Viewing pdf files in chromium-browser

[r.stiltskin]

In Ubuntu 10.04, installed Chrome from the Ubuntu repos: chromium-browser 8.0.552.224-r6859

According to about:plugins mozplugger is supposed to be handling pdf, ps, ppt mime types, but for all of these I get a black browser window saying "Missing Plug-in".

I'd like to view these filetypes inside the browser using either adobe reader (8.1.6) or evince (or even just gv).

Here is an excerpt from /etc/mozpluggerrc:

application/pdf:pdf:PDF file
application/x-pdf:pdf:PDF file
text/pdf:pdf:PDF file
text/x-pdf:pdf:PDF file
	ACROREAD()
	repeat noisy swallow(kpdf) fill: kpdf "$file"
	repeat noisy swallow(Xpdf) fill: xpdf -g +9000+9000 "$file"
	repeat noisy swallow(okular) fill: okular "$file"
	GV()
	repeat noisy fill exits: evince "$file"

application/x-dvi:dvi:DVI file
        repeat swallow(kdvi) fill: kdvi "$file"
	repeat swallow(xdvi) fill: xdvi -safer -hush -geometry +9000+9000 "$file"

application/x-postscript:ps:PostScript file
application/postscript:ps:PostScript file
	GV()
	repeat noisy fill exits: evince "$file"

Is something missing/wrong in this configuration, or is this version of the browser simply incapable of using these applications to display these filetypes?

I have no problem viewing these files in Firefox.

I do NOT want to install the Chrome pdf-viewer plugin.

[COKEDUDE]

Evince document viewer works fine. Is there something wrong with that?

[r.stiltskin]

Are you using Ubuntu 10.04? chromium-browser 8.0.552.224-r6859?

Are you saying that you can open pdfs with Evince inside a chromium-browser window? (I can't.)

If your answers to all of the above are yes, would you mind posting your /etc/mozpluggerrc file?

[r.stiltskin]

Solved. chromium-browser can now open .pdf and .ps files in either acroread, evince or gv. All that was needed was a minor change in the commands to start these programs in etc/mozpluggerrc. (The primary change was to add "needs_xembed" to the macros.)

Near the top of /etc/mozpluggerrc there is a section headed by
###################
### m4 macros ###
###################

Near the end of that section I found definitions for ACROREAD and GV, but both were incorrect, and there was none for Evince. I edited it so now I have the following definitions:

### Acrobat Reader
define(ACROREAD, [repeat swallow(acroread) fill needs_xembed : acroread -openInNewWindow /a "$fragment" "$file"])

### GV
define(GV_OPTS,[--safer --quiet --antialias -geometry +9000+9000])
define(GV_FLAGS,[repeat swallow(gv) fill needs_xembed])
define(GV,[GV_FLAGS(): gv GV_OPTS() "$file"])

### Evince
define(EVINCE, [repeat swallow(evince) fill needs_xembed: evince "$file"])

Next, further down in the file there are lines containing the following:
application/pdf:pdf:PDF file
application/x-pdf:pdf:PDF file
text/pdf:pdf:PDF file
text/x-pdf:pdf:PDF file

and:
application/x-postscript:ps:PostScript file
application/postscript:ps:PostScript file

Following each line or group of lines, just paste in the macro for the application that you want to use for those filetypes. e.g., to use acroread for .pdf files and evince for .ps files:

application/pdf:pdf:PDF file
application/x-pdf:pdf:PDF file
text/pdf:pdf:PDF file
text/x-pdf:pdf:PDF file
	ACROREAD()

application/x-postscript:ps:PostScript file
application/postscript:ps:PostScript file
	EVINCE()

Note: I found the essential clue for this solution in the following bugzilla entry:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=585475

[raghuramos1987]

@r.stiltskin Thanks! you saved my day!

[shoffm]

This totally just saved me from a professor who seems determined to screw anyone not using Windows. Thanks for the fix!

[Drew Woodard]

thanks, this helped.

[apolo8]

Really helpfull.

Thanks for your effort

[zgrge]

Can someone confirm if that is working in 11.10 with Unity?

Can't get it embed, pdfs open in it's own evince window

(and yes I have needs_xembed in options, same mozpluggerrc worked fine in gentoo)

[zgrge]

bump