PDF help file indexing and Acrobat reader tips

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by sbarrett >> Fri, 12 Sep 2003 5:50:05 GMT

I was just asked how to search across the JADE 6 PDF help files. In case you were wondering too, here's how:

1. Make sure you have Acrobat Reader 5.0.5 with search engine installed (not 5.0, and apparently not 6 either).
2. Install the documentation files (JadeDocs.exe from the web site). NB: make sure they are put into a "documentation" folder, at the same level as your "bin" folder.
3. Launch JADE 6, then bring up the PDF help (F1).
4. Start the Acrobat search engine (the binoculars with "Search" as the bubble help. The "Find" option only searches in the current PDF file). 5. Press the Indexes button, then Add JadeIndex.pdx, and OK.

You can now search across all the JADE PDF files by using the Acrobat search engine (as per step 4). When a match is found in multiple PDF files you see a Search Results form - and you can double-click on any entry to open that PDF file. You then use Ctrl-] and Ctrl-[ to step forward / back through the matches in that file.

Final tip: when you have something highlighted on the right and want to see the matching entry in the index on the left, press the "Expands the current bookmark" icon (icon to the left of the word "Bookmark").

- Cheers, Simon.

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by geoff >> Mon, 29 Sep 2003 2:58:01 GMT

An update to Simon's suggestions...


Rather than avoiding Acrobat Reader 6, I would actually recommend it; the search functionality is superior. Simon may have recommended avoiding Acrobat Reader 6 because of a minor problem accessing context sensitive help from JADE. If you try to bring up context sensitive help and Acrobat Reader 6 is not already open at the time, the inordinate wait for Acrobat Reader 6 to open causes the context sensitive request to time out.

There is no problem if Acrobat Reader 6 is already open, so the simple workaround is to return to JADE and hit the F1 key again. This problem has been fixed in the next quarterly release (a matter of weeks away). No, we haven't been able to make Acrobat Reader 6 open quicker, but we have made allowance for the startup delay so that the context sensitive request no longer times out.

Simon is right on the money with his advice on using the prepared index file for superfast searching. The way to do this with Acrobat Reader 6 is as follows:

1. Click the Search button (the binoculars).
2. Select "Use Advanced Search Options".
3. Choose "Select Index..." from the "Look In" combo box.
4. Click the Add button and select the JADEIndex.pdx file in the documentation directory.

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by jadesupport >> Mon, 29 Sep 2003 4:53:54 GMT

The following response from Parsys #31681 may also be of interest:

"In response to New Feature Suggestions in earlier releases, the contents (nodes) of a PDF file displayed in the Bookmark pane at the left of the Adobe Reader window are collapsed on the initial view when Adobe Reader is launched.

When you scroll up or down a document or you use a hyperlink to navigate within the document or to another PDF document, although the current displayed page is not indicated in the Bookmark pane by default (which is Adobe file handling, and not that of JADE), you can quickly and simply display the current page by clicking on the icon (a page with a red arrow at the right of it, pointing to the page) that displays "Expand Current Bookmark" in the popup help window when you position the cursor over the icon for a few seconds. The current page (probably the first topic on that page) is then highlighted with a gray background in the Bookmark pane at the left of the Adobe Reader window."

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by Patwos >> Tue, 4 Nov 2003 5:01:59 GMT

Adobe seem to have decided to change their hot-keys for Adobe Reader 6. The Ctrl+] and Ctrl+[ now take you to the first document in the next or previous book that matched your search criteria.

You need to use Ctrl+G and Ctrl+Shift+G to goto the next/previous entry in the current book that matched your search criteria. If you happen to be at the first/last entry and use previous/next shortcut combination it takes you to the last entry in the previous book or first entry in next book respectively.

ie: They've effectively make Ctrl+G and Ctrl+Shift+G do what Ctrl+] and Ctrl+[ used to do and put similar but new functionality onto the Ctrl+] and Ctrl+[ shortcut combination.

Hope that helps,
Pat.