Need Help, Will Pay... CD Presentation using PDFs

I'm having a problem simply linking a button to a PDF... I tried the:

on(release){
getURL("fscommand/PatientBrochure.pdf")
}


but it's buggy... I'm willing to pay anyone who can finish this project...it's just 6 buttons that link to PDFs .

I created the files on a MAC but the CD ROM will be a hybrid.

Call my cell, anytime if you can help

516-316-3745
Jerry

MacArtist.-
save your money..and read some of the posts in this thread..you will find all your answers there...if you still need help I "might" be able to help you..or point you in the right direction..

Are you just trying to open a .PDF on the users machine? From the CD? Using Acrobat reader? Are you supplying Acrobat Reader? as an install? I even think there is a thread abotu using Acrobat Reader from the CD too...(in case yoru viewer dpoesnt have it..or doesnt want to install it)

-whispers-

Hey Whispers...the problem is I'm a MAC guy and the correct script to use is this:


First open notepad (the real html editor), and enter this:

start
@ECHO off
copy yourfile.jpg c:\windows\desktop\yourfile.jpg
exit

Then save this as 'save.bat' (in the save window you will have to change "Text Documents" to "All Files (*.*)")

Then you will want to right click on that new file, select "properties" and in the properties window click on the "Program" tab and check mark "Close on Exit". And click Okay.

Then from your flash movie you

on (release) {
fscommand ("exec", "save.bat");
}

As an alternative, you can use a batch file to open the folder containing the files and let your viewers copy the files them selves:

start
@ECHO off
explorer images\folder\
exit

And another (more seemless) way of doing THIS is in Flash use the Get URL command to the directory containing the files. (This will work on NT/2000)

Remember to use reletive file paths:

images\folder\

NOT

d:\images\folder\

Not everyone has their CD drives set on D:\

NOTE This WILL work on Windows 95/98/ME but WILL NOT work on windows NT/2000. The batch scripting is different on NT/2000

If you like this and want to learn more about bat files, one place to start is:
http://home7.inet.tele.dk/batfiles/

I am not connected with the above site in any way, it just seems to be a good reference.

...are you a PC user?... does this make sense to you?...if so, lets talk... again I'm more than willing to pay

Thanks!
Jerry

HI..

ok Im a little confused.. are you trying to HELP me?..or are you trying to get help for your .PDF problem?

If its the former..you have me TOTALLY lost..and its MY project..LOL..

everythign I am doing so far is fine..and works...if you read my posts in this forum (Standalone & Application)

I can copy/save my file from the CD to the users HD..I use proxy.exe (renamed) to hide the ugly DOS box..after the file copy..I wirte a text file to the users HD...with a value of OKAY or ERROR to tell if the copy was successfull or not.

I then read this file in FLASH and go to the appropriate messge.


When I give the user the option of browsing to the installation directory (as not all users install to C: Program Files) this is where I have the problems...either no text file..not correct value in txt file....no overwrite happens..and I cant trigger the correct respose in flash cause the text file is KAKA)


thats where "I" stand......

as for YOU.....Im not sure what yoru trying to do..you posted the scripts.....but you need this to happen on a MAC? Im a PC user...and I dont know anything about Applescript stuff...

If you want to knwo how to open up .pdfs from your CD on PC let me know...


-whispers-

Hey Whispers, I have the problem...my problem is I can't get my PDF to open by using a button in flash.... if you can send me your email I'll send you my files.

thanks, any help would be great,
Jerry

and yes it is for a CD Rom

Hi MacArtist6, I can help and it won't cost you a cent ;) If you know your users already have Acrobat on their machine then you're golden, the solution is easy and I have some FREE tools that you can use to help.

The START command on Win9x/ME is implemented as an EXE file. On NT/2K/XP it's an intrinsic command so the way you call it on each system is different. To get around this you can get a copy of my INVOKE utility from www.extendingflash.com and use it like this from a BAT file.

Code:

---

invoke.exe open \files\pdf1.pdf

---

Now you can't call this from Flash directly because Flah MX and MX04 don't allow you to use chr(9) or spaces in command line like Flash 5 did (like in the examples on the extendingflash web site). Instead you put that command in a BAT file and use my PROXY utility.

Proxy is a FREE tool I wrote that will let you run BAT files from Flash and avoid the ugly DOS box. You can download the utility from www.northcode.com/misc/proxy.zip. There's documentation in the ZIP file, and (as Whispers pointed out) there was a big discussion about it (and some other utilities I wrote) in this thread... http://www.flashkit.com/board/showth...hreadid=519274

So you take a copy of PROXY.EXE and rename it to PDF1.EXE and put the commands from the code block above in a file called PDF1.BAT and put both of these files (and INVOKE.EXE) in a folder called "FSCommand" in the root of your CD along with your projector. The example BAT file assumes there is a folder in the root of the CD called "files" where all your PDF files are.

You can change the location of the PDF files (just remember to update the BAT file). You can change where the FSCommand folder and your projector are on the CD, the only restriction is that they both have to be in the same folder.

Now to open your PDF file from Flash you can just put this in the on(release) event for your button...

Code:

---

on (release) {
  fscommand("exec", "pdf1.exe");
}

---

Create PDF2.EXE and PDF2.BAT, then PDF3.EXE and PDF3.BAT and repeat for each button and PDF file you want to open and you're done.

If you want to integrate this with the MAC side of things you should read this thread http://www.flashkit.com/board/showth...hreadid=539618 and check out the SmartExec function I wrote to help pjutter do pretty much the same thing you're trying to do now.

I'll be checking in here over the holidays if you need more help with this...

Thanks NorthCode, you are the man on this I know.... problem is I'm on a mac (don't hate me) and this PC stuff is confussing.

Let's talk about you finalizing this project for me... again, I'll pay you... at this point it's worth it to me...please

Thanks again,
Jerry

Hi Jerry, I'm happy to lend a hand and this is a pretty simple job for me so I'd feel bad charging you money for it :) If you tell me the names of the 6 PDF files and where they are going to be on your CD then I'll whip up a little example for you where you can just steal the code from the buttons in the example and drop it in your project. If that sounds good just drop me a line at [email protected]

I cannot thank you enough... please look for an email I sent you thru my aol account titled "My Files..."

your generousity is great and very appreciated.

Jerry

HA!...at first I thought you were talking to me Northcode...lol (same name: Jerry!) I emailed you about the SWF Studio questions..

except Im WILLING TO BUY IT! or do whatever..as long as it can do what i explained in the email/last post.

Hopefully your suite can do the job.. ;)

Looks as if it can..I just hope its not hard to learn the package..

Ive already spent enought time designing the layout and functionality of the "CD"...it was one LAST custom installation .bat file (using the Copy2 and writing/checkign for text file) that has me stumped..if I have to pay the $250 price tag....just to have this DONE..so be it.

But if not..Id just liek to know...so Im not just hanging around. From what I read...it seems that the "search ' for specific file name is just want I need to do....can/does this search the WHOLE drive? what about if they installed to say the D: drive?

Also...if this "IS" in fact the soltion...can this be done (searching for file name cross drive/directory)...with just a .BAT file? with some commands?

Thanks

-whispers-

Hi NorthCode...did you get the files that I emailed you??

I have them, I'll post your ZIP file at northcode.com shortly and send you a link and login information so you can pick it up ;)

you are the best...thank you.

I'm actually going to be away until tomorrow night so I'll check back then.

Does your script work for Mac also?

Thanks,
Jerry

No, it won't work for a MAC as is, but here's what you can do to make it work...

Add this code to your FLA by dropping it in the first frame on the main timeline so it can be called from anywhere.

Code:

---

function SmartExec(target)
{
  platform = $version.slice(0,3);
 
  if (platform == "WIN")
  {
      fscommnd("exec", target + ".exe");
  }
  else
  {
      fscommand("exec", target + "_script");
  }
}

---

Now create a copy of this AppleScript file for each of the PDF files you want to open. You may be able to create a smarter script than this, but this one is REALLY simple :)

I've assumed the CD will be named "MAP_CD" and I'm going to use the "CMS_1500.pdf" as an example to explain how to set things up.

The AppleScript should have the same name as the PDF you want to open, so this one would be called "CMS_1500_script". The "_script" part is for the SmartExec function.

Code:

---

tell application "Finder"
  activate
  select file "CMS_1500.pdf" of folder "fscommand" of disk "MAP_CD"
  open selection
end tell

---

Then, in the on (release) events for the six buttons you have, you'll change the fscommand("exec", "CMS_1500.exe") command I added to this...

Code:

---

on (release) {
  SmartExec("CMS_1500");
}

---

When you call SmartExec from Windows it will run CMS_1500.exe and when you call it from a MAC it will run the CMS_1500_script AppleScript.

Now that wasn't so bad was it?

;)

OK I got all that...and the CD is working great on the PC, but the PDFs are not opening on the MAC..... I'll email you my files if you get a chance take a look... my applescripts are working off the disk fine... I screwed something up on the flash script end

My button script:

on (release) {
SmartExec("PatientBrochure_script");
}

is that right?

Nope, you don't need the _script, the SmartExec function will add that for you.

Code:

---

on (release)
{
  SmartExec("PatientBrochure");
}

---

Hmmm, if you did it your way it should have made the PC version stop working too. Did you use separate FLAs for the MAC and PC? You don't have to, that's the idea behind the SmartExec - it figures out which platform it's running on and calls either the EXE or the AppleScript.

Yes I do have seperate files....

it's still not working for me...question: do I name the Applescript file (example) "CMS_1500_script" or do I leave the _script off that as well?

also is this the entire script for the button

on (release) {
SmartExec("FDA_Letter");


meaning do I delete or add to the PC script:

on(release){
//getURL("fscommand/CMS_1500.pdf")
fscommand("exec", "CMS_1500.exe");
}

am I making sense?

SmartExec always uses the same target parameter and then, based on the platform you're running on, SmartExec tacks on ".exe" or "_script" and tries to launch that file. So the only thing in your button release event should be a call to SmartExec and the base name of the PDF file you want to open (i.e. the name of the PDF file without the extension).

Code:

---

function SmartExec(target)
{
  platform = $version.slice(0,3);
 
  if (platform == "WIN")
  {
      fscommnd("exec", target + ".exe");
  }
  else
  {
      fscommand("exec", target + "_script");
  }
}

---

The agreement required to make this work is that in the fscommand directory with the PDF files, there has to be an EXE (and a BAT) file for every PDF and an AppleScript file for every PDF. The names of these files are the same as the names of the base PDF files with .EXE (and .BAT) and _script tacked onto them. This is all done for the benefit of SmartExec.

Because of SmartExec, the code for the MAC and the ActionScript code for Windows is EXACTLY the same. So you can have one PDF file and generate both the MAC and Windows projectors from the same FLA (unless you have some other reason to keep two FLAs).

So for the call to SmartExec("CMS_1500") to work in both cases you need to have the following files in your fscommand directory.

CMS_1500.PDF
CMS_1500.BAT
CMS_1500.EXE (copy of proxy.exe, renamed)
CMS_1500_script (the AppleScript script file)

Great, I did all that... the last thing (I hope) is can you show me an example of what my button script should look like?

Thanks again for all your help

In both cases, for the Mac and Windows, the button script should look like this...

on (release) {
SmartExec("CMS_1500");
}

It's still not working... I'm sure I did everything you said, but I must have missed something... my fscommand folder is set up correctly and my actionscripts work...I'm guessing I messed something up with the first frame script... is this correct?

function SmartExec(target)
{
platform = $version.slice(0,3);

if (platform == "WIN")
{
fscommnd("exec", target + ".exe");
}
else
{
fscommand("exec", target + "_script");
}
}


again thank you for your patience with me

I'll email you my fla file if you get a chance take a look (email to the T.G. address)

Looks okay except for the typo "fscommnd" in the call to the WIN version. I have your files here, I'll copy them over to the old G4 and see if I can figure out what's going wrong.

I fixed the type-o and it's still not working...


NorthCode, have a great new year...thanks for all your help

This thread has been EXTREMELY helpful.

I'm having some problems implementing the fscommand method, though, and I'm wondering if anyone can help?

Northcode, I slimmed down your SmartExec() function to troubleshoot to this:

function SmartExec(target)
{
/* platform = $version.slice(0,3);

if (platform == "WIN")
{
fscommand("exec", target + ".exe");
}
else
{ */
trace('SmartExec triggered');
fscommand("exec", "test_script");
// }
}

So I know the function is running thanks to the trace() but it still won't run the test_script.

According to this script, 'test_script' should just be an executable Applescript application located in the same directory as the .swf calling it right?

The Applescript works by itself, so somethingmust be wrong with how I'm calling it in Flash...

Help?? Thanks!

The EXEC fscommand only works in projectors (not SWFs) and the thing you want to exec has to be in a folder called "fscommand".

oooohh. ok. thanks!

wait though, i did as prescribed but it still won't work..

i've got the function running successfully in the projector, and the 'test_script' residing in a folder at the same level as the projector called 'fscommand', but still the Applescript doesn't execute when the function is run...

Any other ideas?

Compile the AppleScript to an application OR rename the script to test_script.scpt and change the EXEC function to use the name with the extension.

I get a syntax error in the Actionscript debugger telling me that there's no slice() method, when I try to publish the projector.

Does that statement really work?

Thanks, Northcode. I added the .scpt extension to the file and the Mac automatically renamed it:

test_script.scpt.app

this did the trick after changing the name respecitively in the Actionscript...


Thanks!

OK, so there must be something wrong with the SmartExec() as written.

I get the error upon publishing complaining about the slice() method, and if I comment out that variable assignment, the script runs properly...

Any help there?

PS, it's been a GREAT help that you took the time to do all of this work for shmos like me.

Try replacing this line from the original script

platform = $version.slice(0,3);

with this one which will work with more versions of Flash

platform = substring($version,0,3);

AND/OR make sure that the SmartExec function is at the root of your movie or $version won't exist. So you can also try using _root.$version in place of $version (if the substring trick doesn't work).

Thanks Northcode, I'm going to try this fix as soon as I get a second.

you're prescribed solution did the trick.

thanks, northcode


-s

Hey Northcode, it's your old friend MacArtist... you had created .bat and .exe files for me to open PDFs off CD-Roms... I need to change the names of the PDFs, what program can I edit the .bat and .exe files in?

Thank you again.

Hi Nothcode, I've attached a copy of one of the files you made for me... I was thinking I should simply name my PDFs "01.pdf", "02.pdf", "03.pdf" etc...

Then I could use these as my templates... what's your thoughts?

You don't need to edit the EXE files, just make copies of CMS_1500.exe and rename the copies to 01.exe, 02.exe, etc. You'll need to make copies of the BAT files, rename them the same way and edit the name of the PDF file inside the BAT file to match. The BAT files are really just text files so you can edit them with notepad or any editor that just saves as plain text.

worked like a charm... you're the best

hi there :)

I tried to follow this tut of yours, but in the end I can´t manage it to work...

I followed all the steps you said but when I clik the button it doesn´t do any thing...

I´m wondering if I can send you my files?! I´m really stuck on this....

Hope you can help...:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Northcode

Hi MacArtist6, I can help and it won't cost you a cent ;) If you know your users already have Acrobat on their machine then you're golden, the solution is easy and I have some FREE tools that you can use to help.

The START command on Win9x/ME is implemented as an EXE file. On NT/2K/XP it's an intrinsic command so the way you call it on each system is different. To get around this you can get a copy of my INVOKE utility from www.extendingflash.com and use it like this from a BAT file.

Code:

---

invoke.exe open \files\pdf1.pdf

---

Now you can't call this from Flash directly because Flah MX and MX04 don't allow you to use chr(9) or spaces in command line like Flash 5 did (like in the examples on the extendingflash web site). Instead you put that command in a BAT file and use my PROXY utility.

Proxy is a FREE tool I wrote that will let you run BAT files from Flash and avoid the ugly DOS box. You can download the utility from www.northcode.com/misc/proxy.zip. There's documentation in the ZIP file, and (as Whispers pointed out) there was a big discussion about it (and some other utilities I wrote) in this thread... http://www.flashkit.com/board/showth...hreadid=519274

So you take a copy of PROXY.EXE and rename it to PDF1.EXE and put the commands from the code block above in a file called PDF1.BAT and put both of these files (and INVOKE.EXE) in a folder called "FSCommand" in the root of your CD along with your projector. The example BAT file assumes there is a folder in the root of the CD called "files" where all your PDF files are.

You can change the location of the PDF files (just remember to update the BAT file). You can change where the FSCommand folder and your projector are on the CD, the only restriction is that they both have to be in the same folder.

Now to open your PDF file from Flash you can just put this in the on(release) event for your button...

Code:

---

on (release) {
  fscommand("exec", "pdf1.exe");
}

---

Create PDF2.EXE and PDF2.BAT, then PDF3.EXE and PDF3.BAT and repeat for each button and PDF file you want to open and you're done.

If you want to integrate this with the MAC side of things you should read this thread http://www.flashkit.com/board/showth...hreadid=539618 and check out the SmartExec function I wrote to help pjutter do pretty much the same thing you're trying to do now.

I'll be checking in here over the holidays if you need more help with this...

---

some days before i have this problem too. but now i have solution.

first of all make batch file of any pdf or word doc file.

ENTER this code in notepad:

@ECHO OFF

filename.extension

EXIT

then save as mypdf.bat

here filename is ur pdf or word document file name and there extension e.g one.pdf or one.doc

now place this file with pdf or word doc file in folder named "fscommand"

in flash write a code on button

on (release){

fscommand ("exec","mypdf.bat");

}

and make projector file (.exe) of this flash movie

now remember both ur fscommand folder and ur projector are on same place.

run the projector and click on button
then u will see that u r successful