[Phoenix1701]

I've got a problem that needs a solution, and I figured that, considering many Omni Group folks occasionally wander through here, this would be a good place to ask. Essentially, I'd like to have Microsoft Word documents automatically open in TextEdit (under Panther), or even just in Word, when clicked on, instead of downloading to my desktop and then requiring me to click on them. There are, in fact, three things about this process that annoy me:

1. The document opens in an external application.
2. The document is left behind on my desktop and must be manually deleted after I'm done with it.
3. I have to choose "Reveal in Finder" from the downloads panel, then double-click the file, to open it in the first place.

I suspect only a browser plug-in could fix all three of those problems (how hard would that be? I assume the fact that TextEdit supports Word format means that the underlying text engine supports Word format as well, so it should be a piece of cake... right?), but I figure with enough educated reconfiguration I can at least fix (3) and hopefully (2).
One major stumbling block is the fact that when you click a link to a Word document, the server doesn't appear to give you back a Content-Type header at all -- it just hands you the file -- so you can't set up a helper application mapping for application/msword or application/x-msword using More Internet or some other program. It'd need to be some OmniWeb-specific configuration, and I think I recall Rick mentioning some kind of hidden defaults setting that the intrepid soul might be able to edit...
On the other hand, if this really is something that will require a new application or plug-in to fix, it might be a good idea to continue this thought in the Developer forum. I think there is definitely a need for something like this.

[rezEdit]

The one thing you mention that you can not currently do is have the file you are downloading automatically 'cleaned up'.

However, you can have OmniWeb automatically open Word documents in whatever application you choose.

OmniWeb will post-process a downloaded file when two conditions are met:

1) The application to handle the file is in OmniWeb's list of 'safe' applications (see the Downloads preferences)
2) The file that has been downloaded is set to open using one of the applications from the 'safe' list.

OmniWeb asks Launch Services (a part of the system software) what application would launch should we try and open a particular file. If the application is in our list, we tell the system to open the downloaded file.

So, in Finder, use the Info panel to assign TextEdit as the preferred application for Word documents and then make sure TextEdit is in your safe list (which it is by default). Now when you download Word files they will automatically open in TextEdit when the download is complete.

This is assuming you just click on the link to the file; manually downloading it to a specific location or using the contextual menu on the link to download the file to your downloads folder will prevent the file from being post-processed altogether, as it is in other browsers. You can double-click the icon for the file in the download panel to have the file opened though — you do not need to 'Reveal in Finder' in order to open it. This is equivalent to double-clicking the file in Finder.

HTH.