Acrobat 9 Pro can't open zip attachment in Adobe tutorial PDF

[_Ad_Obeone_]

I'd like to go through one of the CSS tutorials here on the Adobe site, and have downloaded the relevant PDF which includes a .zip attachment for the source files needed to follow the tut.

Problem is, Acrobat 9 Pro keeps telling me "Acrobat cannot open the file attachment because your PDF file attachment settings do not allow this type of file to be opened."

The Acrobat Help suggested fix - setting the file to allow it to open attachments - doesn't work. I also set StuffIt Expander to be the default app for expanding zip files in the Mac OS, to no avail.

Data point: I'm running the latest update of Leopard on one of the new MBPs.

The recalcitrant PDF is linked from this page: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/dreamweaver/articles/designing_for_web_05.html - "Getting your web design to the browser'.

Anybody else encountered the same problem and found a fix?

Thanks,
Peter

[MichaelKazlow]

Acrobat 9 has been configured not to open zip attachments. You'll need
an earlier version to handle the attachment.

Mike

[_Ad_Obeone_]

Oops - maybe time for Adobe's web team to update that tutorial then.
In fact, I also tried opening it in Acrobat Pro 8, doesn't work there either, suggesting that this Adobe website content is even more out of date.

[MichaelKazlow]

It was decided that zip files can hide nasties. Same is true at my work.
No attachments with zip files will get through. HOWEVER, we are allowed
to go to a website to manually download the zip file if we insist. I
think Adobe should give us the option after being told of the dangers.
To think that content could be locked away without any means of
retrieval is not nice.

Mike

[_Ad_Obeone_]

Indeed looks like there may be irretrievable content in legacy PDFs now.

And thank you for pointing out the problem by the way - it's saved me wasting more time trying to get this to work.

[PJonesCET]

Is it likely That Adobe would setup files in zip format that are Nasty?

I can understand if it is from a Third party Site.

In any event OSX has a way to open zip files. just double click and They will open. OSX is UNIX. UNIX and Linux have Zip and other forms of zip bzip, gzip, etc. all built in.

If Adobe's Servers are so insecure someone can plant a zip file that has bad code, They have very serious problems.

If zip capability is not built in just down load Stuffit Expander (free) from Smith Micro/Aladdin. It opens any compression file except for the one Aladdin bought out years ago. (that's by design because it was much better than Stuffit)

[_Ad_Obeone_]

The problem is not in decompressing a zip file.

The problem is that Acrobat won't allow a zip file attached to a PDF to be decompressed or saved elsewhere.

[PJonesCET]

You mean that you can't detach the attachments and decompress them? Try dropping the pdf on Stuffit expander. see what happens.

[_Ad_Obeone_]

Stuffit Expander doesn't work with PDFs. It gives an error message.

Adobe Pro 9 supplies a line in the help section suggesting that users can allow zip and other attachments wrapped within PDFs in earlier versions of Acrobat to be retrieved from 'within' a PDF by amending the security settings, but the suggested settings produce no results. The help section in question may be outdated.

[_fnathan_]

Adding a zip (or rar) attachment in Adobe Acrobat 9 has a workaround. Add a txt extention in a zip file, (Ex attachment.zip.txt), the Acrobat allow you to open and save contend. Otherwise in other PDF's you have to change windows registry in Adobe trusted file list.

[_Ad_Obeone_]

It's that change in the trusted files list that is not working in AP9 - still refuses to open or save the zip attachment regardless of the setting. Maybe it works in the windows version, but it doesn't on my Mac with Leopard.

[PJonesCET]

has Adobe figured out how to make the info in zips so that the Adobe consumer's use them?? Seems like if They were dumb enough to do this in the first place They out unzip them at the company and make them available.

[_Roy_Ivy_]

This has always been a sore point with me about Adobe Acrobat. They keep expanding the list of "dangerous" attachments and don't allow users to choose what to do. In my case, it left me with many PDFs with attached compressed files which were inaccessible in v9.0. They worked fine in 8.0, but without warning... poof no access in v9.0.

Shame on you, Adobe.

Allow users to set their security level and choose what attachments are "dangerous" for themselves.

But, after a lot of slogging, here's the fix:

You can disable the security for specific file attachment extensions.

Look at this Adobe TechNet article first: "http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=331371" for the syntax and general gist of their configuration format.

For v8.0, the registry key is changed to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\8.0\FeatureLockDown\cDefaultLaunchAttachmentPerms". "tBuiltInPermList" is the REG_SZ value to change.

For v9.0, the registry key is changed to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\9.0\FeatureLockDown\cDefaultLaunchAttachmentPerms". "tBuiltInPermList" is the REG_SZ value to change.

You may or may not have to reboot after the change for them to take effect depending on what's open/locked, etc.

Cheers,

- Roy Ivy

[dancablam]

No product should force security on its users without providing them any practical way to override. Web browsers, email clients, and operating systems warn you of potentially dangerous files and then let the client make the choice. What if it's a zip file from a trusted source full of harmless text documents? Too bad - because Acrobat says so. Acrobat makes no attempt to examine the zip file to see if perhaps its contents are dangerous - it just sweepingly decides zips are far too dangerous to let the user have any voice in the matter. I fundamentally disagree.

Notice that I've attached a zip file to this post. Adobe allows zips on their forums but not in their PDF documents. Adobe: If you've deemed zip files safe enough to be hosted and delivered in your own forums, why have you decided they have no place in a PDF?

I think Adobe got this one wrong - and I cast a vote that they loosen the noose on zip files on a future release. I'd like to hear other users' thoughts on this issue. Adobe is good at listening to their users - so tell them what you think on this issue - I've posted this article as a feature request here: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/520515 - reply to it that thread and share your viewpoint.

Cheers,

Dan

[Phillip_M_Jones]

dancablam wrote:

I think Adobe got this one wrong - and I cast a vote that they loosen the noose on zip files on a future release. I'd like to hear other users' thoughts on this issue. Adobe is good at listening to their users - so tell them what you think on this issue - I've posted this article as a feature request here: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/520515 - reply to it that thread and share your viewpoint.

Cheers,

Dan

If you go to  Adobe > General > Feedback Forum and Adobe > General > Forum Dicussions  Forum you will sadly find that while they use to. They no longer do so There is also a long runing thread on FaceBook about Adobe. Also go to The Better Business Bureau and see what their current rating. is.

Aodobe products are not necessarily written for what the customers want. They are written for what the developers, Board of Directors, CEO, and Investors think they want.

[MichaelKazlow]

This is the best place to make your request:

https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

[omurphy27]

I'm having the same problem. Very poor design from Adobe. They should at least prompt the user and ask whether you want to extract, rather than make it impossible.

[zippedup]

Adobe has been working this Feature Lockdown on attachments to pdf's since version 6 to 7. They make it sound like security concerns (easy

enough to make a case for that), but I see a Market being built for attachments. This may take years since it will require working closer with

MicroSoft and the other browers. I also think their market with legal, medical and civic documentarians will swamp out those of us who use

attachments for internal convenience and with immediate suppliers for technical documents. A good thing is over.