Skip to main content
A
Anonymous
May 9, 2008
Question

Javascript that will allow a viewer to open a .pdf from a .exe published project

  • May 9, 2008
  • 1 reply
  • 783 views
I had to publish my project as a .exe file because I needed to burn it to a CD for our employees who don't have access to our network. Within the project, I have several click boxes that need to open .pdf files that the employees will need to open and view. However, when I publish the project and click on the click boxes, the .pdfs try to open in IE and I receive a "page can't be displayed" error. I called Adobe Tech Support and they told me that as long as I'm publishing as a .exe, my clickboxes can't open .pdf s or any other standalone files. (I really need the autorun feature, so I can't publish to Flash).

Does anyone know a javascript that I could use to make my tutorial open the .pdf files when a user clicks on a click box?
    This topic has been closed for replies.

    1 reply

    Captiv8r
    Captiv8r
    Legend
    May 12, 2008
    Welcome to our community, Sheriln

    Actually, I've made this work by using the companion MenuBuilder application. Open MenuBuilder and create a simple project that opens the .PDF. Publish that as a .SWF. Then insert this MenuBuilder .SWF as an animation into a Captivate slide.

    E-Mail me privately if you are stuck with it. rstone75 (at) kc (dot) rr (dot) com

    Cheers... Rick
    J
    jojolina
    Inspiring
    May 12, 2008
    Hi sheriln and you too Rick

    I am shocked at Tech Support saying you can't do this . reason is that I build most of my stuff in exe output and have no problem in getting pdf/doc/xls etc. to open out of the exe package. The only trick is to physically type in the EXACT full path of the file you want opened and when publishing for CD you might really want to check out the cd drive designation on your client machines e.g. my cd drive is drive E so a Sample.pdf file would be opened as E:/ProgramFiles/TLDP/Sample.pdf. Just make sure the file is available at the destination and type this path into the open URL or File box.

    Cheers and good luck (Rick, stay well)

    Andrew
    Captiv8r
    Captiv8r
    Legend
    May 12, 2008
    Hi Andrew

    While your idea of typing the exact path would work, it would fail if the CD had a different drive letter. This is because you are locking yourself into a hard coded absolute path. Normally you want to create a relative path so that the link will work regardless of the drive letter. In this case, all you need to type is the PDF file name. Then you simply ensure the .PDF is inside the same folder as the Captivate.

    Cheers... Rick
    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices