When downloading .pdf files the .pdf extension is not on it. You have to manually add it before you can open it.
On a particular site ( that does work using other browsers) my client is not able to download PDF files and have the .pdf extension on the end of it. Therefore you have to manually add it, this way it will then open. You can go to other sites and most of them work. Some sites will cause this to happen but not many. Has anyone seen this?
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There are (at least) three ways to save a PDF from a website:
- Open in the plugin and use the Adobe toolbar
- Right-click a direct link to the PDF and Save Link As
- Click a link to a script page that "pushes" the PDF as a download (Open/Save/Cancel dialog appears)
In the third case:
The site should send a header with the file name, otherwise Firefox uses the name of the script (e.g., getfile.aspx) which is just not very useful. I think multiple browsers probably have this issue.
The site also should surround any file name containing spaces with quotation marks. Otherwise Firefox -- unlike IE -- may truncate the file name at the space and drop not just the .pdf extension but part of the file name itself. Most developers probably have seen and fixed this by now, but those who only test in IE might not be aware of it.
Does any of that seem relevant in this case?
Note: for testing, it's probably easiest to set Firefox to always ask where to save the download. Then you can examine the proposed file name without actually bothering to complete the download and save the file.
(WIN) orange Firefox button or classic Tools menu > Options > General
(MAC) Firefox > Preferences > General
You can also try to delete the mimeTypes.rdf file in the Firefox Profile Folder to reset all file actions in case some are corrupted or have a wrong value.