Which development path to adopt for the "Document Upload Plugin"?
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We are building a cloud-based “Document Management System”, where we can make searching and retrieval of documents easy and allow the users to organize the documents based on several characteristics or metadata.
In order to make Document Management System easily accessible and more usable, we need plugins/integration of the native document viewer/editor applications for different document formats.
For example, we can have a plugin for Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
Specifications of the Plugin / Integration
The plugin will facilitate the authenticated user to upload the document directly from the document viewer/editor with specific metadata to the cloud-based document management system.
I have to develop Add-on/Plugin for Adobe Acrobat Reader DC and I am confused about which development path better suits my requirements as the Acrobat SDK proposes three development paths
- JavaScript
- Plugins
- Inter Application Communication
Here is the link to the development paths: https://opensource.adobe.com/dc-acrobat-sdk-docs/acrobatsdk/choose.html
Summarising The Requirements:
- The user clicks on the "File" menu and then clicks on the "Upload" submenu
- A dialogue box will open
- The dialogue box will ask the user for authentication if the user is not already authenticated
- Otherwise, the dialogue box will ask for the metadata for the currently opened document
- Finally, the user will press the upload button to upload the document
- A POST API call be made to upload the document along with the metadata asked in the dialogue box
- On upload API success/error, the dialogue box will display the status of the uploaded document
NOTE: Some fields require API calls to populate the dropdowns
Here is a screenshot of the plugin dialogue that we have developed for Microsoft Office.
I will be grateful if someone can narrow down which development best suits my requirements.
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Additional factor: the development you describe seems to go beyond the allowed limits for Acrobat Reader. You will probably need to budget for a subscription to Acrobat for each end user.
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Hi, Thanks for the reply.
Can you please clarify which requirements are beyond the allowed limits for the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC?
It will help me to think of some other way to achieve the task.
Mentioning the requirements
Summarising The Requirements:
- The user clicks on the "File" menu and then clicks on the "Upload" submenu
- A dialogue box will open
- The dialogue box will ask the user for authentication if the user is not already authenticated
- Otherwise, the dialogue box will ask for the metadata for the currently opened document
- Finally, the user will press the upload button to upload the document
- A POST API call be made to upload the document along with the metadata asked in the dialogue box
- On upload API success/error, the dialogue box will display the status of the uploaded document
NOTE: Some fields require API calls to populate the dropdowns
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Acrobat Reader plug-ins require a license from Adobe which will only be granted after they have reviewed your proposal. There are no guarantees about whether it will be accepted. There is a fee, of up to $25000 pa (though this is the maximum, for DRM plug-ins). Here is the agreement, which gives the framework of what is forbidden. I might be wrong, and I'd be happy to be wrong, but please review it yourself. https://opensource.adobe.com/dc-acrobat-sdk-docs/devnet/rikla.html - click on the link "Adobe RIKLA application ".
I may have misinterpreted part of your requirement. "Otherwise, the dialogue box will ask for the metadata for the currently opened document". Setting metadata is a change to the document. The RIKLA license forbids changing the document in a Reader plug-in.
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To add one more thing - the page linked to says "Reader Integration keys are only available to strategic partners based on a negotiated price. " In other words, they aren't something you can just buy. And Adobe's definition of "strategic partner" is of course not public. I was also wrong to say DRM plugins are $25000 pa; it has gone up and is now $50000 pa.
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Thanks for the detailed reply.
I think I shouldn't have used the word "metadata".
I should have rephrased it to "user input" to be uploaded along with the PDF document upload.
Is the plugin development possible now?
If so, what development approach is suitable for my task?
- JavaScript
- Plugin
- Inter Application Communication
Here is the screenshot of dialogue I want to develop in Adobe Acrobat.