Specify a specific logical page number or named destination in the URL of a pdf

[burtonsys]

Most web browsers now support linking directly to physical page numbers in pdf documents, as in this example, which links to the "Preface" of a fourteen page document:

http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Frontmatter_FINAL.pdf#page=7

However, the Preface is not labeled page 7, it is on "logical" page vii. So, is there a syntax (or recommended future syntax) for linking directly to the "logical page number" or "named destination," which in this case is "vii"?

I'm imagining a syntax like one of these:

http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Frontmatter_FINAL.pdf#vii

http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Frontmatter_FINAL.pdf#page=@vii

http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Frontmatter_FINAL.pdf#page=!vii

http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Frontmatter_FINAL.pdf#page=~vii

http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Frontmatter_FINAL.pdf#page=(vii)

http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Frontmatter_FINAL.pdf#page=[vii]

http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Frontmatter_FINAL.pdf#page={vii}

http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Frontmatter_FINAL.pdf#dest=vii

http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Frontmatter_FINAL.pdf#nameddest=vii

http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Frontmatter_FINAL.pdf#logicalpage=vii

However, I've tried all ten of those syntaxes in Chrome 67.0.3396.87 and in Firefox 60.0.2 -- none of them work.
Only the "...#page=7" syntax works.

I wish that Adobe Acrobat Reader would support such a syntax, providing a standardized example for the web browsers.

However Adobe Acrobat Reader DC version 2018.011.20040 does not seem to support opening URLs of any sort. I'm pretty sure it used to work in some earlier versions of Reader, but with this version when I try opening the URL of a .pdf file under Windows 10, it reports:

:warning: The URL you have provided could not be reached. Please verify that the URL is correct and that the network location is reachable.

[Bernd Alheit]

Acrobat Reader supports this:

https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/acrobat/pdfs/pdf_open_parameters.pdf

[burtonsys]

Thank you, Bernd! That document is very helpful.

I think that logical page numbers are examples of named destinations, so that the correct syntax should be:

http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Frontmatter_FINAL.pdf#nameddest=vii

Is that correct?

I've tried that syntax with Chrome, Firefox, Edge, IE, Opera, Chromium Portable, Brave and PaleMoon. All except PaleMoon open the .pdf file, but show the first page instead of the 7th. PaleMoon apparently doesn't have internal pdf support, but offers to open the document in Reader (which also shows the first page instead of the 7th).

Trying to run Acrobat Reader from a Windows command prompt and specifying the URL on the command line like this...

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroRd32.exe" http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Frontmatter_FINAL.pdf#nameddest=vii

...doesn't work, either. It opens Reader, but reports:

     There was an error opening this document. The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.

Running Reader and then doing File -> Open... (using the menus), and entering the URL, reports:

  :warning: The URL you have provided could not be reached. Please verify that the URL is correct and that the network location is reachable.

In both cases the same error occurs with or without the "#nameddest=vii" parameter, and with or with quote marks around the URL.

[Bernd Alheit]

Named destinations are destinations in the PDF file. In Acrobat Reader you can't see the destinations. With Adobe Acrobat you can add destinations.

At File > Open you can't use URLs.

[burtonsys]

Thank you for the informative replies, Bernd & Test Screen Name.

Bernd Alheit wrote, "Named destinations are destinations in the PDF file."

Do you mean that the URL format ("http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Frontmatter_FINAL.pdf#nameddest=vii") can be used for links within a .pdf, but not in other contexts?

Bernd continued, "At File > Open you can't use URLs."

I think I recall being able to do that, in the past. Probably a pre-"DC" version.

Also, the error message suggests that Reader recognizes that I've entered a URL, and that it made an attempt to open it, but failed:

  :warning: The URL you have provided could not be reached. Please verify that the URL is correct and that the network location is reachable.

Test Screen Name wrote, "They [logical page numbers] aren't [named destinations]."

Thanks for the information. I read somewhere that they are, sorry I don't recall where -- probably some blog.

Bernd (above) wrote that "Acrobat Reader supports this."  Is he mistaken?  Is there is no syntax (in any context) for a URL which refers to a specific logical page number?

Test Screen Name wrote, "Don't think it [Reader] ever has [supported opening URLs]. How are you trying to open?"

I tried two ways:

First way: From a Windows command prompt, specifying the URL on the command line like this...

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroRd32.exe" http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Frontmatter_FINAL.pdf

(I also tried it with quote marks around the URL, and using https instead of http.)

That doesn't work, either. It opens Reader, but reports:

  ⓘ There was an error opening this document. The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.

Second way:  Running Reader and then doing File -> Open... (using the menus), and entering the URL. (I tried it both with and without quote marks around the URL, and with both http and https URLs.)

That also fails, but with a different error message:

  :warning: The URL you have provided could not be reached. Please verify that the URL is correct and that the network location is reachable.

[Test Screen Name]

"I think that logical page numbers are examples of named destinations," Not sure why you would think that. They aren't.

This interface was invented before logical page numbers and has not changed, for anything. So you need to use actual page numbers or named destinations. It will never change now, because each of the implementations you mention is made by a different company who decided to copy some, all, or none or Adobe's informal document. Adobe's implementation has always had two key things that don't work: local file URLs, and files which are downloaded and opened in Reader instead.

"However Adobe Acrobat Reader DC version 2018.011.20040 does not seem to support opening URLs of any sort." Don't think it ever has. How are you trying to open?

[jane-e]

burtonsys  wrote

Most web browsers now support linking directly to physical page numbers in pdf documents, as in this example, which links to the "Preface" of a fourteen page document:

http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Frontmatter_FINAL.pdf#page=7

However, the Preface is not labeled page 7, it is on "logical" page vii. So, is there a syntax (or recommended future syntax) for linking directly to the "logical page number" or "named destination," which in this case is "vii"?

When I follow your link, it opens to Page i, the first page of the PDF.

And when I look at the Initial View in Document Properties, the creator specified the the PDF would open to Page i of xiv.

Are you the creator?

[burtonsys]

Hi jane-e,

What browser are you using to open this link?

http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Frontmatter_FINAL.pdf#page=7

It opens to page 7 in Chrome, Chromium Portable, Edge, IE 11, Firefox, Opera, Brave, and Tor -- everything I tried except PaleMoon.

Dave

[jane-e]

It goes to page i in Safari on my Mac and on my iPad. It goes to the seventh page when using Firefox.

Downloading first opens to page i.

[Test Screen Name]

In Chrome that link http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Frontmatter_FINAL.pdf#page=7  opens the document in Chrome, to page 7. Edge too. That is code owned by Google and Microsoft respectively. Your mileage will certainly vary. If your browser downloads and opens in Reader it certainly won't.

A named destination is a specific thing. From time to time we hear from people wanting to do what you want, who assume or wish that whatever they want to link to is a named destination. For example, bookmarks are the most popular wish/assumption. Named destination are a specific and separate list of names which each have a destination (typically but not necessarily a page number).

If using Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Standard, you can use the Destinations navigation pane to view and add these useful things, but it is generally better to use an authoring tool that makes them. These are rare, but FrameMaker will, I vaguely remember. The free Reader does not allow you to edit these or view them. They can also be used for cross document links, for which they are very useful when page counts are not yet known or may change.

[gdaugher_33]

I have created a PDF using Word 2016 & Acrobat Std XI.  I created Destinations in Acrobat Std XI.   Then I publish the PDF to our intranet.

The links to destinations work in FireFox - opens to the specific page, but not in IE 11 - opens to page 1.

We use Reader DC on all our PCs, with just a few using Acrobat.  In the string above, there is mention that Reader DC does not open any URL.... is this the cause?   I looked on the known issues list for Reader DC, but don't see this mentioned.

This is how the destinations are formatted in the PDF:

and the corresponding URL on our intranet:

http://mgti.mmc.com/home/Processes/Service%20Management/Asset%20management%20policy%20document.pdf#n...

[try67]

This link doesn't work at all...

[Bernd Alheit]

Can you post a public link?

[Test Screen Name]

You say the links don't work in IE. Let's look at what is happening.

1. The link is somewhere. Is it in an HTML web page? In another PDF? In an email? In something else?

2. The PDF viewing is controlled by IE. But does it view in IE, or in the Reader app?

3. The link has a URL. Is it an http, https, or file URL? If it is a relative link, what kind of link is the HTML or PDF file that contains it?

[gdaugher_33]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Test+Screen+Name  wrote

You say the links don't work in IE. Let's look at what is happening.

1. The link is somewhere. Is it in an HTML web page? In another PDF? In an email? In something else?

2. The PDF viewing is controlled by IE. But does it view in IE, or in the Reader app?

3. The link has a URL. Is it an http, https, or file URL? If it is a relative link, what kind of link is the HTML or PDF file that contains it?

1) the link is on our intranet page (internal, I can't make it public).  The link on the page, should go to a specific location (destination) in the PDF document, which is also on our intranet (Uses SharePoint on the backend).

2) PDF viewing in the IE open the Reader app (does not view within IE).  Although I've tried it both ways and it doesn't work.  The only way it does work is to access the intranet using FireFox, click the link, which opens the PDF to the specific page (destination).

3) http to our intranet.  It is all internal.   The PDF is stored on the same intranet as the link.

I hope this answered your follow up query.  This worked in the past, but was using Win7 with IE9 (and an older version of Reader).  Now using with Win10, IE11 and Reader DC.

try67​ & Bernd Alheit​ I can not make the link public - it was provided to show the format of the URL only.

Thank you,

[Bernd Alheit]

We can't test a non-public link.

[Test Screen Name]

Ok, referring to point 2. Destinations have NEVER worked when linking to a PDF that is opened in Reader by IE. Simply, IE downloads the file and runs Reader; the destinations are not kept and not seen by Reader. So there may be a chance if viewed in IE, but not in Reader.

This does not apply to Edge, which cannot use Reader to view inline. (When Edge replaces IE, this feature will be gone completely for Adobe code).