution 2

To determine if the .inf file in your .cab file was created for use in a setup application, search for the phrase "Add.Code". If this phrase is not present in the .inf file, then the file was not built for use in a setup application.

For information about building an .inf file in the code download format, please refer to the Internet Client SDK documentation regarding the packaging of ActiveX controls in the following chapter: Component Development\ActiveX Controls\Packaging ActiveX Controls.

If you are packaging an ActiveX control that was created using Visual Basic, use the Application Setup Wizard and choose the "Create Internet Download Setup" option.

REFERENCES

Internet Client SDK documentation Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/msdn/sdk/inetsdk/help/default.htm

More information regarding .inf setup files is provided on the Microsoft MSDN Online Library Web site: http://premium.microsoft.com/msdn/library. Refer to the following section in the library: SDK Documentation\Setup and Systems Management Services\Setup API\Overview\INF Files.