How can I hyperlink from FM to an external document and make the links work in PDF-XChange Viewer?

Report · Sep 05, 2011

A couple of months ago some of you kindly taught me how to insert links to an external document in FrameMaker. The syntax that made all the difference, was the following:

message openfile "H:/folder name/to/your/file.ext"

I converted my FrameMaker file to PDF format using Acrobat Distiller, and everything worked like a charm when the users opened the resulting PDF document in Acrobat Reader.

Much to my frustration, someone has now decided that the organisation should use PDF-XChange Viewer instead of Acrobat Reader, and my links don't work anymore... Nothing happens when you click on them. (This only applies to links to external documents. Links to e.g. websites work nicely.)

Has anybody got any idea what I could do to make the links work in PDF-Xchange Viewer as well? Or am I trying to do the impossible now?

Best regards
Jorunn

Report · Sep 05, 2011

Jorunn H wrote:
A couple of months ago some of you kindly taught me how to insert links to an external document in FrameMaker. The syntax that made all the difference, was the following:
message openfile "H:/folder name/to/your/file.ext"
I converted my FrameMaker file to PDF format using Acrobat Distiller, and everything worked like a charm when the users opened the resulting PDF document in Acrobat Reader.
Much to my frustration, someone has now decided that the organisation should use PDF-XChange Viewer instead of Acrobat Reader, and my links don't work anymore... Nothing happens when you click on them. (This only applies to links to external documents. Links to e.g. websites work nicely.)
Has anybody got any idea what I could do to make the links work in PDF-Xchange Viewer as well? Or am I trying to do the impossible now?
Best regards
Jorunn

Have you tried contacting the PDF-Xchange company's technical support? What results?

Regards,

Peter Gold

KnowHow ProServices

Report · Sep 05, 2011

Does the same file have links that are active in Acrobat Reader but not in PDFXChange Viewer?

Report · Sep 06, 2011

Peter: No, I haven't contacted the PDF-Xchange company's technical support yet. I will do that, however, hoping that this question won't be too FrameMaker-specific for them.

David: Yes, the same file has links that work perfectly in Acrobat Reader, but do not react at all in PDF-Xchange Viewer. And this applies only to links to external documents. Links to e.g. websites work in both applications.

Report · Sep 06, 2011

Jorunn H wrote:
Peter: No, I haven't contacted the PDF-Xchange company's technical support yet. I will do that, however, hoping that this question won't be too FrameMaker-specific for them.

Don't be reluctant to ask about a problem you have with their product. It's a commercial product. "Technical support" implies that they can determine if it's a problem that originates in their product.

HTH

Regards,

Peter Gold

KnowHow ProServices

Report · Sep 06, 2011

I have now been in touch with technical support at Tracker Software, which produces PDF-Xchange Viewer, and they have been most helpful. According to them the problem could be one of these things:

1. Check the settings in our PDF-Xchange Viewer under Edit -> Preferences -> Security ... If "Allow launch action for external files" is set to "Never", the Viewer will do nothing when you click any link to an external file.

2. Remove the double quotes from the following syntax: message openfile "H:/folder name/to/your/file.ext". It seems that this kind of path will confuse PDF-Xchange Viewer. Instead of opening the specified file at the specified location, which is what Acrobat Reader does, it tries to open e.g. C:\Documents and Settings\<<UserName>>\Desktop\"H:/folder name/to/your/file.ext".

I cannot say for sure if my client has done anything about number 1, but I tried number 2, and it works!

Thanks to those who have replied for your ideas - most appreciated