how to link to .bat file with parameter?

[jlsmit...@adobeforums.com]

Hi!

I've been doing a lot of research but can't seem to find an answer.

I have a catalog.pdf that lists parts with images. I want to have some type of link so when the user click on a part number, it will run an external program. For this example, run a dos bat file, dosomething.bat. Now, the problem comes in when I want to pass a parameter (the part # which can/will be hardcoded into the link) to the bat file. I cannot figure out how to get this to work...

Simply put, I'd like c:\temp\dosomething.bat partnbr

Any suggestions?

TIA,
Jessica

[jlsmit...@adobeforums.com]

Thanks! Unfortunately I don't have a premium membership so cannot view the doc.

[Sandig]

<http://partners.adobe.com/asn/developer/acrosdk/docs/pdfmark.pdf>

I hope this document answers your questions.

[Aandi_...@adobeforums.com]

Actually, you can't do this, PDFMark or not. There is no command line
interface to select page location. Command lines should be considered
obsolete as a way of doing anything at all, really...

You can use other information in the Acrobat SDK to use DDE requests
to ask Acrobat, or even Reader, to open to a particular page number.
You can't, with Reader, search for a string.

If you want to develop with Acrobat, getting the Acrobat SDK is likely
to be an essential...

Aandi Inston

[Steve_R...@adobeforums.com]

> Actually, you can't do this, PDFMark or not. There is no command line
> interface to select page location. Command lines should be considered
> obsolete as a way of doing anything at all, really...

As I read it, the request wasn't for this but rather for a link within the
PDF that would launch an external program and pass it parameters on the
command line.

PDFMark can do this in theory ( /Launch with /Params ) but it doesn't seem
to work, at least not in Distiller 5.

There's some info about it in the PDFMark Reference manual of April, 2003,
but the documentation seems self-contradictory:

It says that the keys WinFile, Dir, Op and Params correspond to the
parameters of ShellExecute (which Acrobat will use to launch an app
specified with /Launch). But just before that, it says that If the WinFile
key specifies an application, then Params must not be present.

That suggests that passing params to an app isn't permitted under the only
set of conditions under which it might be possible to do it. Odd.

[Susi_...@adobeforums.com]

Here's third party pdfmark documention:
<http://inca.math.indiana.edu/iumj/Authors/pdfmark/>

[Aandi_...@adobeforums.com]

>> Actually, you can't do this, PDFMark or not. There is no command line
>> interface to select page location. Command lines should be considered
>> obsolete as a way of doing anything at all, really...
>
>As I read it, the request wasn't for this but rather for a link within the
>PDF that would launch an external program and pass it parameters on the
>command line.

You're right - I misread the request. Sorry, Jessica.

Aandi Inston

[jlsmit...@adobeforums.com]

Thanks Susi for the link!

Aandi - no prob!

Steve, thanks for having a look. That is weird! Because if you don't have an app launched - what are you passing params to?

Hmmmm, I'll play around with it and see.

[Steve_R...@adobeforums.com]

> Steve, thanks for having a look. That is weird! Because if you don't have
an app launched - what are you passing params to?

I wonder if the docs are wrong? That is, that Params only work IF you
specify WinFile but not with File. Now that would make sense.

Tuits. Send tuits.