Linking two PDF files

[nwinter@adobeforums.com]

Hi, I'm really new to this platform. I have the following requirements and I want to verify if it's really doable through javascript or even Adobe LiveCycle perhaps.

User needs to link two PDF files stored in a server. The general flow will be as follows:
1. View the source PDF in the browser.
2. Highlight the text in the source PDF (also via browser).
3. Click a button to open the target PDF selection screen.
4. User then selects the target PDF. The target PDF is displayed and the user highlights a specific paragraph to link to.
5. Click another button to confirm the linkage.

The end result will be as follows:
- the highlighted text in #2 will become a "link".
- clicking the link will send a request to download the target PDF.
- moving the mouse over the link should popup a small window displaying a preview of the selected paragraph in #4.

My questions are the following:
1. Is the general flow above actually feasible?
2. Is it possible to capture a snapshot of the selected paragraph in #4 and store it as an image?
3. Is it feasible to convert the selected text in #2 to a link? Can this link support mouse events and popup a window to display the snapshot on mouse over?

Thanks in advance.

[Leonard_Rosenthol@adobeforums.com]

So this functionality is already present in Adobe Acrobat via the "Link" tool...why do you need to reinvent this wheel?

[nwinter@adobeforums.com]

Unfortunately, I can't. The functionality of the existing "Link" tool is pretty limited.

The selection screen in #3 must be a "custom screen" that will allow the user to search existing PDF files stored in the server (by entering a number of pre-defined criteria). Moreover, upon selecting/opening the target PDF, user needs to select a specific "paragraph" to link (by highlighting maybe) and click a custom button (probably in the toolbar) to confirm the link.

Finally, once the link is made, I need to capture a snapshot of the "linked" paragraph in the target PDF (probably as image stored separately in the server). If user moves the mouse over the link created in the source PDF, an AJAX request (or some other means, i.e. the image can even be stored hidden in the source PDF) must be sent to get the snapshot image from the server and display it in a popup window on hover.

So as you can see the requirements are much more complicated than just linking two files or linking to a specific web url. Please advise if the above flow is technically feasible either through embedded javascript (via Adobe Acrobat) or even through the server (via Adobe LiveCycle).
1. Programmatically convert the highlighted text in the source PDF to a link.
2. Add a custom toolbar button in Adobe Acrobat (or even add a custom popup menu on right click of the highlighted text in #1) to display the custom selection screen.
3. Capture a snapshot image of the selected paragraph in the target PDF.
4. Programmatically handle the mouse over event of a link so it can display the snapshot image in a popup window.

Another possible option is to display the source and target PDF side by side in a browser. But this is only feasible if the acrobat reader plugin has an API I can use to get the selected text from both PDFs, pass the details to the server, and the server will edit the source PDF (through Adobe LiveCycle?) to insert the link and related javascript to handle the mouse over event of the link.

What do you think?

Thanks again.

[Leonard_Rosenthol@adobeforums.com]

You will need to write a custom plugin for Acrobat to achieve what you want - but yes, it is certainly doable.

[nwinter@adobeforums.com]

Thanks Leonard for the quick reply.

I like the idea of the custom plugin. If I choose a web-based approach to achieve this, will the "custom plugin" be available in the Acrobat Reader Browser Plugin as well? Moreover, can the plugin pass/receive information from the host browser (e.g. IE, Safari)?

Thanks.

[Leonard_Rosenthol@adobeforums.com]

If you wish your plugin to run in Reader, you will need a special (paid for) license from Adobe - who may or may not approve it. But yes, if you get approval - then your plugin can pretty much do anything it wants.

[nwinter@adobeforums.com]

Thanks.