FF2.0b2 - file opening dialog was changed? Or else, WTF?

Post by **Vectorspace** » September 1st, 2006, 10:39 am

Thumper & RenegadeX - please watch the attitude, I don't want to have to give either of you an official warning.

Deviad · Post by **Deviad** » September 3rd, 2006, 4:00 am

Vectorspace wrote:Thumper & RenegadeX - please watch the attitude, I don't want to have to give either of you an official warning.

I understand the point of view of those stating how nice the new window is, but it gives more problems to the end users like me rather than advantages.
The extensions we mortals use: Flashgot and Downthemall, are stated by the authors to be compatible with the new firefox.
That means that all of the features should work ^^.
Since this firefox version is still "transitional", why not to give the users and the extension developers a chance to have the things still working properly?

Post by **BenBasson** » September 3rd, 2006, 6:21 am

I'm not sure what your point is. Extension developers shouldn't claim compatibility unless it's actually true.

Posters from these threads:
Firefox 2.0 handling download - MozillaZine Forums
warning for saving executable files - MozillaZine Forums

In the interests of keeping this forum tidy, please continue here. This thread details the issue you're interested in.

RenegadeX · Post by **RenegadeX** » September 3rd, 2006, 6:24 am

Scarlettrunner20 wrote:This is much worse if you are talking about the original way as being bad. The new one says "You have chosen to open this file". I haven't chosen to open it because that is not allowed on Fx. I can only "save to disk" which is NOT opening! It doesn't even mention saving to disk now. It it very muddled. It should mimick IE for clarity even if you can't "open" which of course you should be able to if you want.

Spot on!

For reference, in case anyone here has an aversion to Microsoft products and/or can't remember/hasn't seen how IE(7) handles it:

And for a non-executable file, the dialog box is similar, except the 3 instances of the word 'run' are changed to 'open' (and the (orange) '!' [alert! danger!] becomes a blue '?' [think about it]. So the Microsoft guys have covered their bases - the warning basically tells you why the dialog box acts the way it does. But even so, there's room for improvement and it's a shame that FF didn't jump at the opportunity.

Of course, there's the wonderful power of extensions to remedy whatever situation we find ourselves given. But the problem is you have to think of the enhancement/search for it/or find it by chance/hope it still works/ and if it doesn't - hope that it hasn't been abandoned.

I'll search Bugzilla for relevant Bugs and report back...

Post by **BenBasson** » September 3rd, 2006, 6:32 am

I wouldn't count much on the wordings being changed. I'm pretty sure we've already passed the l10n freeze.

Farroos · Post by **Farroos** » September 3rd, 2006, 7:04 am

Politics and personal opinions aside, adding an option to the exe warning dialog (to never ask this question again) won't harm anyone.

oldtimer · Post by **oldtimer** » September 4th, 2006, 3:50 pm

Well, I can't believe it took you this long to figure out exe files were always forcing to download over opening. Which pissed me off to a degree b/c it was designed to protect the "idea" of stupid or unwitting users clicking a no-no exe, which I want to say is a ONE in a thousand [more like million] chance granted you are not the type of user slinking around in illegal warez, crack, porn etc sites. Even those blantantly obvious screensaver/wallpaper websites riddled w/ ads. I've assumed a lot of Firefox users fit this category that's why we got this feature. Otherwise, it was just to be on the "safe-side".

Anyway, I disagreed w/ this change last Nov when it happened I believe and was right on top of it when it landed in the trunk builds. Bug number I have somewhere but I'm not going to bring it out for worthless arguements and countless bugzilla reply notifications to crowd my inbox. The developers don't seem interested in changing this. If you find one w/ some clout and a desire to overturn it, let me know. Otherwise, let's move on.

This is not going to end well, like the Too many context menu items added by extensions in the right-click context menu cause cut off context menu bug, if you recall.

RenegadeX · Post by **RenegadeX** » September 4th, 2006, 4:05 pm

^ funnily enough, I do. And as each month passes (and more extensions are added to enhance my Firefox experience) the problem worsens. But that's another thread....

Old Fuziwuzi · Post by **Old Fuziwuzi** » September 5th, 2006, 5:15 am

When I voiced a complaint about the new download dialog, I was told to stop whining, stop complaining, nobody else will even notice or mind the change. Guess someone else does notice.

Thumper · Post by **Thumper** » September 5th, 2006, 5:51 am

Actually, you were told

Me wrote:A few people who like the current quirky behaviour will very loudly disprove of the change

In fact, I could probably have drawn you up a list at the time.

- Chris

Goncyn · Post by **Goncyn** » September 5th, 2006, 11:14 am

I posted a couple of times in the nightly threads about the changes to the download dialog, and no one seemed to have any idea why it had been changed, or at least had nothing to say about it. My problem with this new dialog is not related to functionality. Personally I think the dialog is an aesthetic nightmare. It's just a mass of text with a couple of buttons. Couldn't something have been done to make it more attractive? I kept asking if someone knew if it was being changed again, because I couldn't believe this dialog wasn't a placeholder for later improvements.

martnber · Post by **martnber** » September 5th, 2006, 2:23 pm

If this new download dialog only affects .exe files, it would be OK, but I am currently trying to open PDF-files and I get this dialog asking if I want to save or cancel. I want to open directly! Firefox is a wonderful browser, but as I am working A LOT with pdf files, this is reason enough for me to change to IE.

By the way, the install was clean, the existing profile data was cleaned and no extensions were installed. This was working perfectly with FF 1.5.0.6 and Adobe Acrobat Professional 7.0.

Keep up the good work!!

oldtimer · Post by **oldtimer** » September 5th, 2006, 3:11 pm

It seems martnber has found a regression then. It was originally designed to only force .exe to be saved and no other file type that comes to mind. Although you'd wish that .lnk [still not sure how this alone is dangerous], .pif, .bat, .com, .eml, .vbs, .vb, .vbe, .hta, .wsh, .inf, .crt and .scr had the behavior also. But like I surmised those file types aren't a big enough threat alone to garner the attention of a safety feature much less I can't even find a link point to one of those file types directly w/ the exception of maybe .inf's & .scr's - maybe I'll google and test. Then, maybe I'll file an RFE.

At this rate we probably should add it to all MS related files also. Starting w/ .ppt, .doc, & .xls, b/c of the potential macros which they may contain.

Let's throw in the obscure .pcd, .wsf, .wsh, .wsc too. There's more here.

I feel like we're taking the "university email" approach but at least they have a lot more to lose.

RenegadeX · Post by **RenegadeX** » September 5th, 2006, 3:18 pm

Hey, oldtimer (or anyone else for that matter) - anyone have an explanation as for why 1.5.0.6 on my brother's system opens a dialog box (see screenshot 3/4's the way down Page 1), whereas my experience (and all other comments in this thread) seem to indicate that a blank page should/did open on .exe files, etc?

RenegadeX · Post by **RenegadeX** » September 5th, 2006, 3:23 pm

martnber - even on a new profile in 2.0b2 pdf's open in Acrobat for me.
Check the Tools->Options->[File Types] 'Manage'.

Mine is set to 'Use Acrobat Plugin'. What's yours?