270247 - Need a method for allowing a person to re-download a file from the server instead of retrieving a local copy

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 138117

(Toolkit :: Downloads API, defect)

Description

[Kevin Ar18]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.5) Gecko/20041103 Firefox/1.0RC2
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.5) Gecko/20041103 Firefox/1.0RC2

If you download a file, and then try to re-download the same file, then it
retreives that file from the local computer instead of from the internet.

There needs to be a way to re-download the file from the server.  In cases of
file corruption (or suspected file corruption), this may be useful.

One possible method:
*)  When the user attempts to re-download a file that they have already
downloaded in the past, prompt the user:
+----------------------------------------------------------+
|  You are attempting to download <file_name>.             |
|  Firefox already has a copy of this file stored on your  |
|  computer.  Would you like to save this copy or          |
|  re-download the file from <domain_name>.                |
|                                                          |
|  [Used Saved Copy]                  [Re-download]        |
|                                                          |
|  [ ]Remember choice and don't ask again.                 |
+----------------------------------------------------------+

Reproducible: Always
Steps to Reproduce:

Comment 1

[Michael]

Just to clarify the file from the local computer is from the browser's cache.
Therefore the workaround is to clear the cache.

Comment 2

[Kevin Ar18]

(In reply to comment #1)
> Just to clarify the file from the local computer is from the browser's cache.
> Therefore the workaround is to clear the cache.
> 

I found out about that solution after filing this report, and it does pretty
much solve the issue.  However, if anyone else needs this feature, then
requiring them to clear everything out of the cache may not always a be such a
good idea -- some people would like to keep from losing the cache data that they
have.

Whether the enhancement idea will get implemented depends on whether it will
help people or just get in the way.

Comment 3

[Ron Burk]

The characterization of this bug is incorrect. The problem is more severe than 
a suggested UI improvement. This is a failure on the part of FireFox to obey 
the HTTP caching rules. When the FireFox 1.04 user (W2K, PC) clicks on a link 
to, say, a URL referring to a .zip file, FireFox refuses to obey either its own 
configured caching rules (browser.cache.check_doc_frequency), or the standard 
HTTP caching rules. If a download from this URL is attempted a second time, 
FireFox makes no attempt to see whether or not the resource has changed; it 
blithely assumes the previous download of this resource is still current.

One example of the problem this causes is people who distribute software. It's 
not uncommon to have a single download URL for their product that gets updated 
with new revisions. With this FireFox bug, users attempt to download the new 
revision of a product's .exe or .zip can end up with just another copy of the 
same version, causing website owners to have to explain this FireFox bug in 
great tedious detail, and generally encourage users to not use FireFox for 
downloads.

Clearing the cache is NOT a reasonable solution to a failure to obey the HTTP 
caching rules.

Comment 4

[Gervase Markham [:gerv]]

This is an automated message, with ID "auto-resolve01".

This bug has had no comments for a long time. Statistically, we have found that
bug reports that have not been confirmed by a second user after three months are
highly unlikely to be the source of a fix to the code.

While your input is very important to us, our resources are limited and so we
are asking for your help in focussing our efforts. If you can still reproduce
this problem in the latest version of the product (see below for how to obtain a
copy) or, for feature requests, if it's not present in the latest version and
you still believe we should implement it, please visit the URL of this bug
(given at the top of this mail) and add a comment to that effect, giving more
reproduction information if you have it.

If it is not a problem any longer, you need take no action. If this bug is not
changed in any way in the next two weeks, it will be automatically resolved.
Thank you for your help in this matter.

The latest beta releases can be obtained from:
Firefox:     http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firefox/
Thunderbird: http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/releases/1.5beta1.html
Seamonkey:   http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/

Comment 5

[allen.attard]

This is still an unresolved issue (re-reported in bug 289890).  Clearing the
cache is not a practical solution as one cannot expect a user to clear the cache
each time they try to download something they have downloaded before.  It does
not allow updates to documents made available on line to be propagated easily.

Comment 6

[John Vandenberg]

Problem confirmed on FF1.5b1, Mozilla 1.7.5 and SeaMonkey1.0a.

The proposed solution is to remove completed downloads from the cache.  pls vote
for/add comments on bug 138117 if you feel strongly that the download should be
retained, and that a UI to download vs use cached version be added into that
design somehow.

I have made a note on bug 138117 regarding the HTTP standards issue pointed out
in comment 3.

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 138117 ***