How to detect if the Acrobat Reader it's installed in a host.

[Adenízio_Pereira@adobeforums.com]

I´m developping a web-application and I need open a pdf file. How do I detect if the host have Acrobat reader installed in your pc?

[Nathan_Strong@adobeforums.com]

There is not a reliable method of detecting whether or not Acrobat is installed. You can use IE-specific JavaScript to detect it, though.

If you're developing a client (i.e. an IE front-end), you can query HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Software\Adobe\Acrobat\Exe. If this key exists, either Acrobat or Reader is installed on the user's PC.

Nathan

[William_A._Davis@adobeforums.com]

A lot of times folks would rather be told that the file is a PDF and they would need the reader (show link). It sounds like you may be wanting to detect and then force an installation. If so, you can expect some folks to never return to your web site - people do not like their computer played with by others.

The detection is a bit problematic. I think that Nathan's solution will probably work. The problem is typically related to programs that were looking for AA3 and earlier. They never detect the newer versions of AA or AR. This would suggest a detection problem that hopefully Nathan's solution has fixed.

[Tembowa@adobeforums.com]

There is a simpler way to check and these two documents might help to do it...

<http://support.adobe.com/devsup/devsup.nsf/docs/52970.htm>

<http://support.adobe.com/devsup/devsup.nsf/docs/51621.htm>

~T

[Aandi_Inston@adobeforums.com]

PLEASE do not try. The reasons why this is such a bad idea are covered
regularly in this forum.

Aandi Inston