browser-based review with webdav-server

i tried some stuff today, but it is still not working correctly. i can open the fdf file via url and everything's working fine, but acrobat can not sync. i updated to acrobat pro 8, but doesn't any difference.

so i compared the tomcat output when opening the fdf via url and getting it automatically with acrobat - there is absolutely no difference! in both cases, they are calling exactly the same! the webdav is working ans finding everything it should.

it seems as if acrobat just not accept what it gets as input. though the file is ok.

Yes, what you are triing to do is possible, but tricky since it's practically undocumented. You should be able to debug the bit where Acrobat imports the FDF through the code you modified in the SOAP example. To use Collab object you have to register a callback (the enumerate() function) for importing the FDF into Acrobat. This is where you need to make sure it's all being passed back to Acrobat correctly.

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
[url=http://www.pdfScripting.com]pdfscripting.com[/url]

The Acrobat JavaScript Reference, Use it Early and Often
[url=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php]http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php[/url]

Then most important JavaScript Development tool in Acrobat
[url=http://www.acrobatusers.com/tutorials/2006/javascript_console][b]The Console Window[/b][/url]

so i need to use the soap collab store? at the moment i tried to do this with the inbuild webdav support in acrobat because i have not that much experience with javascript and never worked with webservices before.

if i could do that without scripting would be great, but it seems as if there is no possibility!? i wanted to try the apache webdav server tomorrow but it wouldn't make any difference, would it?

when the webdav server returns the fdf file correctly and acrobat supports webdav for shared review, why didn't that work?

thanks a lot for your help!
bianca

Sorry, I misunderstood your post. You're already implementing comment and review using the built-in Acrobat tools from the UI to setup the comment store? From your post I thought you had modified the JS example to use WebDav.

The example is pretty generic. I didn't mean that you should use soap, the sample just shows how soap could be used with the Collab Object. I just meant that in that example the JavaScript sets of a series of callbacks that are then used to send and recieve comment data between Acrobat and the comment store, whatever that store may be. It's these functions that need to be verified.

Ok, but that's not the problem. The problem is that you've setup a WebDav Server to be the comment store, it's sending and recieving data on the WebDAV side, but Acrobat is not consuming that data correctly? Is this correct?

Threre is a simple tests you can do to make sure the FDF data that is on the WebDAV server is well formed. You've already done a little of this, but it's worth being thurough. When you opened the FDF via an URL was there a file already open in Acrobat or did opening the FDF cause another PDF to open? To look at this a little further, open the stored FDF in a text editor. You should be able to make sense of most of it. At the bottom there are two important quantities. One is a path to original file the comments were exported from and the other is the document ID. These quantities lock the FDF to a particular PDF and may make it difficult to import the comments into another file. Make sure the path is correct for how the FDF is being uses. Try deleting these quantities (carefully since you don't want to destroy any imporant syntax).

Also try copying the FDF onto your local drive and importing it directly into the PDF using the "Form > Manage Form Data > Import Data" menu item.If the FDF is correct in every way then there is a problem with the How Acrobat is interacting with the WebDav Server.


Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
[url=http://www.pdfScripting.com]pdfscripting.com[/url]

The Acrobat JavaScript Reference, Use it Early and Often
[url=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php]http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php[/url]

Then most important JavaScript Development tool in Acrobat
[url=http://www.acrobatusers.com/tutorials/2006/javascript_console][b]The Console Window[/b][/url]

Yes.

There was no file opened, it opens the pdf it's related to by itself in a new tab.

The path is set correctly. It uses localhost:8080... With that url I can open the PDF in Firefox without any problems (except there are no comments, like it should be...).

That doesn't work - Acrobat doesn't let me import anything - can't choose that menu tab.

That seems to be the problem - but how can i solve that?

Ok, I just tried Apache WebDAV and it works. Seems as if Acrobat just doesn't like Milton.

But I need to know, what happens in Acrobat when contacting the WebDAV server. Does it use the current HTTP session or create a new one? This workflow has to be implemented in an existing application and to avoid re-log-in it is necessary to use the current session so that the user is authorised to read an write on WebDAV.

I don't believe that Acrobat has a concept of session, i.e., it doesn't use any of the cookies that are in the browser. Each HTTP transaction is individual, I think, I don't know this for sure, I haven't tested it, but it fits with my experience.

I don't know the specifics of Acrobat's WebDav implementation, but I suspect that it's the simplest implementation they could do at the time (Acrobat 7). This could very well be the problem with the Milton WebDav.

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
[url=http://www.pdfScripting.com]pdfscripting.com[/url]

The Acrobat JavaScript Reference, Use it Early and Often
[url=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php]http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php[/url]

Then most important JavaScript Development tool in Acrobat
[url=http://www.acrobatusers.com/tutorials/2006/javascript_console][b]The Console Window[/b][/url]

than i probably have to modify the sample collab store... with javascript i should be able to read cookies, am i? single sign-on is a must have.

well, this seems to become a little more complicated as i thought..