Opening network-enabled electronic documents

One or more computer-readable media, not being a signal per se, embodied with computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, work to access an electronic document, comprising:

• receiving an indication that the electronic document is attempting to be accessed on a client computing device;
• querying whether the client computing device has access to a specific software application capable of accessing the electronic document;
• receiving an indication that the client computing device does not have access to the specific software application;
• identifying a network resource capable of accessing the electronic document;
• appending one or more parameters to a network request for accessing the electronic document, wherein the one or more parameters comprise an encoded server-relative path to a file associated with the electronic document;
• transmitting data for rendering the electronic document in a portion of a dynamic server-generated browser page,
• wherein the one or more parameters comprise an encoded absolute path to the network resource capable of accessing the electronic document, wherein the encoded absolute path is used by a network browser to navigate back to a specific web page when the electronic document is closed, and
• wherein the acts of querying and appending are performed without user interaction other than a user selection of a link to open the electronic document.

A method for accessing an electronic document, comprising:

• responsive to a user attempting to access the electronic document, querying for information regarding whether a client computing device has access to a software application associated with the electronic document;
• receiving an indication that the client computing device does, in fact, have access to the software application but that the electronic document should be opened using a network application;
• dynamically altering a network request to access the electronic document with one or more parameters indicating a network location of the network application, wherein the one or more parameters contain both an encoded server-relative path to a file associated with the electronic document and an encoded absolute path to the network application;
• and
• directing a network browser on the client computing device to the network application,
• wherein the absolute path is used by the network browser to navigate back to a specific web page when the electronic document is closed, and
• wherein the acts of querying, receiving, and dynamically altering are performed without user interaction other than being responsive to the user selecting a link to open the electronic document.