PDF Browser Plugin for Mac Firefox System Administrator Documentation

The Mac Firefox PDF Browser Plugin is a plugin for Firefox that allows users running Mac computers to view PDFs and browse links within them. According to its site, "PDF Browser Plugin turns your web browser into the best PDF viewer available. With the help of PDF Browser Plugin you can view PDF documents directly in your web browser, print them, and save them to disk if you'd like to keep them." — http://www.schubert-it.com/pluginpdf/

PDF Browser Plugin for Mac Firefox System Administrator Documentation

System Specifications

Software

The only officially supported software for the FORE financial system on the Mac is Firefox version 17 ESR (the Extended Support Release). As of March 7, 2014, the latest version 17 ESR is Firefox 17.0.11 ESR. To check if this is the latest Firefox 17 ESR, check out the list of all downloadable versions of Firefox, see the index of Firefox releases.

From our experence, we have found that to correctly use FORE with Firefox 17, the "Schubert" PDF Browser Plugin must be installed (for the "drill downs" to work).

Key software information related to the system

Installation file location: https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/cscf/internal/edocs/rtattach/86722/
- Includes the following versions:
  - 2.4.1 — works on Macs with the FORE system.
  - 2.4.2 — Latest version that works on Macs with the FORE financial system but currently breaks with Firefox version 18
  - 2.4.4 — Latest version (currently), but does not work on the Macs with the FORE system.
- From the original source: http://www.schubert-it.com/pluginpdf/

Dani Roloson, of MFCF, created a Drill Down Test Page.

If you are successful with testing your Firefox setup on this page, then Firefox should be set up correctly for use with the FORE system.

If you wish to view some information regarding the version of Firefox you are running and if there are any "Applications Settings" in Firefox related to PDF documents, they must only refer to PDF Browser Plugin 2.4.2, see the Check Firefox Information page.

For further information gathered by CSCF staff regarding Firefox, consult the twiki page MozillaFireFox.

Fixing Firefox Plugings to work with FORE - please read

Make sure that ONLY the PDF Browser plugin or extension is listed under this test page: Check Firefox Information page
- You MUST disable any other PDF plugins or extensions that show up on the test page for FORE to work!!!

Fixing Firefox to work with the FORE system CGI scripts - IMPORTANT

The first time users, on a clean system, will need to associate the FORE system CGI script with the pdf-plugin since FORE does not emit the correct PDF MIME type
- Open the FORE system and open a document - you will see a Firefox will pop open the CGI file asking you to download or open it with an application.
- To Fix this: From the Firefox main Menu bar -> Open Preferences -> Applications -> Find CGI -> Set this to open the PDF Browser Plugin
Notes: this solution is a kludge - FORE systems CGI script should emit the correct MIME types
IST's Mac/FORE documentation provides some similar notes regarding FORE and CGI.

Important Note

Updating Adobe Flash Player can have the side-effect of installing "Adobe Acrobat NPAPI Plug-in". If this plugin is installed while updating Flash, it likely overwrites Firefox's "Applications" Preferences for PDF MIME types.

Hardware

Intel-based Macintosh systems running OS X 10.6.X or above.

Authentication and Authorization Information

In order to install both Firefox 17 and the PDF Browser Plugin, one must have administrator privileges on the Mac.

People

Administrator: Stephen Nickerson (snickers)
Point of contact (expert): Stephen Nickerson (snickers)
Stakeholders: Administrative Staff using the FORE Financial System on an Intel-based Macintosh.

Guides to the Completion of Common Requests

Are there any tasks that you sometimes need to perform when people ask you to do something?

Common Failures/Bugs & Troubleshooting

The PDF Plugin is simply not working

The most common cause of this is that either Firefox or the PDF Browser Plugin was updated causing them to be incompatible with each other. The issue will generally fix itself after a few weeks once there is another update. What do people do in the meantime?

Are there any other problems that commonly occur that you can think of?

Current Discussions Related to the System

Some systems have important long-term changes that are being discussed. If needed, a summary of each discussion may be included here.