problem opening PDF's in Firefox
I am using Adobe Dreamweaver for my design, and am testing locally using Firefox. I am using Firefox 27.0
I recently created several PDF's that have links in them that go to other PDF's. When I click on the link in the PDF file, I get no response, but instead get an error message at the bottom left of the browser: "resource://pdf.js/web". I have never had this problem before. Any PDF always opened up in what I would call a PDF Reader within Firefox. I did get it to work yesterday, but I had to change the reader that Firefox uses to Adobe Acrobat.
My concern is what will happen when I go live. Will everyone out there using Firefox be unable to open the links in the PDF's? Will they have to change the reader in their Firefox to Adobe?
I have never had this issue with "resource://pdf.js/web". Why all of a sudden has it become an issue? I don't get the window in the upper corner that asks me to allow. I do however get that window in IE 11.
Any help would be appreciated. I would like this site to go live this week, but am concerned as to how it will work.
Thanks.
Ted
All Replies (7)
Hello Ted,
The pdf.js is the native PDF renderer of Mozilla that avoids the requirement of having a third party plugin to view PDF files. The PDF.js renderer can be opened using this link (type this in the location bar and you can drag-drop PDF files into the browser to view them) - resource://pdf.js/web/viewer.html.
The PDF.Js can open hyperlinks that are present in the document. When you open the PDF file in the browser and you hover over the hyperlink, do you see the target location in the status bar of the browser? If you are able to see that, then you can be assured that the hyperlinks can be navigated by the users of your PDF.
Also, if you can kindly let us know if you are seeing this problem on all the PDFs or if there is any specific PDF file that is causing an issue. There are two open issues currently
Could you please confirm if any of the above are relevant to the issue you are seeing?
Thank you
Now I understand what pdf.js is for and how it works. Thanks.
I did open pdf.js in the browser and dragged a PDF file into it, which did open. When I mouse over the internal link in the PDF (which is simply opening another PDF file), it shows resource://pdf/js/web. So for some reason it is not recognizing the internal link.
If I configure Firefox to use Acrobat 9.5 (default), the files and internal links work just fine.
Now, like I explained, I am previewing the files in Firefox, from Dreamweaver. I thought a few weeks ago when I had created some of the PDF files, that I had tested them in Firefox and they works, the internal links opening. But now nothing.
My fear is that when I go live in the next week or so, what will happen? Will it work live, and not locally? Will viewers have any issues opening the internal links, using the default pdf.hjs, or will they have to reconfigure to use Acrobat 9.5 as an option? (that is not an option for me)
This is an existing site, as I am doing a major reconstruction. So once the new files are uploaded, I would want the site to be operational. That is why I was hoping to test locally to make sure eveything is running properly.
I sure hope we can find a solution to all of this. Thanks for your input.
Ted
The latest stable version of the built-in PDF viewer is available as an extension and this version can possibly perform better than the version shipped with the current Firefox release.
The latest stable version of the PDF Viewer (pdfjs) extension:
- PDF Viewer: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/pdfjs/
Latest development version of the PDF Viewer (pdfjs) extension for Firefox:
I have uploaded a file for testing live. I downloaded both version of the pdf.js, that you sent me. The link in the file will still not open. Same error message. Here is a link to the file so that you can see what is happening:
http://starkhealth.org/enviro/GRADE%20A%20FOOD%20EXCELLENCE%20AWARD.pdf
At the bottom of the first page is a ssingle link to another pdf file. What do you see on your end?
Is there a remote possibility that Adobe Acrobat has an issue with Firefox?
Ted
I just tried some additional testing. I have found that the link opens within IE, Safari and Opera. Google Chrome and Firefox seem to have a problem.
Does this help?
Ted
This is a problem (bug) with the built-in PDF Viewer (pdfjs) that currently doesn't handle this link properly.
I've seen issues like this before, but can't find a bug about this issue.
Further testing shows that if I use a full path to the document, it works. However Adobe does not give me an option to open in a new window, which is a problem for the user. So, with this change, the only browser that will not work is Chrome.
http://starkhealth.org/enviro/GRADE%20A%20FOOD%20EXCELLENCE%20AWARD.pdf
Now to see what my client wants to do.
Will keep you informed as to my progress.
Many thanks.
Ted