Javascript Detect if Adobe Reader is installed
We have some PDF forms that don't display correctly in non-Adobe PDF readers (i.e. WebKit's built-in PDF reader does not properly display some proprietary Adobe things). We want to detect when users don't have Adobe's PDF Reader installed and give them a little warning, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to do it in 2014.
It seems this script worked in 2011. Basically it loops through navigator.plugins and looks for plugins with the name Adobe Acrobat or Chrome PDF Viewer.
for(key in navigator.plugins) {
var plugin = navigator.plugins[key];
if(plugin.name == "Adobe Acrobat") return plugin;
}
Flash forward to today, Adobe must have changed something, because I have Adobe Acrobat installed, but it doesn't seem to be in navigator.plugins! Where is it now and how do I detect it?
Answer
Ok I've updated the script and it's working perfectly fine in all browsers now:
<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html>
<head>
<title> New Document </title>
<script>
//
// http://thecodeabode.blogspot.com
// @author: Ben Kitzelman
// @license: FreeBSD: (http://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-2-Clause) Do whatever you like with it
// @updated: 03-03-2013
//
var getAcrobatInfo = function() {
var getBrowserName = function() {
return this.name = this.name || function() {
var userAgent = navigator ? navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase() : "other";
if(userAgent.indexOf("chrome") > -1){
return "chrome";
} else if(userAgent.indexOf("safari") > -1){
return "safari";
} else if(userAgent.indexOf("msie") > -1 || navigator.appVersion.indexOf('Trident/') > 0){
return "ie";
} else if(userAgent.indexOf("firefox") > -1){
return "firefox";
} else {
//return "ie";
return userAgent;
}
}();
};
var getActiveXObject = function(name) {
try { return new ActiveXObject(name); } catch(e) {}
};
var getNavigatorPlugin = function(name) {
for(key in navigator.plugins) {
var plugin = navigator.plugins[key];
if(plugin.name == name) return plugin;
}
};
var getPDFPlugin = function() {
return this.plugin = this.plugin || function() {
if(getBrowserName() == 'ie') {
//
// load the activeX control
// AcroPDF.PDF is used by version 7 and later
// PDF.PdfCtrl is used by version 6 and earlier
return getActiveXObject('AcroPDF.PDF') || getActiveXObject('PDF.PdfCtrl');
} else {
return getNavigatorPlugin('Adobe Acrobat') || getNavigatorPlugin('Chrome PDF Viewer') || getNavigatorPlugin('WebKit built-in PDF');
}
}();
};
var isAcrobatInstalled = function() {
return !!getPDFPlugin();
};
var getAcrobatVersion = function() {
try {
var plugin = getPDFPlugin();
if(getBrowserName() == 'ie') {
var versions = plugin.GetVersions().split(',');
var latest = versions[0].split('=');
return parseFloat(latest[1]);
}
if(plugin.version) return parseInt(plugin.version);
return plugin.name
}
catch(e) {
return null;
}
}
//
// The returned object
//
return {
browser: getBrowserName(),
acrobat: isAcrobatInstalled() ? 'installed' : false,
acrobatVersion: getAcrobatVersion()
};
};
var info = getAcrobatInfo();
alert(info.browser+ " " + info.acrobat + " " + info.acrobatVersion);
</script>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>