Control Acrobat from FM7

[Tina Marie]

I would like to be able to open a pdf that i have either in a container or just linked into fm7.

Idea is I just want it to print, I don't want Acrobat to open or at least I don't want it to stay open, self close or something.

anyway I found a lot of stuff on Send DDE Execute, and I have the service name and topic name and I can get fm to open thru dde command however, I don't think i quite understand the syntax of the dde command lines.

if anyone can help me out on this, it is driving me crazy!

thank you! p.s. my os is xp fm7

[stefanshotton]

This is possible with linked files but not with embedded files(as far as im aware).

Use the send event script step, in the dropdown menu slect print rather than open and have the source program open in the background by unticking the box. The filename you want to print can be obtained by doing getastext calc on the container field you wish to open and this will supply the filename and path to the script.

[Matt Klein]

If you are still have trouble with this or for those of you who have found this post looking for help, here is some info on the syntax....

I was having the same trouble with the DDE Execute syntax when sending these commands to Acrobat Reader. Here is an example of a command that works:

"[FileOpen("C:Test.pdf")]"

The path to the file must be inside quotation marks. Because the entire command needs to be inside quotation marks you must use the "" character before the quotation marks on either side of the path. The "" in FileMaker 7 and above is the Escape or Control character. By using it before a character such as a quote inside quotes, you tell FileMaker to ignore it's special properties and use it literally.

FYI, The Service Name is "acroview" and the topic is "control"