go to a page in a pdf file

A

Asbest

I have read some of the posts about how to open up a pdf file (shell
command). Does anyone know how to open a pdf file and go to a specified page
in the pdf file?

Thanks
 
J

jamescox

Looks like you might be able to do it from a hyperlink:

'Link from an HTML page to a specific page in PDF file (Acrobat 7.x,
Acrobat 3D)' (http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/317/317300.html)

although Excel may not support that kind of hyperlink - if not you
might need to put an IE control on an Excel userform and work through
that.

Alternately,

'PDF and VBA Code Help - Access World Forums'
(http://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=100665)

presents code that (reportedly works) but you will probably need to
download and add to your project a reference to an OLE from Adobe (I
don't know where to download it - try a Google or Bing search on Adobe
OLE and see what comes up).

Good luck on this :Bgr and report back here when you get it working!
 
A

Asbest

I cannot get the hyperlink to work - i've tried:
=HYPERLINK("\\server.com\file.pdf#page=2")
=HYPERLINK("\\server.com\file.pdf#nameddest=bookmarkname")
=HYPERLINK("F:\server.com\file.pdf#page=2")
=HYPERLINK("F:\server.com\file.pdf#nameddest=bookmarkname")

(Is a bookmark the same as a named destination?)

But if I type in \\server.com\file.pdf#page=2 in IE it works fine. Maybe
the IE control on an excel userform would work. Could you explain a little
more about that to get me in the right direction?

Thanks
 
A

Asbest

Correction on the last post - For the last two hyperlinks, I meant to put
(without server.com):
=HYPERLINK("F:\file.pdf#page=2")
=HYPERLINK("F:\file.pdf#nameddest=bookmarkname")

(these do not work)
 
J

jamescox

Assuming you are working out of Excel, this will do it:


Public Sub PDFPageViaIE(strUrl as String)

Dim ie As InternetExplorer

Set ie = New InternetExplorer

On Error Resume Next

ie.navigate strURL

Do

DoEvents

Loop Until ie.readyState = READYSTATE_COMPLETE


Set ie = Nothing

End Sub


where strURL is in the form of

F:\server.com\file.pdf#page=2

or

\\server.com\file.pdf#page=2


or even

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf#page=2 (my test file :Bgr )

Of course, this does open it in an Internet Explorer browser window
and it may be a new tab in an existing IE window if you have one alread
open. The .Navigate method may accept parameters that force it to use
new window - you can look for that, if you feel you need tha
functionality
 
A

Asbest

Thanks, it works great!

Is there a way to navigate to different pages without having to create a new
object every time? I tried to create an object variable that I can reuse
with another procedure but it does not work for the second procedure. Here
is my code:

Static Sub PDFPageViaIE()
Dim ie As Object
Set ie = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")
Const strURL As String = "F:\server.com\file.pdf#page=2"
ie.navigate strURL
ie.Visible = True
End Sub

Static Sub PDFPageViaIESecondPage()
Const strURL2 As String = "F:\server.com\file.pdf#page=5"
ie.navigate strURL2
ie.Visible = True
End Sub
 
J

jamescox

To use an object created in one sub in another sub, you have to move the
Dim statement out of the first sub and put it at the top of a code
module (not a form module or a worksheet or the ThisWorkbook code
module).

Your code would then begin to look like:

Public ie As InternetExplorer

Static Sub PDFPageViaIE()
Set ie = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")
Const strURL As String = "F:\server.com\file.pdf#page=2"
ie.navigate strURL
ie.Visible = True
End Sub

Static Sub PDFPageViaIESecondPage()
Const strURL2 As String = "F:\server.com\file.pdf#page=5"
ie.navigate strURL2
ie.Visible = True
End Sub

As a general rule, avoid Dim X As Object, especially where you know
what sort of object X is going to be.

Hope this helps.
 
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