Unique names for Firefox downloads?
November 1, 2005 12:16 PM Subscribe
How do I get Firefox to rename with unique names simultaneous downloads that start out with the same name?
On Windows 2000, I download a lot of PDFs from an archive with Firefox. Each of these files comes as "out.pdf" (stupidity on the part of the creator of the archive). Because it takes forever for them to download, I like to have several files downloading at once. Problem is, if a download of a file named "out.pdf" is already going, then a new file called "out.pdf"--even from a different URL--will replace the current download in the queue so that the first download disappears and never finishes (stupidity on the part of Firefox programmers). I'd like to correct this behavior by having the files renamed at the time of download--not after, which would not help--so each file is treated as separate and unique. I am not willing to pay for a download manager. I am wedded to Firefox for this task so other browsers are of no help. I use Firefox 1.07; the latest beta crashes on my machine.
On Windows 2000, I download a lot of PDFs from an archive with Firefox. Each of these files comes as "out.pdf" (stupidity on the part of the creator of the archive). Because it takes forever for them to download, I like to have several files downloading at once. Problem is, if a download of a file named "out.pdf" is already going, then a new file called "out.pdf"--even from a different URL--will replace the current download in the queue so that the first download disappears and never finishes (stupidity on the part of Firefox programmers). I'd like to correct this behavior by having the files renamed at the time of download--not after, which would not help--so each file is treated as separate and unique. I am not willing to pay for a download manager. I am wedded to Firefox for this task so other browsers are of no help. I use Firefox 1.07; the latest beta crashes on my machine.
I have the Download Manager Tweak extension installed on my Firefox 1.0.7 and my Firefox will automatically add "-n" to the end of a download that requested the same file name as an already downloading file.
posted by rxrfrx at 12:37 PM on November 1, 2005
posted by rxrfrx at 12:37 PM on November 1, 2005
Response by poster: I'd rather not have it ask me where to save hundreds of files a day, so "Ask me where to save every file" doesn't really work.
Rxrfrx, I forgot to add something important (stupidity on the part of the poster): I have the PDF plugin set to automatically open the PDFs in Acrobat Reader outside of the browser The renaming problem does not exist if you have the files set to merely download to the disk.
posted by Mo Nickels at 12:47 PM on November 1, 2005
Rxrfrx, I forgot to add something important (stupidity on the part of the poster): I have the PDF plugin set to automatically open the PDFs in Acrobat Reader outside of the browser The renaming problem does not exist if you have the files set to merely download to the disk.
posted by Mo Nickels at 12:47 PM on November 1, 2005
I'd rather not have it ask me where to save hundreds of files a day, so "Ask me where to save every file" doesn't really work.
if you're saving them to the same directory, all you have to do is click the ok button (after you rename them) ... you can always change your preferences when you're done downloading from that one website
posted by pyramid termite at 1:07 PM on November 1, 2005
if you're saving them to the same directory, all you have to do is click the ok button (after you rename them) ... you can always change your preferences when you're done downloading from that one website
posted by pyramid termite at 1:07 PM on November 1, 2005
I have the PDF plugin set to automatically open the PDFs in Acrobat Reader outside of the browser
Can you go to Tools->options->downloads, select, PDF, and change action to "save to disk?" I know this sort of thing doesn't always work.
posted by rxrfrx at 1:18 PM on November 1, 2005
Can you go to Tools->options->downloads, select, PDF, and change action to "save to disk?" I know this sort of thing doesn't always work.
posted by rxrfrx at 1:18 PM on November 1, 2005
Response by poster: The point is to download files with unique names using the "open automatically" option without having them replace each other. If it was a matter of changing the setting to "Save to disk" I would never have posted here.
With the way I need to work, saving the files to disk is not an option.
posted by Mo Nickels at 2:23 PM on November 1, 2005
With the way I need to work, saving the files to disk is not an option.
posted by Mo Nickels at 2:23 PM on November 1, 2005
So by "download" you just mean "download to a temp directory for the purposes of viewing in multiple simultaneous Viewer windows," right?
posted by rxrfrx at 3:01 PM on November 1, 2005
posted by rxrfrx at 3:01 PM on November 1, 2005
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the problem, but can't you Alt-Click the PDF link with "Save all files to this folder" selected, thus bypassing the Acrobat plugin? The downloads are named thus: colourmap.pdf; colourmap(2).pdf
posted by Boo! at 5:03 PM on November 1, 2005
posted by Boo! at 5:03 PM on November 1, 2005
Just get the "download them" all extension- download manager-- you can download in bulk and duplicate file names are renamed automatically.
For example an adult site had videos to download and there was like 50 series with 4 parts to each. Unfortunately all four of the mpegs in each series was simply labeled mpeg1, and mpeg2 etc.. So when a duplicate was downloaded it just went from 1,2,3,4 to second set named 2 1, 2 2, 2 3, 2 4 all the way up to the last series which like 50 1, 50 2, 50 3 etc etc
posted by stavx at 6:08 PM on November 1, 2005
For example an adult site had videos to download and there was like 50 series with 4 parts to each. Unfortunately all four of the mpegs in each series was simply labeled mpeg1, and mpeg2 etc.. So when a duplicate was downloaded it just went from 1,2,3,4 to second set named 2 1, 2 2, 2 3, 2 4 all the way up to the last series which like 50 1, 50 2, 50 3 etc etc
posted by stavx at 6:08 PM on November 1, 2005
Are you stuck on using Firefox in particular? If not, I'm sure you could whip something up with your favorite scripting language. In particular, AutoIt has a nice InetGet function and some excellent help docs to make it less intimidating...
posted by ph00dz at 6:52 PM on November 1, 2005
posted by ph00dz at 6:52 PM on November 1, 2005
instead of opening them in a new tab, how about starting another firefox browser, right click to copy link from the first browser and paste in the 2nd browser ... i don't know how many you need to look at at once, but i would think 4 or 5 at a time might be doable
i just tried opening two instances of adobe reader with two different files ... i can switch back and forth, but i can't view both at once
maybe that's the problem?
posted by pyramid termite at 9:52 PM on November 1, 2005
i just tried opening two instances of adobe reader with two different files ... i can switch back and forth, but i can't view both at once
maybe that's the problem?
posted by pyramid termite at 9:52 PM on November 1, 2005
Response by poster: download to a temp directory for the purposes of viewing in multiple simultaneous Viewer windows
More or less, but a download is a download. If it hits the download manager, it's a download, temp destination or no. And just to clarify, it's a problem with Firefox, not with Acrobat Reader.
can't you Alt-Click the PDF link with "Save all files to this folder" selected, thus bypassing the Acrobat plugin?
You are misunderstanding the problem. I already bypass the Acrobat plugin and I don't want to save the files to a folder.
Just get the "download them" all extension- download manager-- you can download in bulk and duplicate file names are renamed automatically.
This is not a solution, as the pages have upwards fo 100 PDFs ranging in size from 3MB to 100MB; I am on a slow network so I don't want to download files I don't need; and since the files do not have recognizable names, I wouldn't be able to figure out which of all the files I wanted and which I didn't.
instead of opening them in a new tab, how about starting another firefox browser, right click to copy link from the first browser and paste in the 2nd browser
This doesn't work because Firefox uses one download manager for all Firefox windows and tabs.
posted by Mo Nickels at 7:05 AM on November 2, 2005
More or less, but a download is a download. If it hits the download manager, it's a download, temp destination or no. And just to clarify, it's a problem with Firefox, not with Acrobat Reader.
can't you Alt-Click the PDF link with "Save all files to this folder" selected, thus bypassing the Acrobat plugin?
You are misunderstanding the problem. I already bypass the Acrobat plugin and I don't want to save the files to a folder.
Just get the "download them" all extension- download manager-- you can download in bulk and duplicate file names are renamed automatically.
This is not a solution, as the pages have upwards fo 100 PDFs ranging in size from 3MB to 100MB; I am on a slow network so I don't want to download files I don't need; and since the files do not have recognizable names, I wouldn't be able to figure out which of all the files I wanted and which I didn't.
instead of opening them in a new tab, how about starting another firefox browser, right click to copy link from the first browser and paste in the 2nd browser
This doesn't work because Firefox uses one download manager for all Firefox windows and tabs.
posted by Mo Nickels at 7:05 AM on November 2, 2005
the download them all extension allows you to choose what to download--- you are not obligated to dl the whole page there-- you as the user specify what to batch download
posted by stavx at 6:27 PM on November 2, 2005
posted by stavx at 6:27 PM on November 2, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by electric_counterpoint at 12:31 PM on November 1, 2005