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google-chromeselenium-webdriverpluginscapability

Selenium WebDriver (Ruby): How to download PDF files?

When running WebDriver (Ruby) using Chrome, what are the specific command-line switches or desired_capabilities to disable Chrome's built-in PDF viewer.

In other words, how does one programmatically configure Chrome to download PDF files rather than open using its internal PDF-viewer plugin?

Solution

  • Updated answer: Chrome 61 : Ruby 2.3 : ChromeDriver 2.32.498537

          download_prefs = {
        prompt_for_download: false,
        default_directory: 'desired/download/path'
      }

      plugin_prefs = {
        always_open_pdf_externally: true
      }

      options = Selenium::WebDriver::Chrome::Options.new
      options.add_preference(:download, download_prefs)
      options.add_preference(:plugins, plugin_prefs) 
      driver = Selenium::WebDriver.for :chrome, options: options