Netscape, enabledPlugin and Helper Applications

Hello, all.

I need to do a bit of plug-in detection on Netscape 4.76/Linux.

A user may have nppdf.so installed, but decide (for some reason) to
pass off PDF to a helper application (acroread, xpdf, or whatever).

But when I try to detect the plug-in, I get the same result, whether
the plug-in is being used or whether the helper application is being
used. The presence of the plug-in is all it takes.

(navigator.mimeTypes["application/pdf"].enabledPlugin != null) returns
false in both cases.

Is there a way of checking to see if the user has *really* set the
preferences to use the plug-in?


Keith.

re: Netscape, enabledPlugin and Helper Applications

Keith wrote:
[color=blue]
> But when I try to detect the plug-in, I get the same result, whether
> the plug-in is being used or whether the helper application is being
> used. The presence of the plug-in is all it takes.
>
> (navigator.mimeTypes["application/pdf"].enabledPlugin != null) returns
> false in both cases.[/color]

Correct. The plugin is enabled on startup if it is compatible and
the respective library is placed within the `plugins' directory.
[color=blue]
> Is there a way of checking to see if the user has *really* set the
> preferences to use the plug-in?[/color]

Maybe in signed scripts, but how the user displays a document should
not be of the author's concern.


PointedEars

re: Netscape, enabledPlugin and Helper Applications

JRS: In article <bpdd3q$1m9b47$1@ID-107532.news.uni-berlin.de>, seen in
news:comp.lang.javascript, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn
<PointedEars@web.de> posted at Tue, 18 Nov 2003 14:38:08 :-[color=blue]
>Keith wrote:[color=green]
>> ...[/color][/color]

If you can, please set your newsreader to include the date and time of
the article being responded to in the Attribution. This is a kindness
when others see a response to an article that they can no longer
remember seeing.


[color=blue]
> but how the user displays a document should
>not be of the author's concern.[/color]

The author may well be paid to cause the user to be able to see the
document, perhaps in a specified manner; if this is not possible, the
programmer may well need to take action, perhaps displaying an apology
that those without OmniView Mk.99 will be unable to see the full
perfection, and will have to make do with ... . Indeed, a sensible
management will *require* the programmer to deal with the situation.

--
© John Stockton, Surrey, UK. ?@merlyn.demon.co.uk Turnpike v4.00 MIME ©
Web <URL:http://www.uwasa.fi/~ts/http/tsfaq.html> -> Timo Salmi: Usenet Q&A.
Web <URL:http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/news-use.htm> : about usage of News.
No Encoding. Quotes before replies. Snip well. Write clearly. Don't Mail News.

re: Netscape, enabledPlugin and Helper Applications

Dr John Stockton wrote:
[color=blue]
> JRS: In article <bpdd3q$1m9b47$1@ID-107532.news.uni-berlin.de>, seen in
> news:comp.lang.javascript, Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn
> <PointedEars@web.de> posted at Tue, 18 Nov 2003 14:38:08 :-[color=green]
>>Keith wrote:[color=darkred]
>>> ...[/color][/color]
>
> If you can, please set your newsreader to include the date and time of
> the article being responded to in the Attribution. This is a kindness
> when others see a response to an article that they can no longer
> remember seeing.[/color]

You already know my thoughts about that, but as you insist: Although
newsreaders, including mine with a bit of tweaking, are capable of it,
it is a waste of bandwidth and merely increases the risk of getting
eye cancer ;-) because it does not matter when the original article
was posted. Readers know the expiration setting of their UAs and they
can get information about the expiration setting of the remote news
server, so they will know the article was posted before a certain date.
If they do not see it, it is expired or has been canceled. To find
the article I am referring to they can follow the References (header),
the Subject (if unchanged or properly changed with `was:' and similar)
and the name of the (original) poster. What really matters is a good
quote so one can see what I am referring to.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> but how the user displays a document should
>> not be of the author's concern.[/color]
>
> The author may well be paid to cause the user to be able to see the
> document, perhaps in a specified manner; if this is not possible, the
> programmer may well need to take action, perhaps displaying an apology
> that those without OmniView Mk.99 will be unable to see the full
> perfection, and will have to make do with ... . Indeed, a sensible
> management will *require* the programmer to deal with the situation.[/color]

First, it makes no difference to the reader if the PDF document is
displayed with the plugin or with a helper application. They may
not even know the difference.

Second, with JavaScript there is no way to detect if the plugin is
used.

Third, without JavaScript and the proper DOM(!) it is not even possible
to detect if the plugin is installed.

So forget about it.


PointedEars