CODEWITHSUNDEEP
internet-explorerasp.net-mvc-3jquery
iLemming
iLemming

Reputation: 36166

IE prompts to open or save json result from server

Internet explorer in compatibility mode gets the data from the server in an ajax callback method, and pops-up a dialog if I want to save the data or open. How to get rid of that?

client says: 

$.ajax({
        type:'POST',
        data: $("#UIdlgHolder > form").serialize(),
        url: $("#UIdlgHolder > form").attr("action"),
        success: function (data, textStatus, jqXHR) {
            {
                alert(data.message);
            }
}

server answers:

return new JsonResult { Data = new { result = false, message = "Yay!" } };

Upvotes: 56

Views: 118515

Answers (9)

Artur INTECH
Artur INTECH

Reputation: 7276

In my case, IE11 seems to behave that way when there is some JS syntax error in the console (doesn't matter where exactly) and dataType: 'json' has no effect at all.

Upvotes: 0

Mike Gledhill
Mike Gledhill

Reputation: 29161

Sadly, this is just another annoying quirk of using Internet Explorer.

enter image description here

The simple solution is to run a small .reg file on your PC, to tell IE to automatically open .json files, rather than nag about whether to open/save it.

I've put a copy of the file you'll need here:

JSON mime type

You'll need to have Admin rights to run this.

Upvotes: 2

Rael Gugelmin Cunha
Rael Gugelmin Cunha

Reputation: 3532

I faced this while using jQuery FileUpload plugin.

Then I took a look in their documentation, most exactly in the Content-Type Negotiation section and followed their suggestion for Ruby/Rails.

render(json: <some-data>, content_type: request.format)

Which fixed the issue for me.

Quick Explanation: for old IE/Opera versions, this plugin will use an iframe with text/plain or text/html content-type, so if you force the response to json, browser will try download it. Using the same content-type as in the request will make it work for any browser.

Upvotes: 1

Chris
Chris

Reputation: 3298

If using MVC, one way of handling this is to implement a base controller in which you override (hide) the Json(object) method as follows:

public class ExtendedController : Controller
{
    protected new JsonResult Json(object data)
    {
        if (!Request.AcceptTypes.Contains("application/json"))
            return base.Json(data, "text/plain");
        else
            return base.Json(data);
    }
}

Now, your controllers can all inherit ExtendedController and simply call return Json(model); ...

  • without modifying the response content type for those browsers which play nicely (not <=IE9 !)
  • without having to remember to use Json(data, "text/plain") in your various Ajax action methods

This works with json requests which would otherwise display the "Open or Save" message in IE8 & IE9 such as those made by jQuery File Upload

Upvotes: 32

Andreas
Andreas

Reputation: 715

I changed the content-type to "text/html" instead of "application/json" server side before returning the response. Described it in a blog post, where other solutions have also been added:

http://blog.degree.no/2012/09/jquery-json-ie8ie9-treats-response-as-downloadable-file/

Upvotes: 2

ItsJason
ItsJason

Reputation: 747

Even though it's not supposedly the correct way, setting the content type to text/html made IE deal with this correctly for me:

return Json(result, "text/html");

Works in all the version that F12 tools gives you in IE9.

Upvotes: 36

Cargowire
Cargowire

Reputation: 1462

Sounds like this SO question may be relevant to you:

How can I convince IE to simply display Application json rather than offer to download

If not:

Have you tried setting the dataType expected in the ajax options? i.e. dataType: 'json'

Have you tried other content types such as 'application/json' or 'text/javascript'

Upvotes: 14

Tomasz Mikuś
Tomasz Mikuś

Reputation: 136

Is above javascript code the one you're using in your web application ? If so - i would like to point few errors in it: firstly - it has an additional '{' sign in definition of 'success' callback function secondly - it has no ')' sign after definition of ajax callback. Valid code should look like:

$.ajax({
        type:'POST',
        data: 'args',
        url: '@Url.Action("PostBack")',
        success: function (data, textStatus, jqXHR) {
                alert(data.message);
            }
    });

try using above code - it gave me 'Yay' alert on all 3 IE versions ( 7,8,9 ).

Upvotes: 1

Tomasz Mikuś
Tomasz Mikuś

Reputation: 136

Have you tried to send your ajax request using POST method ? You could also try to set content type to 'text/x-json' while returning result from the server.

Upvotes: 2

Related Questions