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rrrowell
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October 15, 2021
Answered

Confusion over SDKs

  • October 15, 2021
  • 1 reply
  • 463 views

I am trying to upgrade a plugin to 64-bit that is currently working as 32-bit but has not been touched in 10+ years.  And for the record, I wasn't the one that wrote it 10 years ago.

 

I am trying to understand basic jargon to ensure I am in the right place.  Right off the bat, I find myself confused here:

 

https://opensource.adobe.com/dc-acrobat-sdk-docs/acrobatsdk/gettingstarted.html

 

It compares features across 3 different SDKs, or so it seems.  One is "DC", the next is "PDFL" and the last is "Acrobat".   But when I navigate to the download page (here: https://developer.adobe.com/console/servicesandapis), I see numerous SDKs.  One is called "Adobe Acrobat" and the text describes it as "The Acrobat DC SDK is a set...".  So this seems to encompass "DC" and "Acrobat" together, but the prior page listed them as distinct SDKs.  And for the "PDFL", not that I am likely to need it, I can't find anything in the downloads that looks like it is the PDFL. 

 

None of this may be that important, but since inevitably my first attempt(s) at getting a 64-bit add-in to work is going to fail for some reason (and already has), I find myself agitated by simple things that shouldn't be hard to understand, yet are.  Can anyone tell me what I'm missing?  Why would the first link compare 3 SDKs when I cannot find a download that unambigiously aligns with any of the three? 

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    Correct answer Test Screen Name

    That document is certainly lacking useful context. The Acrobat SDK documents have laid, neglected and unchanged, for the best part of 20 years, but Adobe recently have returned to edit these documents beyond what I recognise.

    My GUESS is that

    • DC means the Adobe Document Cloud API, a web based platform which sends work to Adobe's servers. A lot of recent innovation here, clearly Adobe feel it's the future. There is no compatibility with Acrobat or plugins. A variety of charging models. https://www.adobe.io/apis/documentcloud/dcsdk/
    • PDFL is the PDF Library; licensed for Adobe by DataLogics. Used to make freestanding apps which run without Acrobat. The API is similar to the plug-in API, but without the viewing parts. Licensing by negotiation. No free download. https://www.datalogics.com/products/pdf-sdks/adobe-pdf-library
    • And Acrobat is of course the Acrobat SDK. Which applies equally to Acrobat DC. (DC can be thought of as a family of products, of which Acrobat is a member, and the Document Cloud API is a member).

    So this part of the document could be thought of as "compare Acrobat SDK with these other Adobe PDF development APIs (which you will of course have heard of)".

    1 reply

    T
    Test Screen NameCorrect answer
    Legend
    October 15, 2021

    That document is certainly lacking useful context. The Acrobat SDK documents have laid, neglected and unchanged, for the best part of 20 years, but Adobe recently have returned to edit these documents beyond what I recognise.

    My GUESS is that

    • DC means the Adobe Document Cloud API, a web based platform which sends work to Adobe's servers. A lot of recent innovation here, clearly Adobe feel it's the future. There is no compatibility with Acrobat or plugins. A variety of charging models. https://www.adobe.io/apis/documentcloud/dcsdk/
    • PDFL is the PDF Library; licensed for Adobe by DataLogics. Used to make freestanding apps which run without Acrobat. The API is similar to the plug-in API, but without the viewing parts. Licensing by negotiation. No free download. https://www.datalogics.com/products/pdf-sdks/adobe-pdf-library
    • And Acrobat is of course the Acrobat SDK. Which applies equally to Acrobat DC. (DC can be thought of as a family of products, of which Acrobat is a member, and the Document Cloud API is a member).

    So this part of the document could be thought of as "compare Acrobat SDK with these other Adobe PDF development APIs (which you will of course have heard of)".

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