Cannot add action to button in PDF (Acrobat Pro 2017)

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum, so apologise if I am asking this question in the wrong place.

I am using Acrobat 2017 Pro to build a collection of PDFs for our product. In Acrobat X we did this without issue for years. The problem I am having is linking an action to a link.

The procedure I have followed in the past is:

1. Use Word to build a UI for the collection of PDFs, and in that Word document create links to each of the document names. As well as this, create a Search button that can be configured in the PDF so that when people click it, the Advanced Search window opens and they can search across one document or multiple documents.
2. Create a Search Index (pdx) file.
3. Create a PDF from the Word document and link it to the Search Index.
4. Create the link in the PDF to invoke the Edit > Advanced Search window.
5. Save the PDF and reopen it.
6. Click the Search button to invoke the Advanced Search window.

What is happening this time is that at step 4, when I try to edit the Search button to add an action, it fails. Specifically:

1. I open the PDF and right-click on the search button and select Edit Link. The Link Properties window opens.
2. I click the Actions tab, then choose Execute a menu item, then click Add. The Menu Item dialog opens but is empty. So I can't enter the required menu action.

As a workaround, I can click Edit > Advanced Search, and the dialog opens and I can search successfully, but my users are used to the Search button working in their collection of documents so will see this as a bug in our documentation.

Any ideas?

Thanks, Louise.