what is the file: C:\nppdf32Log\debuglog.txt

Question

After I updated to 12.04, a file named C:\nppdf32Log\debuglog.txt occurs in my home directory. The content of the file is as the follow:

NPP_Initialize : called
NPP_GetValue is called
NPP_SetWindow : called for instance 920c0e28
Window from browser - 77594625
NPP_SetWindow : called for instance 920c0e28
Window from browser - 77594625
NPP_SetWindow : called for instance 920c0e28
Window from browser - 77594625
NPP_NewStream : called for instance 920c0e28, stream 913403b0, URL http://www.xxxxxx.com/attachments/soft/CDGM%20Optical%20Glass%20Catalog.pdf, stream size 36177984, seekable 1
NPP_Write : called for instance 920c0e28, stream 913403b0, offset = 0, length = 16384, streamlength = 36177984
Trying for window attributes
Trying for query tree
NPP_Write : called for instance 920c0e28, stream 913403b0, offset = 16384, length = 16384, streamlength = 36177984
Trying for window attributes
Trying for query tree ......

It seems this file is related to Firefox, what's exactly the problem?

Answer 1

Here's what I found using a helpful link from Tom:

nppdf32.so is the actual browser plug-in for enabling Adobe Reader PDF-support in Firefox.

There seems to be a bug in the version 9.5.1 of the plugin creating the "C:\nppdf32Log\debuglog.txt" in the working-directory where Firefox was started. This will normally be the user's home directory if Firefox is started graphically. If you start it from the command-line the "C:\nppdf32Log\debuglog.txt" file will be created in the directory where you type firefox. There can be multiple such logfiles on your system if the PDF plugin has been started using different working directories.

Answer 2

If you can't wait for the next update but are willing to hack you can edit nppdf32.so in your plugins directory to replace C:\nppdf32Log\debuglog.txt with ./.nppdf32Log.debuglog.txt The file will still be created but will be hidden. I used vim with :set bin, searched for debuglog, then used replace mode.

It's a good idea to use a HEX editor as this is a binary file. Take care only to edit the 3 characters C:\ to ./., the second \ to a ., and nothing else.