Problem opening PDF files in a web browser
LearnAlberta.ca is currently experiencing an issue that may cause PDF files opened from our site to fail to load inside a web browser. We are aware of the issue, and are investigating a resolution. A workaround is provided below.
What is this about?
A problem currently exists with the LearnAlberta.ca website causing PDFs from the site to intermittently fail to open inside a web browser. As a result, clicking on hyperlinks to PDF files on the LearnAlberta.ca site may appear to freeze a web browser window and/or result in an error message in Adobe Reader.
Who does this affect?
Any LearnAlberta.ca visitor using Adobe Reader to open a PDF from our site may be affected by this problem. The issue is intermittent. Visitors using Firefox seem to experience the problem most frequently, but this appears to affect the Adobe Reader browser plug-in for all our supported web browsers.
What can I do?
A workaround is to download and save PDF files, and open them with Adobe Reader outside of the web browser. Steps to perform the workaround are as follows:
Internet Explorer
- Right click the hyperlink to a PDF, and choose "Save Target As ..."
- Choose a location to save the PDF file to, and click the "Save" button
- When the download completes, click the "Open" button to open the PDF in Adobe Reader
Firefox
- Right click the hyperlink to a PDF, and choose "Save Link As ..."
- Choose a location to save the PDF file to, and click the "Save" button
- When the download completes, double-click the file in the Firefox Downloads window to open the PDF in Adobe Reader
Safari
- Right click the hyperlink to a PDF, and choose "Download Linked File As ..."
- Choose a location to save the PDF file to, and click the "Save" button
- When the download completes, double-click the file in the Safari Downloads window to open the PDF in Adobe Reader
Refreshing the browser window one or more times may also cause the PDF to load.
Why is this happening?
The most recent release of the Microsoft web server platform has exposed a bug in the Adobe Reader browser plug-in causing some PDF documents to fail to open within a web browser window. Microsoft and Adobe are both aware of the issue.
What is being done?
LearnAlberta.ca is notifying our users that this issue exists and suggesting a short-term workaround to mitigate the impact. We are actively investigating a technical solution to resolve the problem transparently for our users.