[thelist] Re: Downloading a file without giving the link

[Benjamin]

I've done something similar using a text file (flat file) to handle
downloads.  You create a text file as follows:

user1,0
user2,0
user3,0
...
etc

You can use a username, an access code, or id number for the userX
part.  The zero after the comma means that that particular person has not
downloaded the file. Then in your download script you open the file, check
for a zero for whatever the value of userX is and if they haven't
downloaded the file, you send it to them.

This can be tricky also, however, because if your download takes too long
or your user is resourceful then the true location can be found (mozilla
displays it while downloading and IE stores it in the details of your
cache) and they could theoretically download it again.

At 11:44 PM 10/2/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>Subject: [thelist] Downloading a file without giving the link
>
> > I am in the process of developing a perl script that will allow downloading
> > a zip file only once. My problem is that if I give out the link, I will not
> > have any control and people will be able to download the file many times.
> >
> > What is the best way to handle a situation like this? Can the binary
> data be
> > send via a special header?