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Cannot access websites that use PDF with XFA because I am running Linux

jamescobban
jamescobban
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I have to access a government website which makes all government forms electronically available as PDF using XFA so they can be filled in. However I am running Firefox on Linux. When I try to download a form from this site the site checks my browser to see if I have the Adobe PDF plugin installed with a release level that supports XFA. If I do not have such a plugin installed, which I cannot since there is no such plugin for Firefox on Linux, then the web site instead of sending me the PDF document, which I could view with any number of offline PDF viewers which do support XFA, sends me a one-line PDF that demands that I install the Adobe plugin. The government will not remove this check since it is a convenience to the vast majority of their clients who are running Windows. Is there some way I can configure my Firefox browser on Linux so it lies to the web-site and says that I have installed the plugin?

I have to access a government website which makes all government forms electronically available as PDF using XFA so they can be filled in. However I am running Firefox on Linux. When I try to download a form from this site the site checks my browser to see if I have the Adobe PDF plugin installed with a release level that supports XFA. If I do not have such a plugin installed, which I cannot since there is no such plugin for Firefox on Linux, then the web site instead of sending me the PDF document, which I could view with any number of offline PDF viewers which do support XFA, sends me a one-line PDF that demands that I install the Adobe plugin. The government will not remove this check since it is a convenience to the vast majority of their clients who are running Windows. Is there some way I can configure my Firefox browser on Linux so it lies to the web-site and says that I have installed the plugin?

All Replies (1)

jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
jscher2000 - Support Volunteer
  • Top 25 Contributor
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Perhaps you can find a fake plugin file somewhere; someone else must have needed it at some point in time.

From the settings perspective, there is an auto-generated file which stores information about your plugins. I suspect Firefox will detect and remove fictitious entries. Perhaps if you make the file read only, Firefox won't be able to "correct" it? Whether this will populate the Add-ons page, Plugins section, or fool Firefox into thinking there really is an Acrobat plugin, I could only guess.

If you want to try it, the file is named pluginreg.dat and is in your profile folder.

For comparison, I have this for the Adobe Acrobat plugin in the [PLUGINS] section: 

nppdf32.dll|$
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 11.0\Acrobat\browser\nppdf32.dll|$
11.0.12.18|$
1435585406000|0|0|0|$
Adobe PDF Plug-In For Firefox and Netscape 11.0.12|$
Adobe Acrobat|$
7
0|application/pdf|Acrobat Portable Document Format|pdf|$
1|application/vnd.adobe.pdfxml|Adobe PDF in XML Format|pdfxml|$
2|application/vnd.adobe.x-mars|Adobe PDF in XML Format|mars|$
3|application/vnd.fdf|Acrobat Forms Data Format|fdf|$
4|application/vnd.adobe.xfdf|XML Version of Acrobat Forms Data Format|xfdf|$
5|application/vnd.adobe.xdp+xml| Acrobat XML Data Package|xdp|$
6|application/vnd.adobe.xfd+xml|Adobe FormFlow99 Data File|xfd|$