Hack 98 Explore the Acrobat SDK Documentation and Examples
Look under Acrobat's hood, and explore the possibilities.
The Acrobat 5 SDK for Windows includes more than 26 documents, 15 interapplication (e.g., OLE, DDE) examples, and 52 Acrobat plug-in examples, as shown in Figure 7-11. Acrobat SDKs are also available for Macintosh and Unix. This material is the foundation for all PDF, Acrobat, and Distiller programming. And, it is freely available from http://partners.adobe.com/asn/acrobat/download.jsp. For a fee, you can also access the Acrobat 6 SDK.
Figure 7-11. The Acrobat 5 SDK for Windows, which includes more than 26 documents and 67 programming examples
Here is a list of the most notable documents included with the Acrobat SDK.
7.7.1 PDF Reference
The most important document is the PDF Reference (PDFReference.pdf). The one that comes with the Acrobat 5 SDK is old, so visit http://partners.adobe.com/asn/tech/pdf/specifications.jsp and download the latest version.
[Hack #41] discusses how each new version of Acrobat is coupled with a new release of the PDF Reference. Check the "what's new" section of the reference to get a glimpse of what was added to the corresponding version of Acrobat. In the PDF Reference Version 1.5 (that was released with Acrobat 6), new PDF features are described in section 1.2.
The PDF Reference sometimes refers to the PostScript Reference. Download this venerable document from http://partners.adobe.com/asn/tech/ps/specifications.jsp.
7.7.2 Acrobat Core API Reference
The API Reference (CoreAPIReference.pdf) lists all the objects, methods, and callbacks available to your Acrobat plug-in [Hack #97] . It is a reference, so it doesn't offer deep explanations. For explanations of the concepts behind the API, consult the Acrobat Core API Overview (CoreAPIOverview.pdf).
7.7.3 Acrobat Interapplication Communication (IAC) Reference
The Acrobat Interapplication Communication (IAC) Reference (IACReference.pdf) lists all the different interfaces you can use to access Acrobat from external programs or scripting languages. It includes Acrobat's OLE objects and their methods, Acrobat's Apple Event objects and their properties, and the DDE messages that Acrobat supports. For an introduction to IAC programming, read the Acrobat Interapplication Communication Overview (IACOverview.pdf).
7.7.4 Guide to SDK Samples
Read the SDK Samples Guide (SamplesGuide.pdf) to get a sense of what you can do with the Acrobat SDK. Consult the included sample code to see exactly how Adobe made their samples work. One of the samples might provide a good foundation for creating exactly what you need.
7.7.5 Acrobat Distiller Parameters
Acrobat Distiller uses different settings [Hack #38] to create different kinds of PDFs. A PDF created for online distribution should be lightweight, while a PDF created for a service bureau should have the highest fidelity. The Distiller Parameters document (DistillerParameters.pdf or distparm.pdf) explains all the available settings. As discussed in [Hack #42], the Distiller GUI interface does not give you access to all these parameters.
7.7.6 pdfmark Reference Manual
The pdfmark Reference Manual (pdfmarkReference.pdf) provides information on pdfmark operators. Acrobat Distiller and Ghostscript both convert PostScript pages to PDF pages. By adding pdfmark operators to the input PostScript, you can also make Distiller or Ghostscript add features to the output PDF, such as annotations, links, bookmarks, and metadata. Various word processor macros [Hack #32] use pdfmark operators for this purpose.
