Stop caching

[ZagrebMike]

On our (intranet) web site we have an ASP page that runs a report which
serves up the results in a dynamic Excel file (i.e it specifies
Response.ContentType = "application/vnd.ms-excel"). This works fine for most
people. One user is having a problem, though: she generates the report once,
and it works fine. If she changes the parameters and runs the report again,
it displays the original result. She says it "used to" work OK.

Environment details are:
* MS Windows XP, Professional, Version 2002, Service Pack 2
* IE Version 6.0.2900.2180.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519

Some further info:
* She's cleared the Internet Explorer cache (Tools -> Internet Options ->
General tab -> Delete Files -> Check “Delete all offline content†-> OK)
* She's asked IE not to cache pages (Tools -> Internet Options -> General
tab -> Settings -> “Check for newer versions of stored pages†is set to
“Every visit to the pageâ€.)
* She doesn’t have a proxy server configured manually (In Tools -> Internet
Options -> Connections tab -> LAN Settings, "Automatically detect settings is
checked"; but "Use automatic configuration script" and "Use a proxy server
LAN" are not checked.

The ASP includes:
Response.CacheControl = "no-cache" 'stop proxy servers caching the
page
Response.Expires = -1 'tell browser page
shouldn't be cached
Response.AddHeader "Pragma", "No-Cache" 'force IE not to cache page

Any help appreciated!

 

[[MSFT]]

Just one user got the problem? If he close the browser and reopen it again
with different parameters, will he get different results? Also, I suggest
you check the application's logic to see if this is related to the user
account or his computer.

Luke

 

[ZagrebMike]

Just one user got the problem?
Yes, as far as I know
Yes, she gets the correct (different) results if she closes down the browser
and runs the report again.
I'm confident that there's nothing in the app that is user- or PC-related.
Did you have anything specific in mind?

Thanks
Mike

 

[[MSFT]]

When the Excel file was passed to the client side, is there a "Open or
Save" dialog? If so, you may save the files twice to see if there is any
difference. If the saved file are same, the problem may be on server side,
or your user submit same query twice to the server. I suggest you may
perform a check with netmon to make sure this.

Luke

 

[ZagrebMike]

Thanks for the response.

I should have also said that, when the user runs the reports from another
PC, everything works as expected: i.e. it does appear to be a client-side
problem.
No. But, if she runs the report from another PC, there *is* an "Open or
Save" dialog and the report works correctly.

Mike

 

[ZagrebMike]

The problem appears to have been at least partially solved, but I'm not sure
why. I asked the user to "click Folder Options on the Tools menu. Click the
File Types tab, choose “XLS Microsoft Excel Worksheet†in the Registered file
types box, and then click Advanced. Make sure that the Confirm open after
download check box is checked, and then click OK" so that I could ask her to
generate the files.

She responded: "As well as ticking the 'Confirm Open After Download', I
tried taking off the tick that said 'Browse in same window' and it seems to
have cured the problem. I have to close Excel down before I open the next
file, but that's no big deal. I took the confirm open after download off
now. And it's working fine as long as I close Excel."

 

[[MSFT]]

Maybe you can have her try to enable "Browse in same window" again to see
if it can work in same IE window, if she couldn't live with closing Excel
again and again. Also, in IE, Click Tools/Internet Options, on "general"
tab, click "settings", and select "Every visit to the page", this may help
on this issue.

Luke