I'm not sure if you can "force" a download without resorting to scripting (in the case of a ".txt" file). What a browser does with a particular file seems to be dependent on the file extension when it tries to "open" it; ie. if it "recognizes" it, it takes an associated action (eg. run or download, view as txt, view as pdf, etc).

It appears you can force a download by using "another" extension like ".dat" (ie. the browser will only open a subset of all possible file types).

The other "usual" way a user downloads files explicity is to "right-click" on the link.

>I have a web page that contains hyperlinks to text files so that the user can click the file and download it.
>
>However, if I name the file 'myfile.txt' and hyperlink it, when the user clicks the link, the data is rendered in the users browser. But what I really want is for the browser's Save AS dialog to display asking the user to save the file.
>
>Is there anyway that I can make the hyperlink download the file vs opening the file?
>
>Thanks,
>
>Jerry