Insert A PDF File

[J9HOB]

Can anyone help me I am putting together a database to record staff training and what to inset a sub form to say the
type and date of training and show a copy of their certificate that is in the form of a PDF doc?.

[Stan Mathews]

Re: Insert A PDF File

With a form in design mode you should see a Toolbox dialog. Select the Supercontrols and then PDF Viewer.

[Mortie]

Re: Insert A PDF File

With a form in design mode you should see a Toolbox dialog. Select the Supercontrols and then PDF Viewer.

Stan,

can the document viewer work with a one to many embedded browse. hence, when the record changes the document changes?

[Stan Mathews]

Re: Insert A PDF File

Never used it as I haven't had the need so I can't say. Have you tried?

The pdf viewer says it accepts an expression which yields the name of a file to be viewed "at runtime". I imagine that means when the form is opened.

[Mortie]

Re: Insert A PDF File

Never used it as I haven't had the need so I can't say. Have you tried?

NO, never have. But then I am developing a more complex application for my own use than ever before. As I have said before, I am a "plodder" and don't really use XBasic itself. Everything I do is through Action Scripting.

I need to be able to store a link to a file stored on my Dropbox, and at a minimum see it on the form and at best, open it in Adobe. I have room on the form to use the PDF Viewer with some size but not full size. I really don't want to convert the hundreds of documents that already exist to a bmp because some of the documents are 10-15 pages long, or longer. I think the best thing for my situation is to be able to view page one of the document and have a button to open said document if I want to view all pages.

This is an insurance agency related program and of course individuals have multiple policies and each policy has multiple documents. Hence the one to many browse with a link to the Dropbox location would be ideal. This is the last component in my program to complete the program layout. The rest is "making it pretty" and entering historical data as well as going forward.

If you can point me in the direction of at least creating a hyperlink to a given file in an embedded one to many browse I just might be able to go from there.

I have turned to this board for almost 15 years and cannot find a way to repay for the help I have received. At age 71 learning XBasic does not seem to be in the cards. The phrase old dog new tricks is highly present.

Thanks

[Stan Mathews]

Re: Insert A PDF File

sys_open(filename), code for a button (or onrowdblclick event) in a browse.

What would the link in "store a link" look like?

[Mortie]

Re: Insert A PDF File

Thanks Stan

If I dim a variable and capture the folder location and filename stored in a location field and replace sys_open(filename) with the variable becoming the entire filename will that work?

Currently I have a field on the browse that is the location and I store the entire location, drive, folder and file name in that field and for each separate file for a given policy.

The table is a one to many link from a parent policy field policynumber, which is the field parent and child are linked together on.

Hopefully I described the principle for which I think you said.

[Stan Mathews]

Re: Insert A PDF File

If
var = "C:\temp\activation.pdf"

then

sys_open(var)

will open the activation.pdf file If the place you use sys_open(var) "knows" about the var. See the documentation on variable scope for a fuller explanation.

[Mortie]

Re: Insert A PDF File

Stan,

I finally got a chance to try your suggestion.

I used this code, generated by the ActionScript method...

'
if file.exists(vcGetFileName) then
sys_open(vcGetFileName)
else
ui_msg_box("Error Opening File","File '"+vcGetFileName+"' does not exist.",ui_stop_symbol)
end if


The file's location is in a field of it's own, and is K:\0-PendingUploads\Mindlin Robert\20151008-Safeco

I start the process by placing the file name in the variable then running the above code.

The xbasic above results in the error message in the above code.

Could it be it doesn't like the nomenclature of a space in the file location? That is how it is stored on my computer filing system

[Mortie]

Re: Insert A PDF File

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

never mind, figured it out...

I had the field set to 50 character in both form format and field length in table design.

Of COURSE it was being truncated.

Made the changes both places and VOILA!!!!

Thanks so much, and sorry to bother on my silly mistake

[Stan Mathews]

Re: Insert A PDF File

Two things.

You need to supply the .pdf extension. The file

K:\0-PendingUploads\Mindlin Robert\20151008-Safeco
doesn't ever exist.
K:\0-PendingUploads\Mindlin Robert\20151008-Safeco.pdf might.

The field holds more than just the filename. You have to allow for the trailing spaces in the field. I can't tell if you have already done that in assigning the value to the variable.

Try it as

vcGetFileName = alltrim(vcGetFileName)+".pdf"
if file.exists(vcGetFileName) then
	sys_open(vcGetFileName)
else
	ui_msg_box("Error Opening File","File '"+vcGetFileName+"' does not exist.",ui_stop_symbol)
end if

[Mortie]

Re: Insert A PDF File

Stan, when I tested with one file, clicked the button with the code, it worked fine.

OF COURSE, now that I squashed one problem, another follows in its place.

A one to many link browse does not allow for a file locator field. The closest thing is a URL, which wants a traditional URL and not a file location.


I placed the file locator as a field outside the browse and tried several different files for several different policies and it works each time, so far anyway. Using the file locator it seems to recognize that it is a pdf. I set up a button to get the field value into the variable then the sys_open technique (It is actually part of the Action Script list).

[Mortie]

Re: Insert A PDF File

Well, now that I was smart enough to look at the file name on the form, the file locator puts the file extension in the field automatically.