Open file attachment in new window

Maybe the solution lies in how the link is outputed ?

There is a themeable function in the upload.module file :

function theme_upload_attachments($files) {
  $header = array(t('Attachment'), t('Size'));
  $rows = array();
  foreach ($files as $file) {
    if ($file->list) {
      $href = $file->fid ? file_create_url($file->filepath) : url(file_create_filename($file->filename, file_create_path()));
      $text = $file->description ? $file->description : $file->filename;
      $rows[] = array(l($text, $href), format_size($file->filesize));
    }
  }
  if (count($rows)) {
    return theme('table', $header, $rows, array('id' => 'attachments'));
  }
}

That function outputs the X(HTML) for the attachment table in the node.

Here is what you can do :

STEP 1 OF 2 : "Override" that function in your theme template.php file. More info can be found on how to override themeable functions right here : http://drupal.org/node/55126

STEP 2 OF 2 : And you see where that function l() is called in the code quoted above...? $rows[] = array(l($text, $href), format_size($file->filesize)); ... You can tell that l() function to open the link in a new window. By the way, l() stands for "link". So you can modify your override function to tell that link to open the pdf file in a new window.

I would first check if the mime type ($file->mimetype) is 'application/pdf' (something like that?), or simply check if the file extension is 'pdf' then I would call the function l() that way :

l($text, $href, array('target' => 'pdf'))

The third argument is an associative array of HTML attributes to apply to the anchor tag.

Notice I am not using '_blank' here, but 'pdf' : use '_blank' instead if you want the user to open a new window each time he clicks on an attached pdf file, otherwise 'pdf' (arbitrary name) if you want the user to open the pdf file in a new window (separate from Drupal's window) but always the same (other) window.

More info on Drupal's l() function can be found here : http://api.drupal.org/api/5/function/l

I will be happy to clarify any of the above info.

There are probably other ways to achieve what you want, but no other solution comes to my mind now. Maybe someone else will have an idea.

Caroline
Who am I | Where are we
11 heavens

@mmirza:
Very nice solution. Love it!

Thank you very much

I have a site with a lot of external links, including links leading to .pdfs on other sites. I need to prevent all of those from opening in new windows, while letting my attached files do so.

While experimenting on how to filter out the other domains, I entered the general domain endings (\.com) etc. for all common domains. This then cause External Links to ignore my own domain, so links in new windows wouldn't work. I attempted to add an include pattern, but there was no change. Likely I'm screwing up the pattern matching code, but I can't really tell.

What I need to do is exclude all major domains, including other .com domains, from being forced to open in new windows, but retain the ability to force the attached .pdfs on my domain to open in new windows.

After spending several hours experimenting, it's time to call for help!

If this helps, my attached pdfs have a common name ending, eg: somename_fact_sheets.pdf

Any assistance appreciated!

Oh yeah, external link-module works for me on 6.20! Tx for this hint!

you can use this jquery statement:

$(' #attachments').find('a').attr('target','_blank');

I'm using Open Atrium 1.x (Drupal 6) and I wanted to post why the provided code in this post wouldn't work for me. Under a standard Drupal installation, using the theme function override in template.php would have worked, however in Open Atrium 1, they are using the iTweak Upload module to provide enhancements to the displaying of attachments in node. This prevents the template.php theme function override from working. Luckily iTweak Upload added the ability to hook into their modifications of the link.

This code in template.php would not work:

function phptemplate_upload_attachments($files) {
  $header = array(t('Attachment'), t('Size'));
  $rows = array();
  foreach ($files as $file) {
    if ($file->list) {
      $href = $file->fid ? file_create_url($file->filepath) : url(file_create_filename($file->filename, file_create_path()));
      $text = $file->description ? $file->description : $file->filename;
      $rows[] = array(l($text, $href, array('target' => '_blank')), format_size($file->filesize));
    }
  }
  if (count($rows)) {
    return theme('table', $header, $rows, array('id' => 'attachments'));
  }
}

Creating a new module with this in .module will work (only applies if you have iTweaks Upload installed)

<?php
function [custom_module_name]_itweak_uploads_prerender_alter(&$data) {
  $data['options'] = array('attributes' => array('target' => '_blank'));
}

For Drupal 7 version, should override theme_file_link() function in file.module

/**
 * Returns HTML for a link to a file.
 *
 * @param $variables
 *   An associative array containing:
 *   - file: A file object to which the link will be created.
 *   - icon_directory: (optional) A path to a directory of icons to be used for
 *     files. Defaults to the value of the "file_icon_directory" variable.
 *
 * @ingroup themeable
 */
function theme_file_link($variables) {
  $file = $variables['file'];
  $icon_directory = $variables['icon_directory'];

  $url = file_create_url($file->uri);
  $icon = theme('file_icon', array('file' => $file, 'icon_directory' => $icon_directory));

  // Set options as per anchor format described at
  // http://microformats.org/wiki/file-format-examples
  $options = array(
    'attributes' => array(
      'type' => $file->filemime . '; length=' . $file->filesize,
    ),
  );

  // Use the description as the link text if available.
  if (empty($file->description)) {
    $link_text = $file->filename;
  }
  else {
    $link_text = $file->description;
    $options['attributes']['title'] = check_plain($file->filename);
  }

  return '<span class="file">' . $icon . ' ' . l($link_text, $url, $options) . '</span>';
}

To address this issue.

I added the following code snippet in my JS file

(function ($) {
Drupal.behaviors.externalLink = {
attach: function (context, settings) {
$('.YOUR_CLASS_NAME a', context).attr("target", "_blank");
}
}
}(jQuery));

so the above code will open all the links under the specified class in a new window.

The following links helped me in figuring out this issue.
1. Open Link in New Window in Drupal 7
2. Jquery: Add rel attribute to 'a' tags of a certain class