why can't i open a link to a PDF in a new tab?
I want to click on a link in an email i was just sent from my teacher after her seminar, which is supposed to open a PDF of info. But when I right click it and select, open in a new tab, only a blank page shows up! But, since i KNOW it must be a proper link, I tried around and found another way: if I select, "save link as", a window pops up and lets me save it as an adobe reader PDF file in my computer, which i can then open and read. Why? I mean, what could be the problem? I have never had the problem before of not being able to right click something and select "open in a new tab", and have it work just that like, without the extra steps!
الحل المُختار
A link can have several different scripts attached to it that supersede the normal behavior. These include actions that occur when you click (mouse down followed by mouse up) or when a mouse button is pressed on the link (mouse down) or when it is released over the link (mouse up). Usually the right-click > Open in New Tab/Window will bypass those.
However, in some cases, when you mouse over a link you may occasionally see that it has no destination address, or seems to point to the same page, or starts with javascript:. In these cases, the right-click operation fails because it copies that nonexistent or dysfunctional link instead of running the script attached to the link.
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Right-click > Open in New Tab/Open in New Window may not work when the link runs a script. In that case, often you will see something unusual or dysfunctional in the address bar of the new tab/new window. Does that seem relevant here?
yes it does. so what does it mean that a "link runs a script"? in low-tech language please ;)
الحل المُختار
A link can have several different scripts attached to it that supersede the normal behavior. These include actions that occur when you click (mouse down followed by mouse up) or when a mouse button is pressed on the link (mouse down) or when it is released over the link (mouse up). Usually the right-click > Open in New Tab/Window will bypass those.
However, in some cases, when you mouse over a link you may occasionally see that it has no destination address, or seems to point to the same page, or starts with javascript:. In these cases, the right-click operation fails because it copies that nonexistent or dysfunctional link instead of running the script attached to the link.