Hi; I tried open with a specific pdf file, without -F and without -a, and it eventually opened Preview with an error message that didn't make sense to me (insufficient permissions for reading for a file which I had specified a couple of hours previously, it was 644), but when I clicked ok to proceed, it went on to display the file I asked for.
I so I tried this again with a different pdf file and it displayed the previous pdf file I requested, but not the current file I requested. Since I suspected that it opened both files (since I had not specified -F), I tried to find a Preview tab for the other file. The second file did not exist in Preview display since there was only one instance of Preview running (that I could see) and it did not have any tabs. So, something is definitely broken here, but no clue what it is. Thanks, Ken On Sat, Apr 15, 2023 at 1:10 PM chilli.names...@gmail.com <chilli.names...@gmail.com> wrote: > > What happens with > > /usr/bin/open some_file.pdf > > ? > > > On Apr 15, 2023, at 15:57, Kenneth Wolcott <kennethwolc...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > Hi; > > > > off-topic question: Apple open command and/or apps in /Applications > > are half-broken now > > > > I'm asking the question here because I think that there are lots of > > people who might know either the answer to my question and/or can help > > me find the answer by describing my problem more accurately/precisely. > > > > I don't think anything MacPorts did to my Mac via a port > > installation caused this problem. > > > > The problem: > > > > example problem: > > > > /usr/bin/open -F -a /Applications/Reader.app/Contents/MacOS/Reader > > some_file.pdf > > > > The Reader app comes up to the Dock but does not display the file, and no > > error. > > > > example problem variant: > > > > /Applications/Reader.app/Contents/MacOS/Reader some_file.pdf > > > > Same result. > > > > This happens with other applications which I routinely use the open > > command (in a script) to display files. > > > > Uninstalling the app and re-installing seems to have no effect. > > > > Rebooting does not change the problem behavior. > > > > I experienced this problem just recently. > > > > The problem did not appear right after the last time that I updated > > the MacOS via announced patch from Apple. > > > > When I launch Reader from the LaunchPad and use the file->open dialog > > to open a file and it works as desired. > > > > When I launch Preview from the Dock I am able to use the file->open > > dialog to successfully display a file. > > > > M1, Ventura 13.3.1 > > > > So, what did I do to screw up my M1 mac-mini? > > > > How to diagnose the problem? > > > > How to more accurately/precisely describe the problem? > > > > Thankfully I have xpdf from MacPorts which I can invoke in my > > script(s) to display my pdf files :-) > > > > Thanks, > > Ken Wolcott
