539341 - Safer way for scripts to clear Firefox cache

Status: NEW

(Firefox :: General, defect)

Description

[Matěj Cepl]

I have a script which runs overnight before I back up my hard drive, which
clears application caches so these bulky and quick-changing files don't get
copied unnecessarily.  It essentially runs "rm -rf
/home/beland/.mozilla/firefox/prfa9x47.default/Cache".  Unfortunately, this
causes problems the next morning.  For example, if I try to load my homepage
(which is http://fs/beland/useful.html) after clearing the cache in this
manner, I get this error message:

>>
File not found

Firefox can't find the file at http://fs/beland/useful.html.

*   Check the file name for capitalization or other typing errors.
*   Check to see if the file was moved, renamed or deleted.
<<

If I click on the "Reload current page" icon on the Firefox toolbar, I get the
same error message.  If I shift-Reload, I get my normal homepage.

It seems like it would be more robust if Firefox could more intelligently deal
with missing cache files and reload the page over the network in such cases. 
The error message currently provided is misleading and unnecessary.  This
solution would also handle other cases where Firefox has been unexpectedly
transplanted, or something unusual has happened to the filesystem.

Another solution would be to provide some documented way for command-line
scripts to tell Firefox to empty its own cache.  I don't see any options to do
that in its manpage or built-in --help documentation.

Current version: firefox-3.5.6-1.fc12.i686