Controling Adobe Reader from VB .NET Application.

[RLaurin]

Many years ago (10+) we wrote an C++ application that used the then SDK to simply load a PDF into Reader and flip pages one by one.  This worked on Windows XP with an old version of Acrobat Reader.

Today, we're in the Windows 7 & 10 realm.  Our C++ programmer is long time gone.  We downloaded the Adobe Acrobat (Reader) DC SDK and tried to compile the VB Samples. No can do, I do not have (nor need) Adobe Acrobat.

We don't want a full pledge plug-in for Reader, we just need to be able to flip the pages from a VB .NET application running on ONE (1) station in our Corporation.

How can we simply accomplish this without buying Adobe Acrobat and a $50,000 license Key for Adobe Reader SDK ?

[Bernd Alheit]

Try the forum for Acrobat SDK.

[Test Screen Name]

Only DRM plug-ins cost $50k.  Ordinary plugins, if Adobe permits them, are much less ( POA). Still, a single copy of Acrobat is much cheaper, don’t know why you say you don’t need it. All the VB samples need Acrobat.

[RLaurin]

Why I say I don't need Acrobat, is that my development with Visual Studio .NET machine does not require a permanent Acrobat. The user's station only needs Reader.  No Visual Studio nor Acrobat.

The Reader Development Center page, has a link: Developing for Adobe Reader using Acrobat SDK​

Unfortunately my C skill are null, that's why I need to do it in Visual Basic.

[Test Screen Name]

Which C API are you using? Look at the source code. I can't think what API in C would do this with Reader.

[RLaurin]

Right now I am looking at:

Acrobat DC SDK\Version 1\InterAppCommunicationSupport\VBSamples\ActiveViewVB\

and

Acrobat XI SDK\Version 1\InterAppCommunicationSupport\VBSamples\ActiveViewVB\

I got both of them working (well.. compiling) only once I installed a full Adobe ACROBAT, but they will not work on another station with Adobe READER.

[Test Screen Name]

Yes, that's correct. Those are samples for Acrobat, not Reader. That's why I asked you to look at the source code. I mean YOUR source code of your app that is working. You need to discover what API it is using, because it certainly can't use the one that ActiveView uses.

[RLaurin]

The (ours) original program was written in C# back in  2001, using the SDK from then.... This SDK does not work with anything beyond Windows XP. As far as we can tell.

The technique used back then was to launch whatever version of AcroRD32.exe found in the registry and grab the handle. That's as far as my understanding of C allowed me to go.

[Test Screen Name]

Nothing has changed in the supported Reader API since 2001. You have DDE, maybe you used that. You first said your app was in C++, not C#. Anyway refer to the documentation for the very few supported Reader interfaces.

You our are the only one who can read and analyse your source code ... !