Why doesn't my hyperlink work?

Question

I have an asp.net page with a hyperlink tag, the idea is that I want to be able to click on the hyperlink (which will have the address of a directory on the system) and be able to open up the directory.

My hyperlink tag is within a gridview and the code for it looks like this:

<asp:HyperLink ID="eFileHyper" runat="server" Text='<%#Bind("hyperlink")%>' NavigateUrl='<%#Bind("hyperlink")%>' Target="_blank"></asp:HyperLink>

I have some code in the back end that adds "file:///" to the start of the address, like this:

Dim dr As DataRow
Dim dt As DataTable
    dt = CType(Session("newEFileTable"), DataTable)

    dr("lastUpdated") = Now
    dr("hyperlink") = "file:///" & hyperLink.Text
    dt.Rows.Add(dr)

    ' Update session table
    Session("newEFileTable") = dt

    ' update gridview - This binds the Session to the gridview
    BindEFileData()

If I enter in a directory like this \\server\directory\subdirectory it appears as - file:/// \\server\directory\subdirectory and it works fine.

If I enter a directory as C:/directory/subdirectory it appears as file:///c:/directory/subdirectory but clicking on it does nothing.

Why would one of these work but the other doesn't?

Update The \\server\directory\subdirectory and C:/directory/subdirectory are unrelated. The C:/ one is of course local, the other one is an address to a file on the server.

The url format is correct. It does nothing at all or redirect to incorrect place? — Claudio Redi, May 19 '15 at 18:15
It does nothing at all, I click on the C:/ one and nothing happens — Him_Jalpert, May 19 '15 at 18:20
Create a file that just has `temp ` in it, open in the browser and see if the link works. Works for me--if it doesn't work for you then I'd look for a browser setting that disables this. Also, the behavior is different between browers--Chrome renders the directory listing in the browser, while IE opens an Explorer window. — Tony Hinkle, May 19 '15 at 18:28
Yup I figured that out already Tony :), I've been trying with IE. When I try it in Chrome it just opens the directory listing in the browser like you say, which is ok too. I'll try what you suggest with the new html file. — Him_Jalpert, May 19 '15 at 18:31
@TonyHinkle the html you gave me works too, I'm not sure why that isn't working with the asp hyperlink tag — Him_Jalpert, May 19 '15 at 18:34
You're right--I renamed that little file to .aspx and put it on the server, and the link doesn't work when it is served up... — Tony Hinkle, May 19 '15 at 18:37
I used just a simple tag, and when the page is served by IIS the link doesn't work. I assume that it's a security feature of browsers. — Tony Hinkle, May 19 '15 at 18:44
See simlar issue: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5317834/workaround-for-href-file-in-firefox — Tony Hinkle, May 19 '15 at 18:47

score 0 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:17

The latest versions of browsers disable links that point to local content (unless the link is in a file) as a security feature.

See Workaround for href="file://///..." in Firefox

Also, search for "iis enable local file links" and you get lots of hits. It looks like you can work around this by disabling relevant IE security: https://superuser.com/questions/149068/how-to-add-a-local-file-to-trusted-zone-in-ie8. I can't test that right now as I'm at work and browser settings are locked down.

Why doesn't my hyperlink work?

1 Answers1