Linking to within a PDF using named destinations

I see Adobe as being very similar to Microsoft. They have a dominant product like Frame or Acrobat, and they just sit on it. Bugs persist for years and years. Requested features are never implemented. I doubt Frame 8 is much different than Frame 5. Over the past 10 years, has Frame evolved at all? The version I used in 1997 was essentially identical to the version I am using right now. If FrameMaker was produced by a two-person company (two people who cared about their product), it would be vastly better than it is. With one week of work, they could make it vastly better than it is. Alas. Corporate software.

David--Your tip about using just # instead of #nameddest= works well. Thanks.

David & Gloria--I did a quick test of putting a hyperlink for named dest in a FM file. I see what you mean now. At least I see the result in the PDF destinations. I probably won't have time to test further until next year. Thanks a bunch!

I don't know why I continue to be surprised at how poorly the user info for FM and Acrobat is integrated. Just a sentence or two in the help of both would've saved me a few hours on this, back when. I wonder if their product managers ever meet.

I'm creating a TOC with hyperlinks to named destinations. If I create a destination (a document subheading) close to the bottom of page 10 (for example), the destination is defined on page 11 and the link display the top of page 11 not the subheading. The page layout is set to continuous. I want each link to display the destination text the same distance from the top of the window/page. Any suggestions how I can achieve that?

I've been on a deadline, so haven't been able to keep up until now. Hope the following info is useful.
Destinations can be viewed in Acrobat Pro or Std (not Reader). In v.8.1.1, use View > Navigation Panels > Destinations. You can also manually add/rename/delete/set destinations there if desired.

To link to a destination in a PDF from a Word file, insert a hyperlink and add or select the base PDF file name, then type the destination info at the end, such as #mydestination.

Mike, Acrobat 7.0.9 has a history of not working (not just for me), but if you can get it to work reliably, great!

Also, you can define a dest. name in Frame that will be properly processed into a named destination in PDF file (with the funky prefix that David explained). The Help topic (in Frame 7.1 anyway) "Creating links to specific topics" explains it. Though it does not say that the destinations created with this process will be converted to destinations in PDFs, they are, as David explained. So just do the part to define the destination (Special > Hypertext > Specify Named Destination) and you will get your destination in the PDF file. You can link to that from your help file. If you don't want the prefix that Frame assigns, there is there is a product (Microtype Timesavers) that will delete them for you.
HTH. --GMc

I don't really understand what you're trying to do. I may have confused you, because of my remark about character formatting, which only applies to hyperlinks, not destinations.

What I explained before is how to put a "destination" into the Frame source. If you want to insert an actual hyperlink to a web page, then use the "Go to URL" command in a Hypertext marker.

You must either want to jump IN or jump OUT, right? I think we've covered both, no?

-- Dave

David--My main problem may be solved with your advice to eliminate "nameddest=". If not I'll upgrade Acro. That problem is critical path and involves making named dest link from help file to PDF work in the PDF.

The matter of inserting named dests in Frame source rather than PDF is tertiary priority or less--nice to have. It doesn't involve inserting a hypertext command or jump into Frame. It involves inserting the custom *destination* of a jump from a help file into Frame so that I won't have to insert it manually later in the PDF. I've never found a way to do this and the Frame help is no help.

But thanks anyway,
Mike

Yes, you can add named destinations to the Frame source. Just use the 'Secial' > 'Hypertext...' marker with the command "Specify Named Destination". (If adding the marker to body text, remember to apply some character formatting to define the extent of the linked text. Blue-color formatting might be advisable to get the traditional hyperlink look, although any other formatting will work. See the Frame docs.)

Frame will convert this marker to a named destination when exported to PDF. Just be aware of the funny prefix that Frame adds. If you enter "somename" as the destination text, the actual named destination in the PDF will be "Mn.8.newlink.somename", where "n" is the number of the Frame file in the book. (Not sure what happens of you're just saving a solitary .fm file. Google it.) Also, I think spaces in the destination text are converted to periods, and there is the 32 character limit mentioned above. Very important.

Now, if you are linking between Frame-generated PDFs, then it would be best to just use Frame's built in cross-refs. They will work fine. Note that if you are working with books, there may be some subtleties: If you are linking between books, and you want the links preserved in the book-PDFs, I think you need to have *just* the book files open when you "Save as" PDF. That tells Frame to target the book PDFs, not chapter PDFs. Something like that. Also, the Frame book and PDF directory structures must match, I think.

That may be more information than you were looking for. Let me know if you run into problems. -- Dave

Gloria--thanks for your sleuthing on this! I'm on Acro Pro 7.0.9 and going to try David's suggestion. If it's nogo there, upgrade to 8.0.

David--Do you happen to know of any way to specify custom named destinations in Frame 7.1 source files--for example, attaching to headings? I'd like to eliminate the step of adding them manually to a finished PDF.

Thanks,
Mike

Hi Donald. I don't know anything about Word in particular, but I would guess the method is just what I wrote above. With regard to viewing named destinations in a PDF, you will need Acrobat Standard or Professional. There is a menu option somewhere that will display the named destinations. (I don't believe Adobe Reader has this feature. I don't believe Adobe Reader has ANY features.) Good luck. -- Dave

I want to link to a specific bookmark or named destination within a PDF on the web from another word file on the web. Is there a way to do this? Also, How can I determine the name s of the bookmarks or named destinations that are contained within a PDF?

Donald