thats basically what i gav him.
the code from lewis moten is some of the most common code used on the net to do this.
and while yes, you can just display files on the page as a link, people have to know enough about computers to right click on the file and then "save as..." otherwise if you display an EXE, jpg, or any number of other files, their browser will try to execute it as tehy left click on it.
thats some of the reasons to use a component, as you can force a download and avoid the browser trying to run the file. like i said. check with your hosting company, they may already ahve something installed on their servers. a lot of us do now days.
i agree... "white on gray" what were they thinking...