Dynamic Bookmarks in Reader Extended form

> I thought that Reader extending the document was going to ALLOW me to use all those Pro functions in Reader.No, it allows you to use some features that are normally not available with Reader. If enabled by Acrobat, the rights pertain to forms, commenting, and digital signatures.

George

Sure .. but that doesn't answer the question of whether dynamically adding bookmarks are or are not available in an extended document.

According to the Acrobat Javascript API, The Bookmark class should be available if the user has File Attachment rights (which I have enabled via Reader Extensions).

BTW - the security error now occurs if running the extended doc in either Acrobat Pro or Reader.

Other classes like ADBC etc are enabled OK ... surely the Bookmark class should too?

The Acrobat JavaScript reference indicates the createChild and remove methods are only available in Acrobat Standard and Pro, but not Reader. Usage rights don't even enter into it. Bookmarks are unrelated to embedded files.

I'd be surprised if anything related to bookmark creation/deletion with JavaScript works with an XFA form, even if using Pro and a non-extended document. You cannot manually add (and therefore remove) bookmarks with an XFA form in Acrobat Pro, regardless of whether the document has usage rights applied.

Where in the Acrobat JavaScript reference (what page, what version) do you think it indicates you should be able to do this with Reader?

George

Firstly, thanks George for your time to respond to this thread.

What you are referring to in the Javascript document (unavailable in Acrobat Reader) - referenced by the blaxk "x" in the security section of the class is assuming the form is not Reader extended.

If you have a look at the ADBC reference - that also has an "x", yet that is working fine.

Definitely the dynamic Bookmark creation works well in Acrobat Pro - I have a dynamic form with a complex repeating sub form. I am able to dynamically create bookmarks for each instance of the subform, and highlight them if they have been completed incorrectly.

It is only when I reader extend the form that the bookmark creation stops working.

I personally believe this to be an oversight in Reader Extensions, but I logged it here to see if anybody else had similar experience.

Are you familiar with Livecycle 8.2.1 Reader Extensions, or are you looking more from a forms point of view ... Arguably I probably should not post here about RE .. that is more Livecycle ES related.

Thanks

I'm referring to the last box (Accessibilty) of the "Quick bar" for both the createChild and remove bookmark method. Both contain an X, indicating these methods are unavailable with Reader, regardless of any usage rights that may be applied to the document. This is not a security issue.

Regarding ADBC, if you're saying that you've got it to work with Reader, that's very interesting. I've never heard of anyone getting ADBC to work with Reader. If you're referring to SOAP or OLEDB data connections with XFA forms, that's a different matter. These can work with Reader if you use Reader Extensions to apply the "Online" form usage right.

Regarding bookmarks, maybe we're talking about different things. Can you clarify exactly what you mean by bookmark? If you think it's an oversight with Reader Extensions, which usage right would you think would enable their creation, specifically?

George

George has it right. If there is an X in the Reader Box then that method is not offically availible in Acrobat Reader. Sometimes there are functions or methods that have ambigous security and switch back and forth between versions, and sometimes these functions, and others, are not correctly documented. But the bookmark and ADBC functions are not amoung those.

They aren't allowed in Acrobat Reader at all, and never have been as long as they've existed (I've got all the old references).

It seems that you have the LiveCycle Rights Server? So you can apply any and all rights that you want? Very few people have access to this server. So there isn't a lot of expertise out there on the specifics of the rights not granted by Acrobat Pro. And to make it worse, the Acrobat JavaScript Reference is ambigious about exactly which right is needed for enabling each function.

But there are a couple of things that are clear. First, enabling a PDF with any Reader Rights disables most functionality that is not associated with the specific Right. Second, even if JavaScript functionality marked with an X for Reader usage does in fact work in Reader, it can't be counted on. It's just a mistake on Adobe's part. You can contact Adobe and ask them to change it for you, but unless you are a super big customer I doubt you'll get far.

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]

I do have to correct this since it is wrong. You can indeed add bookmarks to an XFA form in Acrobat Pro if it has not been extended.

George

Thanks Thom, George,

Thom - I think you understand my comments the best - my issue is with Reader Extensions. There is little documentation around it, other than an overriding statement that you can unlock all functionality from Acrobat Pro

This is a medium size customer, but still a Government department, and they have purchased LC ES Reader Extensions at retail cost (not cheap), including support. This is a really useful feature for them, and it should be available.

I will continue to chase up Adobe on this....

Unfortunatley it's not true that all the Acrobat Pro functionality can be unlocked. There is functionality that simply does not exist in Reader.

Good luck on getting them to unlock the bookmark functionality. This would be very useful for a lot of people. But I think you should start looking at an alternate methodology for doing what you want.

Cheers,
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]

Thanks Thom,

I think you hit the nail on the head by saying that it would be useful functionality to have, but not always easy to get from Adobe.

Reader supports Bookmarks in documents, so (I assume) it would not be too much of a stretch to support dynamic bookmarks.

I spoke to Adobe's Australian Tech lead on the matter of getting fixes and enhances done. He agreed that big customers have more leverage, but also that if lots of people request something, that it's more likely to appear on their roadmap.

If others would also find this (and obviously other) functions useful, then we should (individually) log those items to the go/wish site. This is the same for bugs in the product.

Perhaps we could start a thread on this forum for people to post their most desired functionality that is currently missing in the current version of Designer/Acrobat