Section 35. Create a Menu Action Link


35. Create a Menu Action Link

Before You Begin

32 About Interactivity


See Also

37 Edit a Link


The Execute menu item link actions let you create links that allow the reader of a PDF document to execute virtually any menu command in Acrobat with the click of a button. You can even create links that execute multiple menu items. Probably the best use of this feature is to provide an easy way to work with the document for readers who either are unfamiliar with Acrobat or have limited menu access (due to either document settings or visual/motion impairments).

For example, if you are designing a stand alone presentation kiosk for a trade show, you will want to hide the interface from the user so they cannot exit the application or alter it in any way. The main menu of the presentation would contain links to open other PDF presentations. Those presentations would each contain a link to execute the File, Close menu item. This would exit the secondary presentation and return the user back to the main presentation.

Because you can never know how proficient the user may or may not be with Acrobat, you can use links to ensure that users have access to Acrobat features that you want them to use. For example, in a PDF document intended for users who may have visual impairments, placing a large link that executes the View, Read Out Loud command can be very helpful. In a document that is intended to be used as a reference, placing a link that executes the Edit, Find command can also be helpful.

1.
Create a Link

Click the Link Tool button on the Advanced Editing toolbar. Click and drag the cross-hairs to create a rectangular link box on the location you want to create the link. This brings up the Create Link dialog box.

Set the appearance of the rectangular link box by changing the link type, highlight style, line thickness , style, and color in the Link Appearance section of the Create Link dialog box. If you choose the invisible rectangle link type, be sure to provide an obvious visual cue to let the viewer know that there is an available link for her to click.

For example, by making the text blue and underlined , like a hyperlink or by placing the invisible link over an obvious button graphic.

2.
Add Menu Actions

In the Link Action section, click the Custom Link option and then click the Next button. Acrobat displays the Actions tab of the Link Properties dialog box. In the Add an Action section, select Execute a Menu Item from the Select Action drop-down list; then click the Add button.

If you are on a Windows computer, a dialog box appears that contains all the menus in the menu bar. Click a menu and select the command you want the link to execute when clicked. The selected command is listed just above the OK button. Click the OK button and the action is added to the list of actions for this link. If you want to add more menu commands, just select Execute a Menu Item from the Select Action drop-down list again, click the Add button, and select another menu command from the dialog box that appears.

If you are on a Macintosh computer, a dialog box appears prompting you to select the desired command from the actual menus in the menu bar. The command does not execute when selected; instead, it is listed in the dialog box and is added to the link actions list when you click the OK button. (For reasons that are too technical to get into in a book about Acrobat, Windows programmers have to fake all the menus and menu commands in the dialog box, but Macintosh programmers can just have the dialog box intercept and remember which command you select from the real menus without the application actually performing the command.)

Click the Close button at the bottom of the Link Properties dialog box to finish creating your link. Select the Browse tool in the toolbar (or just press the Esc key) and click the link to test it. It should execute the menu command (or commands) just as if you had selected it from the menu yourself.



Adobe Acrobat 7 in a Snap
Adobe Acrobat 7 in a Snap
ISBN: 0672327015
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 139
Authors: Shari Nakano

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