8 Replies Latest reply: Jul 15, 2008 9:00 PM by Patrick Leckey RSS

    Acrobat 9

    Ned Patterson Community Member
      According to Google, an Adobe Developer Workshop 9 was held in Dusseldorf recently where Mr. Joel Geraci, Acrobat Technical evangelist, gave an "overview of the new possibilities of Acrobat SDK 9 (JavaScript, Plugin development, COM interface, 3D SDK)". It would be useful to have this information as Acrobat 9 is now released.
        • 1. Re: Acrobat 9
          Patrick Leckey Community Member
          Well you can always contact Joel to see if the presentation was recorded, but Adobe probably won't be posting any official information about the Acrobat 9 SDK until it releases, and its release date has not even been announced yet.
          • 2. Re: Acrobat 9
            Community Member
            It would be nice if Adobe would at least provide developers with a release date of the SDK. It is hard to know how one is expected to support plugins or addons without any documentation. Some companies go as far as providing such information to developers before the product is released, but I guess that process stops when such companies are bought by Adobe. sigh.

            ---Andrew
            • 3. Re: Acrobat 9
              Community Member
              Like other companies, Adobe had a pre-release program to which our registered developers were invited and they were indeed provided with the software and SDK prior to release.

              I will assume that either you not a registered developer OR you chose not to take part in that program.

              The SDK will be made available when it is complete - usually 30-60 days after the release of the product itself.

              Leonard
              • 4. Re: Acrobat 9
                Community Member
                OR there was some breakdown in communication. I thought I was registered with Adobe, but after the merger with Macromedia, Adobe dropped the excellent developer network and decided to make the Acrobat SDK publicly available, removing the incentive/value for small developers like myself from participating in a paid developer program, which, as far as I could tell, now only offerred listing in a directory, which after 3 years as a member never provided me any return.

                That being said, I still have a registered account with the Adobe Solution Network (ASN) I might have missed an email informing me of the opportunity to participate in a pre-release, but I'm skeptical as I have spent a significant amount of time working with Acrobat (both scripting and working with the SDK) and it is something I try to keep an eye on. At a minimum, every month or so for as long as I can remember, I visit the Adobe website and look for any change in the Acrobat developer portion of the site, which has been rather stagnant.

                Speaking of the Acrobat developer portion of the site, if anyone out there is watching, could you please return to the practice of putting dates on the links to all of the documentation/sdk you make available? I know it looks bad when something hasn't been updated in a long time. There is a single article updated there from March of this year, the rest of the material is either undated (unless you download it and check the document internals) or dates back to 2006 and 2007. And, if your feeling ambitious, the knowledgebase could use a major overhaul.
                • 5. Re: Acrobat 9
                  Community Member
                  Ooooooh yeeeaaaahhhhh! Aandi, Leonard, and PDL are going to be all over this comment!

                  LET'S WATCH!!!!
                  • 6. Re: Acrobat 9
                    Patrick Leckey Community Member
                    > I still have a registered account with the Adobe Solution Network (ASN)

                    Good choice. Adobe does still have a very active Developer Support offering for all their SDK products, the Acrobat SDK and PDF Library SDK of course being at the forefront.

                    > I might have missed an email informing me of the opportunity to participate in a pre-release

                    You'll want to check into this. There is a pre-release of the Acrobat SDK going on right now.

                    > the knowledgebase could use a major overhaul

                    Assuming you mean the Developer Knowledgebase (the one based on a Lotus Notes database), whisperings of this being in the works have circulated. Nothing official, just rumor, but I agree it would be a good idea.

                    > Arnold: LET'S WATCH!!!!

                    Showtime! ;)
                    • 7. Re: Acrobat 9
                      Community Member
                      I've looked through all of my old mails and I have been visiting the Adobe site regularly and I can find no mention of the SDK beta program. I am a member of the Acrobat Users Group and I have been unable to find any reference there either.

                      Can you provide me with a link where I can sign up for the beta program? Also, if you have any idea when the SDK will be out (or the updated JavaScript manuals), that would be extremely helpful.

                      ---Andrew
                      • 8. Re: Acrobat 9
                        Patrick Leckey Community Member
                        Do you have a current Developer Support contract with Adobe? That will enable you to join the SDK pre-release. As for when the SDK will be out, it hasn't been announced by Adobe yet so your guess is as good as mine. Given that Acrobat and Reader 9 have been out a few weeks now, it shouldn't be long but any date I throw out would be purely speculation.