13 replies to this topic

[G_Player]

Lots of hybrid Mac-PC users on these forums. Some here have alot more software engineering experience then they let on. So I thought it a good idea to bounce this one off the pros.

I've already searched this phrase on StartPage which turned up next to nothing, but it revolves around a cookie often appearing in Safari named...

Local documents on your computer

This happens more often of late. Here's what happens.

I go to a web page (sometimes visited only minutes ago). Safari reports that it cannot connect because "a secure connection can not be made."

I open Safari Preferences, click Privacy tab, and under Cookies and other website data, it reports how many cookies have been set. And there it is… an extra cookie named, "Local documents on your computer".

I delete this cookie and try to reload the web page. Safari (again) reports it cannot establish a secure connection, and the mystery cookie has returned.

I have found that usually I can get a web site to load if I delete all cookies, empty the casche, quit and re-start Safari.

Just what the heck is "Local documents on your computer", and where is it stored? It isn't in Safari's cookie folder.

Someone please enlighten me on this topic.

[Matt Diamond]

I don't know that one

But since you are clearly concerned about this kind of thing, I recommend installing EFF's Privacy Badger browser plugin if you can. It blocks many of the tricks used to track users, and although it makes a special effort to disable Facebook and Twitter buttons that track you whether or not you click them, it also blocks suspicious behavior without relying solely on a whitelist. https://www.eff.org/privacybadger

No Safari version, unfortunately.

[DirtyHarry50]

Just as a guess, that sounds to me like a cookie related to online apps of some kind, such as iWork via iCloud, MS Office online or Google Web Apps. The cookie itself probably points to where the web app, site or whatever is keeping local documents on your computer. For example, I don't use them but I believe Google Apps like Google Docs can work offline so you'd need local documents for that of course which presumably would be synced with their online versions via the browser when opened to run Google Docs online next.

That is just a guess but it sounds like a possible scenario to me, the cookie being named for what it does. That being the case, the actual folder name where the stuff is would be inside the cookie. I forget now but aren't those just text files you can open and view? Yes, I am too lazy to find and open a cookie for Chrome on Windows. Sorry!

The cookie magically reappearing could be the work of a browser add-on that tests for its existence and creates a new one if it does not find it. You might try disabling all add-ons to see if one of them is creating the cookie. Honestly though, I wouldn't spend too much time on it as I don't see how it would have anything to do with site connection issues. That sounds more like there might be issues with the quality of the connection at times possibly? It might be issues with a given site unless this tends to randomly affect various sites. You might want to check the Apple support pages for issues with Safari connecting and search on that specific error message. I would do that myself if I was seeing that error repeatedly because chances are you aren't the first nor the last to see that one. Therefore, an abundance of documentation about it probably exists. The fun part is figuring out which advice is actually useful but it's generally out there.

[Janichsan]

G_Player, on 21 September 2017 - 10:23 PM, said:

Just what the heck is "Local documents on your computer", and where is it stored? It isn't in Safari's cookie folder.

Someone please enlighten me on this topic.

It's nothing inherently nefarious: it's just the way Safari implements HTML 5 Web Storage. I'm not sure where it's exactly stored on your drive, but both in ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/WebKit and …/WebKitCache, there are folders called "OfflineWebApplicationCache". Might be related.

[G_Player]

Thank you all for responding.

@Matt Diamond
Thanks! Noteworthy information if I can get a friend to download another browser and burn it to a CD for me.

@DirtyHarry50
I cannot use iCloud on dial-up and have no online apps. In fact, my computer cannot connect to any Google server (have them blocked in my edited "Hosts" file). The only browser add-on I have is a one called "AdBlock" which hasn't been updated in years. I checked Apple's support pages, no joy. My god, it takes an hour to load a single page.

@Jugger Bugger
Huh… weird… I don't have a directory "com.apple.Safari".

~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/WebKit

Not leastways I can find.


I also note that once this cookie appears, no site will load thereafter, Safari reports that it cannot connect.

**bangs head on table**

Welp, at least I have a work-around even though its a pain in the @ss.

thanks guys!!  : D

[Janichsan]

G_Player, on 23 September 2017 - 09:14 PM, said:

@Jugger Bugger
Huh… weird… I don't have a directory "com.apple.Safari".

~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari/WebKit

Try this: in the Finder, select "Go to Folder" from the "Go To" menu (or press shift+cmd+G), and paste the path (~/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari) in the textbox. If really nothing comes up, that might explain your problems, as that folder contains a bunch of other stuff that Safari needs.

[Frost]

G_Player, on 23 September 2017 - 09:14 PM, said:

@Jugger Bugger

*snort*

[G_Player]

Heya Janichsan,

Using the "Go to Folder" worked and I found the directory. I now remember, it's been several years ago,  there was a casche file in there that was many megabytes in size. So I basically deleted eveything in the file (thinking its just a darn casche file) and locked it. A dumb move if Apple was actually using stuff in there to make Safari work.

The file is now unlocked. So I'll keep an eye on things to see if that cookie returns.

Thank you very much for your help!

PS
Sorry for using the wrong name, been up and down on 20 foot scaffolding all day hauling and nailing up siding. Really tired.

[Frost]

G_Player, on 24 September 2017 - 10:03 PM, said:

PS
Sorry for using the wrong name, been up and down on 20 foot scaffolding all day hauling and nailing up siding. Really tired.

It's all good. That "name" for Janichsan is a bit of an inside joke going back a good ways. Seeing someone use it made me laugh.

[Janichsan]

G_Player, on 24 September 2017 - 10:03 PM, said:

PS
Sorry for using the wrong name, been up and down on 20 foot scaffolding all day hauling and nailing up siding. Really tired.

No problem. As Frost mentioned, it was funny to see that name make its return.

[the Battle Cat]

G_Player, on 24 September 2017 - 10:03 PM, said:

Sorry for using the wrong name, been up and down on 20 foot scaffolding all day hauling and nailing up siding. Really tired.

This is our history son.  This is what we are all fighting for.  

[G_Player]

Just like the nightmare Frost made a link to (and I read), apparently unlocking that casche file didn't do the trick. The nightmare cookie

Local documents on your computer

is baaaack!  *cue more scary music*

But on the other hand, reading that thread was great! ^_^

@ tBC
gibber?… gibber?!?  I haven't seen that word used in centuries… years!
And I've, at least two more weeks of siding (all by myself), to do. So I'll prolly gibber some more on these forums.

[Matt Diamond]

Sounds like you may need to reinstall Safari, or otherwise convince it to repair itself. Since it comes with the OS I don't know if there's a separate installer for it.

[the Battle Cat]

G_Player, on 26 September 2017 - 12:06 AM, said:

@ tBC
gibber?… gibber?!?  I haven't seen that word used in centuries… years!

I purloined it from a dead orator.