We use Nextcloud version 13.02 in our small office. We have a need to display a folder of PDF files online only whereby employees will only read the documents using the PDF viewer. The employees have no need to download these PDF documents to their desktops. They have been instructed to not download the PDF documents but management would prefer employees did not have the option to download.
I’m opened to suggestions on how to remove the download button for certain groups when we share a folder.
Perhaps add to to the ‘Can Edit’ through an App that would allow us to select or de-select the download option when sharing a folder would be the most intuitive.
At the time where the PDF is opened in the browser they have already downloaded it and a simple logging proxy on localhost would reveal the download path nonetheless a disabled download button in the web UI.
When I open a PDF file on my Nextcloud, I don’t see a download occurring, unless it happens in the background without me knowing. I doubleclick on the PDF file and it opens in my browser using the PDF plugin from Nextcloud.
Can you explain what you mean by ‘they have already downloaded it’ comment? If Nextcloud does in fact download the PDF…where does it get downloaded too?
The PDF viewer is using Javascript for viewing the PDF files, therefore it’s necesarry to download them first before they can be opened by the browser.
Thank you @Sanook for responding to my post. I really appreciate your input.
I didn’t know that Javascript downloads the PDF file to view it in the same browser tab as where I clicked on the file in Nextcloud. Would you mind telling me where on my computer the file gets downloaded too.
We use thin clients in our office so it’s not really a concern that these PDF files are getting downloaded. Even if our employees do download them they can’t do anything with them. So if JavaScript does indeed download each PDF file in order to open it for reading in the Chrome browser behind the scenes, then I’m fine with that. What I’m hoping is to be able to remove the download button for these PDF files (either individually or in a group when all files or folders are selected). Perhaps even just removing the button from the page for certain folders would suffice.
Hello @Sanook, our users use workstations whereby I’ve setup a shortcut on their desktop that opens a share to the PDF folders we want them to read on their workstations. No one has a login account to Nextcloud that works at these workstations so even if they installed the Nextcloud App they wouldn’t have the credentials to login and download these files.
Only myself and the owners of our small business have login credentials.