[Resolved] No PDF Placeholder

[therube]

No PDF Placeholder in Aurora (SeaMonkey I looked at) at least (when blocking plugin).

If you type a "PDF" URL into an existing pages window, it appears that nothing has happened.
The existing page simply displays as it was.
(Though the icon does change to show a blocked object.)

Otherwise, on a new page, nothing loads or displays, simply staying gray.

http://forms.marylandtaxes.com/13_forms ... _Guide.pdf
http://people.oregonstate.edu/~peterseb ... est001.pdf
https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/pub ... o_Test.pdf
http://www.mambazham.com/uploaded_files ... wnload.pdf
http://www.bangkokgemsfair.com/files/ca ... _99217.pdf
http://www.education.gov.yk.ca/pdf/pdf-test.pdf

[therube]

And of course you need to have some PDF plugin installed to be able to view PDFs "inline".

[GµårÐïåñ]

Use PDF.js because its light and does almost 99% of the work without a plugin. I disable my PDF plugin, I let PDF.js capture it if I want instead. Inside it there is a download button you can click if you want to save the PDF too, give that a shot.

[therube]

(looks like we collided, so moving my changes from above to here)

I see FF is different, using some pdfjs or something or the other.
(SeaMonkey does not have that.)
Though that is not blocked by NoScript nor does it respond to plugins.click_to_play.
Should, could, it be?

(Using a dated Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:20.0) Gecko/20121204 Firefox/20.0, so maybe there are changes in current?)


(And only since we're here, I did happen to see this today, Bug 834075 - pdf.js: The PDF url in the address bar becomes wrong in a certain situation.)

[GµårÐïåñ]

Sorry, you know that I don't use SM so I didn't know it doesn't work on that. Sorry.

[Tom T.]

No PDF Placeholder in Aurora (SeaMonkey I looked at) at least (when blocking plugin).

If you type a "PDF" URL into an existing pages window, it appears that nothing has happened.
The existing page simply displays as it was.
(Though the icon does change to show a blocked object.)

Otherwise, on a new page, nothing loads or displays, simply staying gray.

http://forms.marylandtaxes.com/13_forms ... _Guide.pdf
http://people.oregonstate.edu/~peterseb ... est001.pdf
https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/pub ... o_Test.pdf
http://www.mambazham.com/uploaded_files ... wnload.pdf
http://www.bangkokgemsfair.com/files/ca ... _99217.pdf
http://www.education.gov.yk.ca/pdf/pdf-test.pdf

On all of them except bangkok, I can either click directly, in which case I immediately get an "Open/Save?" dialog box -- both work.
Or I can r-click and open in new tab or window. Yes, that new one will be gray, but the Open/Save still appears and works.

I didn't want to type those long URLs (lazy), but copy/paste doesn't seem to work for many of them. However, manual typing or copy/paste (form bookmark, in this case) worked fine here:
http://noscript.net/abe/abe_rules.pdf
See how that one works for you.

I tried to go to bangkokgemsfair.com *without* any sub-directories, and the page took forever to load. (I gave up.) Possibly a problem with the site itself rather than with .pdfs in particular.

I have all plug-ins and embeddings forbidden in NS Embeddings tab, including for w/l sites. I use Foxit Reader, a regular Program Files type of thing, not a special plug-in. Firefox automatically uses that to create the dialog box, and then to open in the browser or save to disk, as you choose.

Possibly a Seamonkey issue?

btw, I've never seen a pdf placeholder; usually, just links to them, which work. If you're using a plug-in for .pdfs, then perhaps you might want to try my way, which works, since what you're using apparently doesn't.

[therube]

> I immediately get an "Open/Save?" dialog box

Open/Save is entirely not the point.

Point is when opened Embedded in the browser window, as an option which NoScript should be blocking (which it does) & also identifying (which it no longer is).

> Or I can r-click and open in new tab or window. Yes, that new one will be gray

Exactly.

> Possibly a Seamonkey issue

Could be. Though if I know how to disable this pdfjs then I could see if FF is also affected likewise.

[therube]

Interestingly, when I split my window in two, it does give me the placeholder.
But when I open the link in a new tab, nothing but void.

[Tom T.]

And of course you need to have some PDF plugin installed to be able to view PDFs "inline".

Why do you need to view them "inline"? What is wrong with having them open in a new, separate box of their own? You could put it side-by-side with the current page, if desired.

Interestingly, when I split my window in two, it does give me the placeholder.
But when I open the link in a new tab, nothing but void.

I can't see a placeholder in either of your windows. -- especially by the black arrow. (I'm guessing that's where it is?)

IIUC, .pdf is not regarded as a plugin to be blocked by NS. Usually, it's a link, and you decide to trust it or you don't. (Or save to disk and scan with AV first, whatever.) I've never seen NS block pdf, and as said, I always run with the entire Embeddings page checked.

> Possibly a Seamonkey issue

Could be. Though if I know how to disable this pdfjs then I could see if FF is also affected likewise.

Since it's an add-on, disable it. Or uninstall it. (Via Tools > Add-ons, or the SM equivalent).

Having never used SM, all I can say is that in using Fx and NS since F2.x, pdf has never been the slightest problem. Your mileage obviously varies.
Perhaps post at SM forum and see if others can reproduce?
Get Fx, perhaps a portable edition if you don't want a permanent install, add NS, and see if it still happens?

[therube]

May I ask what program you used to capture the screen as a GIF. I have a tools that I use which is compact and professional but only in AVI and SWF, I would be interested in this. Its a pretty smooth GIF capture, so thanks in advance.

LICEcap simple animated screen captures.
Mentioned here actually, http://forums.informaction.com/viewtopi ... 662#p42662.

[therube]

> What is wrong with having them open in a new, separate box of their own?

Only that if you open them externally, you won't see the bug .

> I can't see a placeholder in either of your windows

Depending on your screen size, you may need to View Image to see it in its full size.

> pdf is not regarded as a plugin to be blocked by NS

Sure it is.

> Perhaps post at SM forum and see if others can reproduce

I thought this was the SeaMonkey forum.
It is after all the only place I get results.

> Get Fx

Surely you jest .

> Since it's an add-on, disable it. Or uninstall it. (Via Tools > Add-ons, or the SM equivalent).

In FF Nightly, looks like it is built-in.
Disable by; pdfjs.disabled;true


(Heh. FF Nightly is 21 MB. SeaMonkey Nightly is 22 MB.)

[therube]

FF Nightly reacts just the same.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:21.0) Gecko/20130125 Firefox/21.0

URL shows "pdf".
Page displays nothing, blank.
Page Info says its a pdf (or will be once its allowed to load).
NoScript icon says there's a blocked object (pdf@http:...).

(What a PITA. Don't know if it is default, or my Profile, but when I "opened" the PDFs, they, & I didn't realize it, were downloading, automatically. Once I realized that, had to go to Options | Applications & tell it to use Adobe Acrobat.)

[Tom T.]

> What is wrong with having them open in a new, separate box of their own?

Only that if you open them externally, you won't see the bug .

What bug? I don't see a bug. (although I think I know why -- see below.

> I can't see a placeholder in either of your windows

Depending on your screen size, you may need to View Image to see it in its full size.

Did. Didn't see it. But in the more recent pic, I see a .pdf icon. I've always found those to be links, not placeholders. Just as any image can be a link.

> pdf is not regarded as a plugin to be blocked by NS

Sure it is.

I searched NoScript FAQ, NoScript "Features" Page changelog, home page noscript.net, and "screenshots", and never found .pdf mentioned anywhere. If it is being treated differently today, the FAQ at least, and perhaps other pages, need to be updated.

> Perhaps post at SM forum and see if others can reproduce

I thought this was the SeaMonkey forum.

This is the NoScript forum.
Which covers NS on both Fx and SM, but not issues in SM itself. I think Mozilla has some kind of forums for
Firefox and for SeaMonkey.

It is after all the only place I get results.

Doesn't speak well for MZ forums, does it?

Code: Select all

> Get Fx

Surely you jest :lol:.

Before your most recent post, wouldn't that be the logical way to test whether is was SM-specific, especially since I, as an Fx user, couldn't reproduce it?

> Since it's an add-on, disable it. Or uninstall it. (Via Tools > Add-ons, or the SM equivalent).

In FF Nightly, looks like it is built-in.
Disable by; pdfjs.disabled;true

And this is what I think is the issue: It's some change in Fx 19+ and the SM equivalent -- presumably, the built-in pdf.js. (Hope I can remove that when 19 goes stable release).

FF Nightly reacts just the same.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:21.0) Gecko/20130125 Firefox/21.0

Ahh, another in a long series of misguided, bloated, and downright dangerous attempts to "improve" Fx, starting with Fx 4.

I may go back to Fx 3.6.28, risks and all, just to be rid of all of these ridiculous "improvements".

[therube]

PLUGINS, perhaps not PDF always mentioned specifically, sometimes in a round-about or backwards way, but PDF has always been blockable (& still is, but you just might not realize it in Aurora & up, currently).

+ New "noscript.allowedMimeRegExp" about:config option to whitelist some content types not to be blocked by "Forbid other plugins", for instance "application/pdf" or "image/.*"

http://noscript.net/changelog

The NoScript Firefox extension provides extra protection for Firefox, Seamonkey and other mozilla-based browsers: this free, open source add-on allows JavaScript, Java, Flash and other plugins to be executed only by trusted web sites of your choice (e.g. your online bank).

http://noscript.net/
And plugins points to hackademix when then points to plugincheck.

Beyond JavaScript: blocking Java, Silverlight, Flash and other embedded content

While its primary aim is preventing malicious JavaScript from running, NoScript effectively blocks Java™, Silverlight™, Flash®, and other plugins and embeddings (such HTML video/audio elements and downloadable fonts) on sites you didn't explicitly whitelisted. Java Applets, Flash movies/applications, Quicktime clips, PDF documents and other content won't be even downloaded from sites where you consider them annoyances or dangers, saving your bandwidth and increasing your navigation speed.

http://noscript.net/features

[Tom T.]

Hmm.

What's strange is that in between these posts, I've been downloading the pdfs for 2012 Income Tax from irs.gov, *not* a trusted site, all Embeddings checked, and they d/l immediately without any scripting or placeholder.

In about:plugins, there is nothing listed for pfds. Only the default MZ plug-in, Flash, and some Win Media Player stuff.

Is it possible that those who install an actual browser plug-in, which shows in about:plugins, have your experience, while those who use a stand-alone desktop reader have the same experiences as I?

Curiouser and curiouser, said Alice. I'll ask Giorgio.