[whatwg] "Content-Disposition" property for <a> tags

[Eduard Pascual]

On Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 10:09 PM, Dennis Joachimsthaler <dennis at efjot.de> wrote:
> By the way, another point that we have to discuss:
>
> Which tag should a browser favor. The one in HTTP or the other one in
> HTML?

Is that really worth discussing? HTTP >> HTML: whomever provides the
file should have the last say about how the file needs to be served,
regardless of what a site referencing to it may suggest.

Furthermore, when links point to URIs with any scheme other than
"http:", whatever the scheme defines about how to deliver the file
takes precedence.

Thus, only in the lack of an actual Content-Disposition header, or its
equivalent on some other scheme, would the attribute given by the link
be used, just like an additional fallback step before whatever the
UA's default behaviour would be.

This grants the ability for any content provider to use an explicit
"Content-Disposition: inline" HTTP header to effectively block
"download links" from arbitrary sources.

Personally, on the case I'm most concerned about ("data:" URIs used
for "Save log" and similar functionalities), there is never a "true"
disposition header; so my use cases do not push towards any of the
options. What I have just written is what I feel is the most
reasonable approach (the provider of a resource should have some
control over it above an arbitrary third party).

Regards,
Eduard Pascual