Closed Bug 417198 Opened 16 years ago Closed 16 years ago

desktop used as temporary directory for opened files

Categories

(Firefox :: General, defect)

PowerPC
macOS
defect
Not set
major

Tracking

()

VERIFIED DUPLICATE of bug 311292

People

(Reporter: mozilla, Unassigned)

Details

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X; en-US; rv:1.8.1.12) Gecko/20080201 Firefox/2.0.0.12
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X; en-US; rv:1.8.1.12) Gecko/20080201 Firefox/2.0.0.12

It seems this problem has been around for some time. I found this bug which is related:
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=374184
but goes much further than is necessary with additional requests.

The problem is that on Mac OS X, files that are handled by external programs are saved to the desktop when 'Open with' is selected. 'Save' option works fine and puts the files in the download directory specified in configuration. Unfortunately the Open With directory is impossible to change, either in Firefox, or (since 10.5) in OS X itself. The only way I have found to change it is by manually editing a plist file with a hex editor, which is obviously not satisfactory for normal users.

I have also seen in other bugs a fix to do with setting firefox to delete the downloaded files when it is closed. This is also a separate issue. I would like the files to stay there. I just want them downloaded to the correct place (a temporary directory).

As far as I can tell, on other platforms, 'Open with' files are saved to $TMPDIR (on linux) and a temporary directory on Windows.

Please, make the Mac platform work in the same way (picking up temporary directory from the environment), or provide a way to change it with the configuration.

I think part of the reason this problem has been around so long is confusion about the problem. I hope I have been clear here, and that something can be done.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. click on PDF
2. select 'Open With'
3. watch it saved to desktop
Actual Results:  
PDF file left on desktop

Expected Results:  
PDF file left in temporary directory ($TMPDIR)
see bug 302433 comment 17.

Note that $TMPDIR is not a solution when you're downloading lots of (large) files : we got a lot of complaints that we're filling the boot disk with information, because we can't delete them until the application is closed. Most people are not even aware that /var/tmp exists, so they can't find the files back in the finder.
OK, but would it be possible to make it a configurable option? 
At the moment the situation is somewhat bizarre, in that what is a temporary directory on other platforms, is hardcoded (and impossible to change) to the users desktop, which many people find annoying.

I can't imagine it would be too hard to put this as an option, with Desktop as the default, so users who prefer the current behaviour wouldn't see any change, and those who are bothered by it could change it to a temporary or other folder of their choosing.

I don't mean to go on, but from the discussions I think a lot of people don't realise what a pain this is. My workflow of gathering references and reading pdfs online is now completely changed, as I have to decide immediately whether to keep or delete a viewed file, or else the desktop quickly becomes unmanageable with cryptically named files. (A lot of online journals give files with numerical names etc.) 

I believe Thunderbird has the same issue, and would benefit from a similar option.

(In reply to comment #0)
> The problem is that on Mac OS X, files that are handled by external programs
> are saved to the desktop when 'Open with' is selected.

DUP of Bug 311292, isn't it? See also bugs closed as DUP of Bug 311292. 
Agreed.

I did spend some time searching, but didn't find that one.
Status: UNCONFIRMED → RESOLVED
Closed: 16 years ago
Resolution: --- → DUPLICATE
Verified dup
Status: RESOLVED → VERIFIED
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