File database, <a href=""> works, but direct url access in address bar doesn't

I got a really weird and annoying problem: I have a file database that people can access, depending of the file status (pending, active, deleted) i allow access to it from different people. For example, pending is available only to owner and admins, active is avail to everyone and delete is not available anymore. My problem starts here, i did a web page that looks like a file browser, every file uploaded by the current user is diplayed there, its nothing complicated, just a simple html list of the different folders and files. If you click on the file's link it loads the content-type, filename, reads the file and everything is sent to the user perfectly fine. Now if i take the URL of the link leading to the file and copy paste it in the same window's address bar, the download fails. For example: http://dev.palliscience.com/dev_mvg/Palli-Sciences/file_explorer/file.php?element_id=8214 Works perfectly fine if its a link inside of the web site... BUT, if i copy paste this URL in my address bar, it fails. This is no special site with engines rewritting urls its a simple normal file by file website. Some other clues: When i click on the link, IE states the filename, contenttype and source perfectly fine. When i copy paste the url, instead of seeing magistra_recipes.sql text/plain dev.palliscience.com i see file.php?element_id=8113 text/plain dev.palliscience.com Both urls are the same but IE reacts differently... Here is the code of the page... (Line returns may make the code strange dont mind them... there are none in the original file) /**********************************************************************/ <?php include("../include/authentification.php"); include('../includes/base.php'); include('../includes/db.php'); include('../includes/log.php'); include('../includes/lib/lib_filedb.php'); if(($sql = sql_connect()) === false){ exit('Erreur de connection à la base de données. Veuillez réesaayer plus tard merci.'); } log_pageaccess($sql); //Block access if not in V2 if(!isset($_SESSION['sess_usev2']) || $_SESSION['sess_usev2'] != true){ header('location: ../profile/trans.php'); sql_disconnect($sql); exit(); } //Catch element_id if(!isset($_GET['element_id']) || !is_numeric($_GET['element_id'])){ $_GET['element_id'] = 0; } //Get the element $element = mysql_fetch_assoc(sql_query('SELECT * FROM filedb_elements WHERE id = "'.sql_escape($_GET['element_id']).'"', $sql)); ob_start(); /*print_r($element); echo '<br><br>'; print_r($active_account); echo '<br><br>';*/ if($element['sys_status'] == FILEDB_STATUS_ACTIVE){ echo 'public'; echo 'reading : '.'../filedb/'.$element['id'].substr($element['element_name'], strrpos($element['element_name'], '.')); }elseif($element['sys_status'] == FILEDB_STATUS_PENDING){ echo 'pending - '; if($active_account->id == $element['sys_owner']){ echo 'owner access'; echo 'reading : '.'../filedb/'.$element['id'].substr($element['element_name'], strrpos($element['element_name'], '.')); }else{ echo 'not owner access - '; if(($active_account->profile_profileflags & ACCOUNT_ADMIN) == ACCOUNT_ADMIN){ echo 'admin access - '; echo 'reading : '.'../filedb/'.$element['id'].substr($element['element_name'], strrpos($element['element_name'], '.')); }else{ echo 'not admin access'; } } } $content = ob_get_contents(); ob_end_clean(); $fp = fopen('../filedb/log.txt', 'a'); fwrite($fp, str_replace('<br>', "\r\n", $content)); fclose($fp); //Check element type and owner if($element['contenttype'] != 'system/folder'){ //Check for status, if public, anyone can access it, if private, allow access only to admins or owner if(($element['sys_status'] == FILEDB_STATUS_ACTIVE) || (($element['sys_status'] == FILEDB_STATUS_PENDING) && (($active_account->id == $element['sys_owner']) || (($active_account->profile_profileflags & ACCOUNT_ADMIN) == ACCOUNT_ADMIN)))){ //Authorize download// We'll be outputting a PDF header('Content-type: '.$element['contenttype']); // It will be called downloaded.pdf header('Content-Disposition: inline; filename="'.$element['element_name'].'"'); // The PDF source is in original.pdf readfile('../filedb/'.$element['id'].substr($element['element_name'], strrpos($element['element_name'], '.'))); }else{ //Bad file, can't access it header('HTTP/1.0 404 Not Found'); echo 'File not found 0x55498a3ff22 ('.$element['sys_owner'].' / '.$active_account->id.')'; } }else{ //Bad file, can't access it header('HTTP/1.0 404 Not Found'); echo 'File not found 0x6ef445a22d1'; } //Disconnect the database sql_disconnect($sql); ?> /******************************************************************************/ log.txt: /******************************************************************************/ pending - not owner access - admin access - reading : ../filedb/8214.doc pending - not owner access - admin access - reading : ../filedb/8214.doc pending - owner accessreading : ../filedb/8211.doc pending - owner accessreading : ../filedb/8211.doc /******************************************************************************/