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From: DaveC on 8 Jul 2010 23:33
> To add to what others have suggested -- If you know the link is a PDF,
> using an Option-click on the link should make it download.

Yes, I'm aware of these ways to circumvent the default behavior.

But I'm interested in *changing* the default behavior such that clicking the
URL results in a downloaded PDF file, not a PDF document that displays in
Safari.

This used to be the behavior (at least a behavior you could configure to be
the default) in Safari 4.

As a matter of fact, I'm using a different Mac right now (with Leopard
installed) that also has Safari 5. The default behavior for Safari on this
Mac is that the PDF is downloaded and it opens automatically in Preview.

I don't know where to begin to compare the 2 macs and the 2 Safari (5.0)
browsers to determine why one downloads the PDF and the other displays it.

Ideas?

Thanks.

(Hypothetical question suffix: why is it when you ask a question on USENET,
that you don't get answers, you get told "don't do it that way"?)

From: David Empson on 9 Jul 2010 00:25
DaveC <invalid(a)invalid.net> wrote:

> > To add to what others have suggested -- If you know the link is a PDF,
> > using an Option-click on the link should make it download.
>
> Yes, I'm aware of these ways to circumvent the default behavior.
>
> But I'm interested in *changing* the default behavior such that clicking the
> URL results in a downloaded PDF file, not a PDF document that displays in
> Safari.
>
> This used to be the behavior (at least a behavior you could configure to be
> the default) in Safari 4.

It is a hidden setting in Safari, going back quite a long way
(definitely Safari 3 and later, possibly also earlier versions but I
don't recall when the built-in PDF viewing was added).

As far as I know, no version of Safari has user interface to configure
that setting. (I'm still on Safari 4 and I couldn't find it in the
preferences.)

The default is for PDFs to be displayed by Safari.

It can be configured using third-party tools that manipulate hidden
application settings, notably TinkerTool and Onyx (both free).

In TinkerTool, it is under the Safari category, "Disable native support
for display of PDF documents".

In Onyx, it is under the Parameters category, Safari, "Automatically
open .pdf-files in Safari".

> As a matter of fact, I'm using a different Mac right now (with Leopard
> installed) that also has Safari 5. The default behavior for Safari on this
> Mac is that the PDF is downloaded and it opens automatically in Preview.

That's because something has changed the setting in Safari's preferences
for that user account on that computer.

--
David Empson
dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz
From: David Stone on 9 Jul 2010 10:00
In article
<0001HW.C85BE6B704C690C5B01AD9AF(a)news.eternal-september.org>,
DaveC <invalid(a)invalid.net> wrote:

> > To add to what others have suggested -- If you know the link is a PDF,
> > using an Option-click on the link should make it download.
>
> Yes, I'm aware of these ways to circumvent the default behavior.
>
> But I'm interested in *changing* the default behavior such that clicking the
> URL results in a downloaded PDF file, not a PDF document that displays in
> Safari.
>
> This used to be the behavior (at least a behavior you could configure to be
> the default) in Safari 4.
>
> As a matter of fact, I'm using a different Mac right now (with Leopard
> installed) that also has Safari 5. The default behavior for Safari on this
> Mac is that the PDF is downloaded and it opens automatically in Preview.
>
> I don't know where to begin to compare the 2 macs and the 2 Safari (5.0)
> browsers to determine why one downloads the PDF and the other displays it.
>
> Ideas?

/Users/youraccountnamehere/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.plist
- doesn't seem to say anything about viewing pdf files though, unless
there's an added item for the version of Safari you have that doesn't
open pdf's in the browser window.

The only other place I can find is within the application bundle:

* Right-click or control-click on Safari
* Select "Show Package Contents"
* Double-click on the file Info.plist in the Contents folder
* In the Property List Editor window, locate the line that says
"Document types" and expand it.
* Expand the the item for PDF documents, and compare the value of
the Role parameter between the two versions of Safari.

On my version (Safari 5.0/OS 10.5.8) this is set to "Viewer", and simply
clicking on a link to a pdf file opens that file within Safari.

That's all I could find - maybe someone else can find something?
From: AES on 9 Jul 2010 10:52
In article <1jldecv.sdn9gb1xq792N%dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz>,
dempson(a)actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) wrote:

> The default is for PDFs to be displayed by Safari.
>
> It can be configured using third-party tools that manipulate hidden
> application settings, notably TinkerTool and Onyx (both free).
>
> In TinkerTool, it is under the Safari category, "Disable native support
> for display of PDF documents".
>
> In Onyx, it is under the Parameters category, Safari, "Automatically
> open .pdf-files in Safari".
>

Out of curiosity, how do the programmers of TinkerTool or Onyx acquire
the knowledge they need to assemble these utility tools?

I'm always a bit worried about using third-party tools like these, which
operate on files that are part of the Apple apps on my system, not just
documents created by apps. Seems like a bit of a risk, messing with
components I don't fully understand.
From: nospam on 9 Jul 2010 10:59
In article <siegman-817520.07524609072010(a)sciid-srv02.med.tufts.edu>,
AES <siegman(a)stanford.edu> wrote:

> Out of curiosity, how do the programmers of TinkerTool or Onyx acquire
> the knowledge they need to assemble these utility tools?

by finding out all the hidden preferences and wrapping a normal
interface around it. you could toggle the settings with the appropriate
command in terminal, if you could remember them all.
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