Forum: Ruby on Rails Load local files

Hi,

I have a question about load local files by my application.

I use this code to view a flash video in my app:

<embed src="<%= asset_path('file.swf') %>"/>

This works fine until my swf file is in myapp/app/assets/...

Can I load a flash video from, for example, C:/Videos ? I found nothing
about that.

I tried to create a link like this:

<%= link_to "Video", 'file:///C:/Videos/file.swf', :method => 'post' %>

but not work.

Thanks in advance.

Your link would render a link on the local user's computer to
"file:///C:/Videos/file.swf" - basically, it would link to that file on 
the
*user's computer*, not the file on the server.

You will have to either place the file within the Web application (under
public or assets), *or* build a controller method to stream what looks 
like
a file in the Web application from the file stored locally. Something 
like
this:

def download_file
  bytes = # load file into variable
  send_data(bytes, :filename => "file.swf", :type => "application/
x-shockwave-flash")
end

That may or may not be the best way though, depending on the size of 
your
file, because the file will be loaded into memory. Some sort of 
streaming
might be necessary - read up on that.