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Accessing the install.rdf file of an extension

  • 2 replies
  • 2 have this problem
  • 5 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

ramasaig
ramasaig
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I'm familiar with amending the 'install.rdf' file on extensions so that they'll work with later versions of FF (some do so automatically, of course, but not all). On my (old) WinXP machine, and my Win7 x64 laptop my extensions show up in the FF profile as FOLDERS, usually with a long incomprehensible name within curly brackets. Within that folder I can find the *.rdf file. On my new Win7 x64 machine the extensions show up as *.xpi files, still with the (same) long names in curly brackets. I know these can be unzipped and the *.rdf file is inside.

My questions are: Why do they show up here as *.xpi files, not as folders? Could it be something I've inadvertently done ? If I unzip them into folders with the same name, will they still work when FF starts ?

I could test that last one myself, of course, but I don't want to run the risk of making a mess before I know a bit more.

regards,

Tim Dawson

I'm familiar with amending the 'install.rdf' file on extensions so that they'll work with later versions of FF (some do so automatically, of course, but not all). On my (old) WinXP machine, and my Win7 x64 laptop my extensions show up in the FF profile as FOLDERS, usually with a long incomprehensible name within curly brackets. Within that folder I can find the *.rdf file. On my new Win7 x64 machine the extensions show up as *.xpi files, still with the (same) long names in curly brackets. I know these can be unzipped and the *.rdf file is inside. My questions are: Why do they show up here as *.xpi files, not as folders? Could it be something I've inadvertently done ? If I unzip them into folders with the same name, will they still work when FF starts ? I could test that last one myself, of course, but I don't want to run the risk of making a mess before I know a bit more. regards, Tim Dawson

All Replies (2)

finitarry
finitarry
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I see that with some extensions in my Firefox profile as well. I do not worry about it. The extensions are all working. Why not bump up the max version in the install.rdf file from the .xpi file itself? I do that by opening the .xpi file with an archive handler, extract the install rdf file, edit it, save it, then insert it back into the archive again, and save the archive, then install it.

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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Not all extensions need to be unpacked to make them working in current Firefox versions.
Having all files in one file speeds up the loading of the extension and used disk space.

Only extensions (usually dictionaries or extensions that save data in their extensions folder) need to be unpacked and have an unpack flag in their install.rdf file.