The 10.1.1 update to Acrobat X and Adobe Reader X on Sep 13 2011 introduces a number of workflow-critical changes to the folder locations and persistent variable storage methods used by both products on Windows and Mac, and users who have scripts in the user-context JavaScript folders, or who rely on global persistent variables, will be affected by the change and must take action. I've summarized the pertinent details here.
For in-depth information on application security models in Acrobat and Adobe Reader, see the Application Security Library at ADC, which has been updated to reflect the 10.1.1 patch.
Note that as of right now, the Acrobat Administrator's Information Manager (AIM) app has not been updated.
JavaScript changes in 10.1.1
2011-09-14 02:07:32
2011-09-14 06:46:44
#2
Interesting news. Thank you Dave.
2011-09-14 11:00:05
#3
It's just like Adobe to pull a fast one that throws everyone off balance, but I don't see either JS change (or any of the other ones) as having any real significance compared to the changes they've made in the last 3 versions. I would hope this doesn't impact you guys. And it's a good object lesson. Rely as little as possible on features that Adobe can easily change (i.e., ones they don't depend on). Of course it's difficult to know, and we've all been burnt.
The local JS folder change is somewhat of a pain, but no biggie. Just a move to a new location. And I almost never use it anyway. I instruct my clients to always use the APP level JS folder because it's easier for them to find manually, as well as for my automated installers.
I stopped using globals for anything important a long time ago, back when they made it unusable as a global. And as far as persistence, storing anything important as a persistent global is just bad programming. It has never been a reliable storage location. And subject to large changes by Adobe. They've always used it for their own purposes, seen it as a security problem, and not much cared about the rest of us.
The change in names on the Shared and Tools pains is weird and awkward, especially so since its only for Reader, but nothing new there. Otherwise the updates look pretty good. They are actually cleaning up X a bit. Hope they keep it up. There are a lot more issues that need fixing.
The local JS folder change is somewhat of a pain, but no biggie. Just a move to a new location. And I almost never use it anyway. I instruct my clients to always use the APP level JS folder because it's easier for them to find manually, as well as for my automated installers.
I stopped using globals for anything important a long time ago, back when they made it unusable as a global. And as far as persistence, storing anything important as a persistent global is just bad programming. It has never been a reliable storage location. And subject to large changes by Adobe. They've always used it for their own purposes, seen it as a security problem, and not much cared about the rest of us.
The change in names on the Shared and Tools pains is weird and awkward, especially so since its only for Reader, but nothing new there. Otherwise the updates look pretty good. They are actually cleaning up X a bit. Hope they keep it up. There are a lot more issues that need fixing.
2011-09-23 04:27:12
#4
Happy Friday to all,
well im confused, kinda. My JS were located at C\Users\dan\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\10.0\JavaScripts when custom buttons and custom menu items stopped working. i read an article on Acrobat Ninja that said we have to manually creaate a new priviledged folder and store our JS there. i did that and it still doesnt work. Thom just wrote that he instructs his clients to save their JS in the AppData, which is where i was saving them. Can anyone give some details on exactly how and what to do to get our JS working again.
thanks again!!
Daniel-
PS: Thom i became a member of pdfscripting.com and i love it!
well im confused, kinda. My JS were located at C\Users\dan\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\10.0\JavaScripts when custom buttons and custom menu items stopped working. i read an article on Acrobat Ninja that said we have to manually creaate a new priviledged folder and store our JS there. i did that and it still doesnt work. Thom just wrote that he instructs his clients to save their JS in the AppData, which is where i was saving them. Can anyone give some details on exactly how and what to do to get our JS working again.
thanks again!!
Daniel-
PS: Thom i became a member of pdfscripting.com and i love it!
2011-09-23 04:36:53
#5
Update:
i misspelled Privileged when i created the new folder. Now my custom menu items and custom buttons are working. Still, thank you all very very much. I am grateful to all of the dedicated caring individuals like yourselves.
Daniel-
i misspelled Privileged when i created the new folder. Now my custom menu items and custom buttons are working. Still, thank you all very very much. I am grateful to all of the dedicated caring individuals like yourselves.
Daniel-
2011-09-23 08:21:43
#6
Glad you got it working. As part of Adobe's commitment to customers, they ensure their products use as many words from spelling bee finals as possible.
2011-09-23 10:37:18
#7
Cheers Daniel!!
Well, I've already had two calls from customers on this issue. In one case I had set up some code to use the local JS folder as a temp folder. Just needed a place to put a PDF. The original code used the real temp folder, but when the user installed the script on Acrobat 10.0, there was no temp folder. The app.getPath function threw an exception. So rather than make him go around to each user's system and create a new temp folder, I just changed the code to use a folder I was sure would exist and be stable. Well, I got egg on my face on this one:(
So the Big question is, "Why don't these folders exists?" This seems like a major over site in the new Acrobat. These are standard Acrobat folders. That's why they are provided by the app.getPath function. They've always existed in the past, and now the user has to create them manually? Very sad:(
Well, I've already had two calls from customers on this issue. In one case I had set up some code to use the local JS folder as a temp folder. Just needed a place to put a PDF. The original code used the real temp folder, but when the user installed the script on Acrobat 10.0, there was no temp folder. The app.getPath function threw an exception. So rather than make him go around to each user's system and create a new temp folder, I just changed the code to use a folder I was sure would exist and be stable. Well, I got egg on my face on this one:(
So the Big question is, "Why don't these folders exists?" This seems like a major over site in the new Acrobat. These are standard Acrobat folders. That's why they are provided by the app.getPath function. They've always existed in the past, and now the user has to create them manually? Very sad:(
;-)
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