[OpenAFS] For those having trouble with Acrobat Reader 9, 10 or 11 on Windows

[Jeffrey Altman]

This is an OpenPGP/MIME signed message (RFC 2440 and 3156)
--------------enig71A08E86C447F37F9BB9FD89
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Ever since the AFS Redirector was released in September of 2011 as part
of the 1.7.x OpenAFS release series there have been reports of an
inability to save and (in some cases) open PDF files stored in AFS.
Today we have our first clue for those that are willing to file a bug
report with Adobe.

In Acrobat Reader 9.3.2 Adobe added a new security feature "Protected
Mode" which is enabled by default.  Protected mode runs AcroRd32.exe in
a sandbox and prevents undesirable network access.  The release notes
with all versions of Reader since 9.3.2 indicate that DFS and NFS
network paths are inaccessible when Protected Mode is on.

Based upon my tests PDF files can be opened and saved when a UNC path is
used directly to access AFS.  However, if a network drive mapping is
used and Protected Mode is on, saving a PDF fails without the error
dialogs indicated by Adobe's Reader documentation on Protected Mode.
Disabling Protected Mode permits the file to be saved.

I've run file system tracing of the operations performed with Protected
Mode enabled and disabled.  They are identical up to the point where the
file is created when PM is disabled.  When PM is enabled, it simply
doesn't create the file.   My guess is that the programming for
Protected Mode is incomplete.  Something like:

  if (some bad condition is detected)
  {
     report error via dialog to user
  }
  else if (DosDevice)
  {
      if (local drive)
      {
         write file to disk;
      }
      else if (network =3D=3D "Microsoft Network")
      {
         write file to disk;
      }
      else
      {
          don't know what to do - do nothing
      } =09
  }
  else
  {
      write file to disk;
  }

Only enterprise customers with Acrobat support contracts can file bug
reports with Adobe.   If anyone using OpenAFS falls into that category
and wishes to do the community a favor, please file a report.

Jeffrey Altman


--------------enig71A08E86C447F37F9BB9FD89
Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc"
Content-Description: OpenPGP digital signature
Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="signature.asc"

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (MingW32)

iQEcBAEBAgAGBQJQwD6GAAoJENxm1CNJffh45eMIAOTLJch+7CtNCdIanlZmyBH2
l1JiX2vPVFWB709HXb4XBvQ8YSV5DKp3aS/AOyu0n45FqmHkVsFUG9rewGR36987
ZyW0Pfgo4pQ0a7qmQ76taRolxo2HgodyfRvq4q7vAVzM2kwNRxaXjAe3k4+mIWZ3
I04fAQn3LveK1ILTifLjy+mpu1N0xEwrXan89HVvAgIHZICFSPasW72P+N9pc3q4
SltJYQuKMl080+Z3J3b58rGu+HYhS5j7X7WNmMt0C6Gq89eY3IM7II/iESAZ+uUJ
syRmqwT7r0FvTg3WhqvKa/Ryf34SH4rXgSurEHEgjUjqDhVHN413Zxq8mxefNtY=
=5ruo
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

--------------enig71A08E86C447F37F9BB9FD89--