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#313178 - 26/08/2008 00:18 Inline PDF on Firefox/Mac -- finally!
tonyc
carpal tunnel

Registered: 27/06/1999
Posts: 7058
Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
I was waiting for someone to develop an in-line PDF plugin for Firefox on Mac OS X, and finally it's here:

http://code.google.com/p/firefox-mac-pdf/

A while back there was an older plugin that only worked on PPC Macs on older Firefox versions, but this one is designed for Firefox 3, and works great on my Macbook Pro. It doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, but it gets the job done.

It's been out for a couple months now, but I figured I'd post here in case someone hadn't stumbled on it yet.
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- Tony C
my empeg stuff

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#313179 - 26/08/2008 01:09 Re: Inline PDF on Firefox/Mac -- finally! [Re: tonyc]
petteri
addict

Registered: 02/08/2004
Posts: 434
Loc: Helsinki, Finland
yea! thanks!

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#313185 - 26/08/2008 10:34 Re: Inline PDF on Firefox/Mac -- finally! [Re: petteri]
Dignan
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12341
Loc: Sterling, VA
Interesting, I'll have to give it a try. For the most part, I prefer to download the file and view it in Foxit because I prefer the application.

I had no idea Google had a service like this. Cool! Is this like a "Google-forge"?
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Matt

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#313189 - 26/08/2008 13:06 Re: Inline PDF on Firefox/Mac -- finally! [Re: tonyc]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
The only reason I can see to want an inline PDF viewer is to start viewing the beginning of the file before the download is done or, generally, to utilize partial downloads. Does this extension do that?
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Bitt Faulk

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#313198 - 26/08/2008 14:27 Re: Inline PDF on Firefox/Mac -- finally! [Re: tonyc]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
Very interesting, Tony. I was *just* wondering about this last night. Thanks!
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Tony Fabris

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#313201 - 26/08/2008 15:51 Re: Inline PDF on Firefox/Mac -- finally! [Re: wfaulk]
tonyc
carpal tunnel

Registered: 27/06/1999
Posts: 7058
Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
Originally Posted By: wfaulk
The only reason I can see to want an inline PDF viewer is to start viewing the beginning of the file before the download is done or, generally, to utilize partial downloads. Does this extension do that?

It doesn't appear to. Maybe that's something they can add.

My main reason for wanting it was to avoid cluttering my Firefox downloads directory with PDFs that I often only want to view once. Also, it's easier for me to keep track of several PDF documents in browser tabs than it is to be constantly switching Preview.app windows.
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- Tony C
my empeg stuff

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#313204 - 26/08/2008 17:10 Re: Inline PDF on Firefox/Mac -- finally! [Re: tonyc]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Fair enough.
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Bitt Faulk

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#313205 - 26/08/2008 17:10 Re: Inline PDF on Firefox/Mac -- finally! [Re: tonyc]
mlord
carpal tunnel

Registered: 29/08/2000
Posts: 14496
Loc: Canada
Originally Posted By: tonyc
My main reason for wanting it was to avoid cluttering my Firefox downloads directory with PDFs that I often only want to view once.

Is that another MS Windows-only thing? On Linux, the temporary PDF vanishes when the viewer is closed.

Cheers


Edited by mlord (26/08/2008 17:11)

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#313207 - 26/08/2008 17:11 Re: Inline PDF on Firefox/Mac -- finally! [Re: mlord]
wfaulk
carpal tunnel

Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
Unfortunately, it seems to be a MacOSX-only thing.
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Bitt Faulk

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#313208 - 26/08/2008 17:40 Re: Inline PDF on Firefox/Mac -- finally! [Re: mlord]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
Yeah, it's Mac OS only. Windows has had inline PDF viewing all along (with the right plugins anyway). I find it very odd that Mac OS hasn't had this built-in from the beginning.

On the other hand, I think the way Windows does it is to just drop the file in your TEMP directory and let it occupy space. At least on the Mac, you see it appear somewhere you'd tend to look (the same place all your important downloads go; the desktop in my case), so you've got a better chance of cleaning it up.

Now I'm not sure which is better! smile
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Tony Fabris

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#313209 - 26/08/2008 18:26 Re: Inline PDF on Firefox/Mac -- finally! [Re: tfabris]
drakino
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
Originally Posted By: tfabris
Yeah, it's Mac OS only. Windows has had inline PDF viewing all along (with the right plugins anyway). I find it very odd that Mac OS hasn't had this built-in from the beginning.


Mac OS does have built in inline PDF reading for any browser that uses Webkit (Safari, etc), or really any program that uses standard OS X APIs. Firefox has never really been a proper OS X application, so in this particular case Firefox on OS X doesn't support inline PDF.

OS X also has temp folders, so the decision of where to dump files is up to Firefox too, and not the OS.

Firefox 3 at least seems to be making a minor attempt at feeling more like a native OS X app, but it still has a ways to go. I still haven't seen a must have feature in Firefox to make me want to switch away from Safari. And yes, I have addons for Safari to do ad blocking and such.

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