download link to open a page in excel at full screen

[mattbatt]

I know many of us have created hrefs to open another browser window that is full screen or given a browser window a specific dimension, but my problem is this:

we have a list of excel document links on a simple html page. When people download it and say open download, excel opens the files as a windowed mode, so then the user has to click on the maximize window (on XP). I know this sounds trivial, but excel sometimes hides the window as well or it's way off center so the person can barely see the window on their screen.

What we found: Chrome, FF, Safari all open up the downloaded file in a windowed mode in Excel, Opera opens it up as full screen.

If someone just double clicks the downloaded file, it opens up full screen.

Anyone know some code for this? Anyone ever had a client ask this question?

[angelwatt]

I've never come across anything that suggest you, as the web designer, have any control over that. It would be some setting on the user's browser and or other software they have.

[wakka092]

So you mean to say that when the user clicks the link to the Excel file, Opera opens the file with the window maximized in Excel? Just trying to understand the problem.

If that is the case, that's out of your control. It may be an Opera preference, or merely a coincidence.

[mattbatt]

thank you so far guys, I do think it is out of my control. Any other time, Excel saves what the user's last window was, so if it was full screen, the next document comes up full screen.

When someone opens a downloaded file from the browser, it bypasses whatever the person's window setting was previously in Excel.

Yes, Opera opens the file as full screen, while the others are windowed from FF, Safari, Chrome.