Download from internet with lingo

Question

Can I write lingo that will allow a Director movie to download a file from the internet and put it, say, onto the desktop of the user's computer?  I don't mean in a "stealth" fashion.  I mean a Director movie that the person chooses to run because they want to download that file.
I tried downloadNetThing, but from the example in the manual, I can't seem to get the syntax sorted out properly, or there is some other problem.  Here's the code I'm currently trying:
on exitFrame me
  downloadTheNetThing("http://www.mydomain.com\images\myinstaller.exe",c:\Documents and Settings\owner\desktop&"myinstaller")
end
Ideas?
Thanks.
Dewey

Answer 1

The first problem is that I said to not use "exitFrame". Perhaps I should have used stronger language.
I modified a script from my library to do file downloading and I wrote a behavior to demo how to use it.  Try them out and read the code carefully.
Paste the following code into a Parent script named "FileDownLoader".
-- FileDownLoader Parent Script
property  pActiveNetOperations  --  Data on current network operations in progress.
-- private static property
property  this  -- reference to this object. DO NOT access directly.
-- PUBLIC METHODS
on getInstance me  -- Use this to get an object instance
  return me.new()
end getInstance
-- NOTE:  if you make changes to this script you MUST call this handler before running your program again,
--              otherwise your changes will not exist.  ie. in the message window:  script("FileDownLoader").clearStatics()
on clearStatics me
  me.script.this = void
end clearStatics
-- Method to call to download a file to your computer
-- Makes callback which returns: Error:Boolean, ErrorMessage:String
on downLoadFile me, URL, FilePath, CallingOb, CallbackHandler
  -- store info about this operation for monitoring and callbacks.
  NetOpData = [#id:0, #CallbackOb:CallingOb, #CallBackHandler:CallbackHandler]
  NetOpData.id = downloadNetThing(URL, FilePath)
  -- if there is a callback object and a handler then add this data to pActiveNetOperations. Otherwise we are done.
  if NetOpData.CallBackOb.ObjectP AND NetOpData.CallBackHandler.SymbolP then
    pActiveNetOperations.add(NetOpData)   -- store callback info
    -- setup timeout object to monitor net operation completion
    if pActiveNetOperations.count = 1 then
      timeout().new("NetMonitor", 250, #monitorNetOps  , me)  -- check network operations four times a second.
    end if
  end if
end downLoadFile
-- PRIVATE METHODS
on new me
  if me.script.this.objectP then return me.script.this  -- enforce Singleton pattern
  me.script.this = me
  pActiveNetOperations = []
  return me.script.this
end new
-- Polls the current network operations to see if they are done or errored out.
-- returns Error:Boolean, ErrorMessage:String
on monitorNetOps me, timeOb
  -- tag net operations that need to be deleted from the queue.
  ToDelete = []
  -- Create list of callbacks to be made.
  CallBacks = [] 
  -- check each net operation for completion.
  repeat with Index = 1 to pActiveNetOperations.count
    NetOpData = pActiveNetOperations[index]
    --    *** Debug Code.  Uncomment if need more details about the stream status.  ***
    --    StreamStatus = getStreamStatus(NetOpData.id)
    --    put StreamStatus
    --    case StreamStatus.state of
    --      "Connecting":
    --        put "Connecting to the server..."
    --      "Started":
    --        put  "Download started..."
    --      "InProgress":
    --        tempPercent = integer ( 100 * (Float(StreamStatus.bytesSoFar) / StreamStatus.bytesTotal) )         
    --        put  string (tempPercent) & "% downloaded..."
    --      "Complete":
    --        put  "Download completed."        
    --    end case
    -- check if net operation is done
    if netDone(NetOpData.id) then
      ToDelete.add(index)
      if netError(NetOpData.id) <> "OK" then  -- there was an error
        ErrorMessage = me.getErrorMessage(netError(NetOpData.id))
        TempList = [NetOpData.CallBackHandler, NetOpData.CallBackOb, 1, ErrorMessage]  -- handler,object,error, errorMsg
      else  -- no error. return data passed back
        ReturnText = netTextResult(NetOpData.id)
        TempList = [NetOpData.CallBackHandler, NetOpData.CallBackOb, 0, ""]  -- handler,object,error, errorMsg
      end if
      CallBacks.add(TempList)  --  store callback info for each net operation that is completed.
    end if
  end repeat
  -- delete completed network operations
  if ToDelete.count then
    repeat with Pos = ToDelete.count down to 1
      pActiveNetOperations.deleteAt(ToDelete[Pos])
    end repeat
  end if
  -- if no network operations are a happening, then stop monitoring
  if pActiveNetOperations.count = 0 then
    timeOb.forget()
  end if
  -- Send data back to calling objects.
  repeat with CallBack in CallBacks
    Call(CallBack[1],CallBack[2], CallBack[3], CallBack[4])  -- handler,object,error, errorMsg
  end repeat
end monitorNetOps
-- Returns error message
on getErrorMessage me, ErrorNum
  case ErrorNum of
    0: return("Everything is okay.")
    4: return("Bad MOA class. The required network or nonnetwork Xtra extensions are improperly installed or not installed at all.")
    5: return("Bad MOA Interface. See 4.") 
    6: return("Bad URL or Bad MOA class. The required network or nonnetwork Xtra extensions are improperly installed or not installed at all.")
    20: return("Internal error. Returned by netError() in the Netscape browser if the browser detected a network or internal error.")
    4146: return("Connection could not be established with the remote host.")
    4149: return("Data supplied by the server was in an unexpected format.")
    4150: return("Unexpected early closing of connection.")
    4154: return("Operation could not be completed due to timeout.")
    4155: return("Not enough memory available to complete the transaction.") 
    4156: return("Protocol reply to request indicates an error in the reply.")
    4157: return("Transaction failed to be authenticated.")
    4159: return("Invalid URL.")
    4164: return("Could not create a socket.")
    4165: return("Requested object could not be found (URL may be incorrect).")
    4166: return("Generic proxy failure.")
    4167: return("Transfer was intentionally interrupted by client.")
    4242: return("Download stopped by netAbort(url).")
    4836: return("Download stopped for an unknown reason, possibly a network error, or the download was abandoned.")
    otherwise: return("Unknown network error.")
  end case
end getErrorMessage
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------  end of script
This next script is a Behavior that you attach to a Text member sprite. The default values are set to the ones you posted, but you will get an error because there is something wrong with your URL.  Using a text member sprite provides a way to display a success status or an error message. It also provides a sprite to Click. Note that the call to download a file is initiated on mousedown.
--  File download Test behavior
-- Drop on a TEXT MEMBER
property  pMe  -- this sprite
property  pURL  -- url to retrieve file from
property  pFilepath  -- full path to store file on local hard drive
On GetBehaviorDescription me
  return "File download Test behavior."
end GetBehaviorDescription
On GetPropertyDescriptionList me
  Props = [:]
--  Props[#pURL] = [#default:"http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=p3&chd=t%3a90,10&chs=250x100&chl=Pacman", #format:#string, #comment:"URL"]   -- sample
    Props[#pURL] = [#default:"http://www.mecssoftware.com/images/carol&dewey.jpg", #format:#string, #comment:"URL"]
  Props[#pFilepath] = [#default:"C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\test1.png", #format:#string, #comment:"Full path to store file."]
  return Props
end GetPropertyDescriptionList
on beginSprite me
  pMe = sprite(me.spriteNum)
  pMe.member.text = empty  -- clear text member
end beginSprite
on mouseDown me
  -- make call to download a file
  script("FileDownLoader").getInstance().downLoadFile(pURL, pFilepath, me, #displayStatus)   -- url, full file path, this object, handler to call
end mouseDown
on displayStatus me, error, errorMsg  -- callback from the "FileDownLoader" object.
  if error then
    pMe.member.text = "There was an error downloading your file." & Return & errorMsg
  else
    pMe.member.text = "File Downloaded Succesfully."
  end if
end displayStatus
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --   end of script