Command line to force a Firefox restart or accept a new URL

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Level 6

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Command line to force a Firefox restart or accept a new URL

I use pan as my newsreader, installed under the excellent fink package.
I have set firefox as my default reader using the following line in pan:
/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox %s
where %s is the the "clicked" URL.
It works fine - - the first time. After that, I get a firefox error that I can only run one instance at a time.
I know there are workarounds using multiple profiles, but all I want to do is force Firefox to restart using the new URL.
I have searched through the command lines for Mozilla, Firefox, etc and have not found anything that works.
Pan works through the bash shell, so any *nix command that would force Firefox to accept the new URL without complaint would work.
Any ideas???
Thanks

Dual G5, MacBookPro 15, MacBookPro3,1 17 Core2Duo, Mac OS X (10.4.10), BC1.3 Vista Ultimate 64-bit

Posted on Sep 29, 2007 12:40 PM

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Answer 1

Bill Scott

Level 6

11,465 points

Sep 29, 2007 1:09 PM in response to nerowolfe

This is weird, because using the command

/Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox

you can start multiple instances of firefox simultaneously.

You can kill the process like this:

kill $( ps -ax | grep firefox-bin | grep -v grep | awk '{print $1}' )

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Answer 2

Bill Scott

Level 6

11,465 points

Sep 29, 2007 1:10 PM in response to Bill Scott

Another thing you can do is install fink's X-11 based firefox, and then presumably it will behave normally. This also has the advantage that you can have the normal firefox open for something else.

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Answer 3

Sep 29, 2007 1:18 PM in response to Bill Scott

After copy-pasting the line command that you've put in your message, I get an error. It says "A copy of Firefox is already open. Only one copy of Firefox can be open at that time".

It's strange considering that I didn't get same as you. Hum… Maybe there's something I should tweak to span multiple Firefox instances (for whatever reason).

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Answer 4

nerowolfe Author

Level 6

13,090 points

Sep 29, 2007 1:27 PM in response to Daniel Lafontaine

Daniel Lafontaine wrote:
After copy-pasting the line command that you've put in your message, I get an error. It says "A copy of Firefox is already open. Only one copy of Firefox can be open at that time".

It's strange considering that I didn't get same as you. Hum… Maybe there's something I should tweak to span multiple Firefox instances (for whatever reason).

That is exactly what I get for an error message after the first time Firefox starts and that's the problem.
I simply want to force it to accept the new URL and be happy 🙂
RIght now, I have to manually close firefox each time I use it with Pan.

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Answer 5

nerowolfe Author

Level 6

13,090 points

Sep 29, 2007 1:30 PM in response to Bill Scott

That would work, but I am using Pan in a rootless X window on my MBP and not actually bothering with the terminal. Besides, that's not any different from simply closing Firefox manually after opening it.
I just want a way to force a running instance to accept a new URL.

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Answer 6

nerowolfe Author

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13,090 points

Sep 29, 2007 1:38 PM in response to Bill Scott

Bill Scott wrote:
Another thing you can do is install fink's X-11 based firefox, and then presumably it will behave normally. This also has the advantage that you can have the normal firefox open for something else.

Let me see if this works, although I don't see Firefox listed under the files in FinkCommander. It might not be available for OS-X 10.4/Intel
http://pdb.finkproject.org/pdb/package.php/firefox
Will the 10.3 version work? "One never knows, do one?" 🙂

Message was edited by: nerowolfe

Message was edited by: nerowolfe

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Answer 7

nerowolfe Author

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13,090 points

Sep 29, 2007 1:57 PM in response to Bill Scott

See my other post about X-11 firefox for OS-X 10.4/Intel
Now, to pursue this from another tack, where can I find the command line options for Safari?
If I substute Sarari for Firefox in Pan, Safari looks on my local disk for the URL.
I have alread tried "Safari -help" and have gotten nowhere. I guess it's a big secret with Apple.
I googled for Safari command line and also got nowhere.
The %s is close for parameter passing, but no cigar 🙂

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Answer 8

Bill Scott

Level 6

11,465 points

Sep 29, 2007 2:40 PM in response to nerowolfe

I have firefox1.5 installed, which I think is in fink unstable.

http://pdb.finkproject.org/pdb/browse.php?summary=firefox

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Answer 9

nerowolfe Author

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Sep 29, 2007 3:12 PM in response to Bill Scott

Great catch - thanks
Which one? They have a bunch.
My guess is the first one marked 1.5 which I will now get.
I see them but I can't figure out how to download it.

firefox 1.0.8-1005 Lightweight browser from mozilla.org
firefox-dev 1.0.8-1005 Lightweight browser from mozilla.org
firefox-shlibs 1.0.8-1005 Lightweight browser from mozilla.org
firefox1.5 1.5.0.12-1001 Lightweight browser from mozilla.org
firefox1.5-dev 1.5.0.12-1001 Lightweight browser from mozilla.org
firefox1.5-shlibs 1.5.0.12-1001 Lightweight browser from mozilla.org

Message was edited by: nerowolfe

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Answer 10

biovizier

Level 5

7,931 points

Sep 29, 2007 6:46 PM in response to nerowolfe

..." Pan works through the bash shell, so any *nix command that would force Firefox to accept the new URL without complaint would work.'...

Perhaps ' /usr/bin/open' will do what you want (see the ' man' page). For example, if %s is the url:
<pre>

open -b org.mozilla.firefox %s
open -a Firefox %s</pre>

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Answer 11

nerowolfe Author

Level 6

13,090 points

Sep 29, 2007 9:00 PM in response to biovizier

Unfortunately, Pan does not give the complete option to start a browser. It only has a window which allows one to select some commands, but I will see what happens.
Yes it works!
Your last suggestion is what it took. A far less complex command line, as well, and no need to supply a path.
Thanks a heap 🙂

Message was edited by: nerowolfe

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