Metacrawler.com

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Hanashita
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Metacrawler.com

Post by Hanashita »

When I search for an audio file on www.metacrawler.com and right click on the file and click "Save Link As" it is not able to retrieve the file. In the space marked "filename" it says "search" and it says "save file as HTML document" even though the file may be an mp3 or a real file.

Sometimes audiofiles found on metacrawler's search engine cannot be found, but Firefox is unable to retrieve ANY files; whereas I am able to retrieve files using Internet Explorer.

Does anyone know anything about this?!!
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mvordeme
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Post by mvordeme »

This is because metacrawler does not return links to the mp3 files themselves. Instead, it uses a CGI script named "search" with a list of parameters like this: http://www.metacrawler.com/info.metac/clickit/search?...&rawto=http://www.drakkar.de/files/xandria_india_sample.mp3. Since the target of the link is "search" with no extension, Firefox has no idea about the file type. Maybe it even omits the parameters when trying to save the file.

InternetExplorer on the other hand appears to submit a server call and open the "Save File" window only after it has received the response, thus knowing the actual file type (and name?).

This looks more like an enhancement request than a bug report... :wink:
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steviex
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Post by steviex »

You could try an extension like Unplug. That might be able to grab the MP3 or Real video file that is embedded in the page

Unplug lives here https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2254
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mvordeme
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Post by mvordeme »

Hi steviex,

Unplug seems to be rather specific and tailored for embedded objects rather than scripts. The way IE handles links to CGI scripts appears to be quite clever, and I could not find an extension for it. Wouldn't this be a good idea for the next release?

Regards,
-- mvordeme
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Hanashita
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Post by Hanashita »

Thanks guys! Truth is, right now, there isn't one browser out there that does it all. IE comes pretty close to it, but it annoys me that it doesn't allow you to use Arial as the monospace font, also it doesn't have a spell-check like Firefox. If Firefox were able to use metacrawler properly, firefox would be the only browser I would ever need!
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steviex
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Post by steviex »

^^ Just a suggestion.. wasn't sure if it would work or not, maybe one of the others might... But if its an IE thing, its an IE thing.
But maybe IE Tab or IE View, if you don't want to use IE's nasty UI, is the answer.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -Albert Einstein

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Reflective
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Re: Metacrawler.com

Post by Reflective »

Hanashita wrote:When I search for an audio file on www.metacrawler.com and right click on the file and click "Save Link As" it is not able to retrieve the file. In the space marked "filename" it says "search" and it says "save file as HTML document" even though the file may be an mp3 or a real file.

Sometimes audiofiles found on metacrawler's search engine cannot be found, but Firefox is unable to retrieve ANY files; whereas I am able to retrieve files using Internet Explorer.

Does anyone know anything about this?!!

I think you may be going about it in the wrong way. All you need to do is to left click the link and you'll get the option to download the file as can be seen in the pix.

Image
(Click to enlarge)
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mvordeme
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Post by mvordeme »

Only until you check "Do this automatically for files like this from now on." When I left click the link, QuickTime starts playing without asking...
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Reflective
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Post by Reflective »

mvordeme wrote:Only until you check "Do this automatically for files like this from now on." When I left click the link, QuickTime starts playing without asking...

OK, in that case, Tools --> Options --> Content --> Manage (button). Locate Quicktime and then change the action to "Save To Disk".
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mvordeme
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Post by mvordeme »

Thanks for the hint. (I figured out that much for myself :).) The question still is: Why does it work on left-click when you configure "Save to Disk" but not on right-click when you select "Save Link As"? I think this could be improved (as it apparently is in IE), but I am not sure whether the right people follow this discussion...

Anyway, thanks for your help.
-- mvordeme
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Reflective
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Post by Reflective »

mvordeme wrote:Thanks for the hint. (I figured out that much for myself :).) The question still is: Why does it work on left-click when you configure "Save to Disk" but not on right-click when you select "Save Link As"? I think this could be improved (as it apparently is in IE), but I am not sure whether the right people follow this discussion...

Anyway, thanks for your help.
-- mvordeme

I would imagine it's because when you choose "Save Link As", you're choosing not to download the file, but to save the URL to it. There doesn't appear to be an option to actually download the file via the context menu presumably because a left click performs that function. I agree it's not altogether clear though.
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mvordeme
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Post by mvordeme »

Reflective wrote:you're choosing not to download the file, but to save the URL to it.

I cannot imagine a case where this could be meaningful. Either file and "URL" are identical or the "URL" cannot be downloaded at all, since it points to a CGI script. Am I missing something?
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Reflective
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Post by Reflective »

mvordeme wrote:
Reflective wrote:you're choosing not to download the file, but to save the URL to it.

I cannot imagine a case where this could be meaningful. Either file and "URL" are identical or the "URL" cannot be downloaded at all, since it points to a CGI script. Am I missing something?

Ah...I see I was wrong in my initial assumption. I downloaded the file via "Save Link As" and what you get is the MP3 file in HTML format. In that format, the file is called "search.htm" and is exactly the same size as the MP3 file i.e. 3,271KB. The MP3 title in this particular case was "Disagree".

So here's what you can do. Use the context menu to download it ("Save Link As") and then rename the "htm" extension to MP3. You'll get a warning that changing the file association will mean it won't open properly, but it will play as an MP3. I just tried it and worked just fine. :)
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mvordeme
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Post by mvordeme »

This sounds like an even smaller thing to fix. There appear to be some more people unhappy with the current behaviour:
photo file wants to save .jpg as .htm
downloaded .jpg files become HTML documents

Thanks for helping and for this good-looking avatar of yours!
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Reflective
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Post by Reflective »

I can't say I've experienced any problem downloading images. They always save in the correct format. But then I've always used the option "Copy Image" rather than "Save Link As".

There's a Moz doc on the subject here which might help.
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