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Acrobat failed to connect to a DDE server"



 
 
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  #16  
Old June 22nd 18, 02:35 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10
Arlen Holder
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 466
Default Acrobat failed to connect to a DDE server"

On Fri, 22 Jun 2018 07:53:43 -0400, SilverSlimer wrote:

It's stuff like that which perpetually renews my interest in Linux.
I've had the same thing happen with CDBurnerXP if I remember
correctly. In exchange for the free price of the product, the
developers decided that it was fair to install adware. Meanwhile,
open-source developers feel no such need.


There are two completely different issues with PDF Creator.
1. It's filled to the brim with ads, but that's not my issue with it.
2. It didn't create a PDF whose links were clickable.

The second issue is the problem; not the first.
(See the solution to the first problem below.)

I can deal with removal of the adware if it actually did the job.
But, my first test before I uninstalled it showed it didn't do the job.

I don't blame the guy who suggested it - as every suggestion is risky, just
as my suggestions about the Cascade Menu in Windows is risky as I can't
believe you guys don't know about the Cascade Menu (since I wrote an entire
tutorial on it, for example).

So I do NOT blame the guy who suggested it.
I simply tested it, and it failed for two reasons:
1. It's adware - but that doesn't matter to me, and,
2. It didn't create a PDF of a web page with clickable links.

So I deleted it yesterday.

But today, I looked at the two hard drives, one bricked by Microsoft back
in January (due to Windows update) and the other bricked by me a couple of
weeks ago (due to Cortana).

I noticed that on those hard drives I already had dealt with PDF Creator
and hence I already had an extensive log file on it:
http://img4.imagetitan.com/img.php?image=18_pspdf_apps_1.jpg

Here is a shot of my log file on PDF Creator in my bricked archives:
http://img4.imagetitan.com/img.php?image=18_pspdf_apps_2.jpg

Bearing in mind that my software DVD only contains the bare minimum of
software, I had forgotten that I already had the last known good version
of PDF Creator, notice in that screenshot there are two HDDs there, both of
which were corrupted and on a different machine than the one I'm currently
rebuilding the software for.

Here are some of the PDF tools in those archives:
This PC Corrupted-by-ms software editor pspdf
- GhostScript/GhostView == used to strip off permissions from PDFs
- HP PDF == used to print to PDF sans your username in the PDF
- PDF image extraction wizard == last known good version
- PDF Creator == version 1.7.1 is the last version sans ads
- PDF SAM == split and merge
- PDF Toolkit == used to add & remove pages
- PDF Exchange Viewer == last good version used for image extraction
- XPDF == I forget why I needed this at one point in time
- MU PDF == I forget why I needed this at one point in time
- Sumatra == used for basic fast viewing of PDFs
- Fineprint == used to create complicated book-format PDFs
- Posterazor == used for tiled special-purpose PDFs
- Posterizia == used for tiled special-purpose PDFs
- Rasterbator == used for tiled special-purpose PDFscute

According to my detailed log on PDF Creator, last updated on 11/30/2017,
Keith Nuttle suggested version 1.7.1 as the last good version sans adware
which I had downloaded, at that time, from:
http://jcdiaz.net/jcd-downloads/PDFCreator%201.7.1.htm
(Mayayana suggested a later version - but it contained adware.)
Ads
  #17  
Old June 22nd 18, 04:13 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10
wasbit[_4_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 229
Default Acrobat failed to connect to a DDE server"

"Arlen Holder" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 22 Jun 2018 11:45:44 +0100, wasbit wrote:

And I thought I was pedantic.


You use pedantic incorrectly.
You mean verbose, detailed, precise, and explicit.
But not pedantic.

(jk)

PDF Creator is the only PDF programme on this Windows 8.1 PC & has been
for
a number of years.


I appreciate the suggestion.

I have nothing against the program and I appreciate your suggestion.
Every suggestion carries risk so I do NOT want to chastise you for a
purposefully helpful suggestion. I *appreciate* the suggestion.

The entire tribal group would *benefit* if we could find a graphical user
interface for PDF that is free that creates a PDF from a web page whose
links mirror that of the HTML file (i.e., it has clickable links).

I know Adobe Acrobat has done that since at least version 6.
I don't know of *any* other program on Windows that does it for free other
than the one Paul suggested (which worked in my first test).

PDF Creator failed in my first test to create a PDF mirror of a web page.
PDF Create simply created a PDF of the web site.
That's not the same thing.

I tried it on a PDF to make sure that a clickable link worked before I
posted. Of course you get a browser popup (Pale Moon in my case) asking
permission. I've just double checked that it works with a PDF copy of the
Gimp magazine.


Hmmmmmmmmm... I tried on the Google web page with PDF Creator and none of
the links worked in the resulting PDF. Maybe there's a different setting?

I had forgotten about the dreaded PDF Architect because having been
through
that hell, some years ago, I immediately uninstalled it.


No problem. I think I went through this years ago, but forgot.
Even so, it's not a problem to deal with.
The real problem is to get the desired functionality.

Any PDF printer device will create a PDF of a web site.
That's not the same thing as a clickable mirror.

As an experienced user I would expect you to read & react to every part
of
the installation progress whereas if I am showing a novice I will
pre-make a
folder (in my case on a separate drive) & talk them through the reasons
for
each action taken during the install.


Don't worry about my "log file". It's my first impression. I have
absolutely zero problems uninstalling a program, or re-installing it using
different options. I simply had to live-and-learn about the PDF Creator
adware.

The adware doesn't concern me one bit.

What concerns me is the ability to mirror an entire web site in PDF
format.
That's what I mean by creating a 'clickable PDF'.

PDF Creator will also save as an image file JPEG/PNG/TIFF along with
another
couple of options, although I have never had the need to do so.


An image will never be a clickable image so that's just out of the
question.

(I'm not sure you understand what a clickable PDF is. Since I'm
"pedantic",
maybe Paul can explain it better for the rest of the folks to benefit.)

I'm not chastising you.

If you're purposefully helpful - I have no beef with ANY suggestion you
make. I'll simply test it out and report my results accurately.

There are other free 'PDF Printers' that I would expect to be similar to
PDF
Creator. Probably the 4 most popular out of a list of 35 that I know of
Bullzip - http://www.bullzip.com/products/pdf/info.php
CutePDF - http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp
Foxit -
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/Secure_...e_register.php
Tiny PDF - http://www.tinypdf.com/products.html


This isn't my first rodeo with PDF tools... as you can see from this shot:
http://img4.imagetitan.com/img.php?image=18_pspdf_apps_1.jpg

Bearing in mind that my software DVD only contains the bare minimum of
software, so I had forgotten that I already had the last known good
version
of PDF Creator, notice in that screenshot there are two HDDs there, both
of
which were corrupted and on a different machine than the one I'm currently
rebuilding the software for.
- One got corrupted by Microsoft when it finally updated after years of
me having turned off Windows 10 updates...
- The other I corrupted myself after trying to turn off Cortana
completely.
- Notice that we discussed PDF Creator in detail in the past, based on
my log file as screenshotted below.
http://img4.imagetitan.com/img.php?image=18_pspdf_apps_2.jpg

Here are some of the PDF tools in those archives:
This PC Corrupted-by-ms software editor pspdf
- GhostScript/GhostView == used to strip off permissions from PDFs
- HP PDF == used to print to PDF sans your username in the PDF
- PDF image extraction wizard == last known good version
- PDF Creator == version 1.7.1 is the last version sans ads
- PDF SAM == split and merge
- PDF Toolkit == used to add & remove pages
- PDF Exchange Viewer == last good version used for image extraction
- XPDF == I forget why I tested this (the log file doesn't say)
- MU PDF == I forget why I tested this (the log file doesn't say)
- Sumatra == used for basic fast viewing of PDFs
- Fineprint == used to create complicated book-format PDFs
- Posterazor == used for tiled special-purpose PDFs
- Posterizia == used for tiled special-purpose PDFs
- Rasterbator == used for tiled special-purpose PDFscute

According to my detailed log on PDF Creator, last updated on 11/30/2017,
Keith Nuttle suggested version 1.7.1 as the last good version sans adware
which I had downloaded, at that time, from:
http://jcdiaz.net/jcd-downloads/PDFCreator%201.7.1.htm

According to that log file, Mayayana said he's using version 2.5.24 which
has only small ads - which makes what Keith Nuttle said more correct.

The reason I had explored PDF Creator at that time was to print to PDF
sans
my username in the resultant PDF file metadata.

To print to PDF sans metadata, I ended up printing the PDF with Libre
Office Writer which doesn't put the username in the PDF although printing
to PostScript and sanitizing the text file with a text editor also worked,
and then converting the PostScript to PDF before mailing out the resulting
file.



This is what I understand by a clickable link (hyperlink).

I go to a web site & in my browser select File/Print, then PDF Creator as
the printer, the options that I want, & save. I have never selected the
Print to File option. In fact for the first time ever, I opened the PDF
Creator settings today.
I open the saved PDF & if there is a link within, I click on it & it takes
me to the relevant web page using my browser.
Unless there is something that I've forgotten, this is, for me, the standard
procedure. I don't need to alter any settings.

What happens occasionally is that the PDF will only save as the first page
or a link doesn't work. I have always put this down to (but don't know) the
permissions set by the author of the web page rather than a failure of the
printer.

Ok, I see where you are coming from now. I printed the search page from my
browser & none of the links were clickable.

To my mind, you need a web site copier like HTTrack rather than a PDF
printer
- http://www.httrack.com/

You'll say - I asked for a PDF option
I'll say - what difference does the type of saved file make as long as it
achieves the end result?

Really, this discussion should be in alt.comp.freeware but there is very
little relevant activity in that group now.

--
Regards
wasbit

  #18  
Old June 22nd 18, 07:04 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
Arlen Holder
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 466
Default Acrobat failed to connect to a DDE server"

On Fri, 22 Jun 2018 16:13:32 +0100, wasbit wrote:

This is what I understand by a clickable link (hyperlink).


Ah. We're using the same words, sort of, but we assign different meanings
to them. No worries. I'm an old hand at creating archives of web sites
using PDF, where it seems only Paul understood the problem set.

At the moment, there only two known tools that will create the type of
archive Paul and I are speaking about, only one of which is free:
* The Adobe Acrobat payware (control+shift+o)
* The https://wkhtmltopdf.org command line tool

It's funny but I've used the Adobe Acrobat payware so many times to create
a self-contained archive of an entire web site that my "muscle memory"
still remembers, after all these years, the keyboard command sequence!

I go to a web site & in my browser select File/Print, then PDF Creator as
the printer, the options that I want, & save. I have never selected the
Print to File option. In fact for the first time ever, I opened the PDF
Creator settings today.
I open the saved PDF & if there is a link within, I click on it & it takes
me to the relevant web page using my browser.


Thanks for explaining. That's not what we (Paul and I) were talking about.
Almost every PDF creator does that, which is why I knew, sort of, that we
had a disconnect when you mentioned CutePDF and the others, as I know they
don't do what Paul's freeware wk-html-to-pdf command-line tool does.

The resulting PDF has to be *completely self contained*.
That is, EVERY link takes you to a page within the PDF in all cases.

Obviously there are dangers, which Paul directly noted when he stated how
*huge* the Microsoft PDF he referenced was. The one PDF document contains
potentially the entire Internet on it.

That is, every single link that is referenced at the web site is "crawled"
and included, and then ever link that is on every web site is crawled and
included, ad infinitum.

Clearly this gets huge real fast, so, often, you limit the switches to just
the home domain as Paul and I were discussing, or you limit the switches to
stop at the second, third, fourth, fifth, whatever level deep.

The result though is *always* a single PDF file, which is self-contained.
Every link is active but it goes to a link that is inside the PDF file.

The one PDF file, as Paul noted, is a self-contained mirror of the entire
web site (if you go that deeply).

This is immensely useful for a variety of reasons (otherwise it wouldn't
exist). But it's hard to find in freeware. As I noted, for years, it was
the only reason I paid for Adobe Acrobat payware.

Unless there is something that I've forgotten, this is, for me, the standard
procedure. I don't need to alter any settings.


Now you know that we were talking about different things.
I was talking about mirroring, for example, the entire Microsoft web site
into a single PDF, where every link that you click on in that PDF goes to a
page that is in that PDF.

There are only two known tools that do that.
1. Adobe Acrobat payway (control + shift + o)
2. Paul's suggestion of wk-html-to-pdf

HINT: I don't generally ask easy questions.
Paul knew, instantly, that it was a difficult task.

I don't blame you in the least for trying to help, as I *appreciate* your
help. I just provided my log file of PDF Creator, and I had forgotten that
I already had it (on another machine which had been bricked by Cortana).

I've tested *all* the known PDF writers over time as you don't know this,
but I was one of the first people to get on the PDF bandwagon oh, I don't
know, so very many years ago around the time Apple did too. I thought it
was great stuff at the time for portability but my company constantly told
me that they never heard of it and that they didn't want to support yet
another file format. How dumb they were ... as everyone supports PDF
nowadays. But (if you believe me), that proves I was early on the
bandwagon.

What happens occasionally is that the PDF will only save as the first page
or a link doesn't work. I have always put this down to (but don't know) the
permissions set by the author of the web page rather than a failure of the
printer.


Yeah. There are *plenty* of places for such tools to fail, especially as
some pages only exist in code, others require flash, some only work with
certain browsers, others have password needs, etc.

Ok, I see where you are coming from now. I printed the search page from my
browser & none of the links were clickable.


Right. Thanks for testing. Not only must the links be clickable, but they
have to reference pages within the PDF itself. In essence, the PDF becomes
a single copy of the entire web site, and, potentially, the entire
Internet.

That's why Paul mentioned that the Microsoft PDF he referred to was huge.

To my mind, you need a web site copier like HTTrack rather than a PDF
printer
- http://www.httrack.com/


Thanks for that reference, where, it seems to simply mirror the HTML web
site locally (which wget already does, does it not?).

Once you mirror it, you still need to print it to a single PDF which has
clickable links which resolve to other pages in that clickable PDF.

I appreciate the htttrack suggestion - but if I wanted to mirror a web site
in HTML (millions of files, of course) I'd just use wget, I think.

To mirror a site in a single PDF, that's what Paul and I were talking about

You'll say - I asked for a PDF option
I'll say - what difference does the type of saved file make as long as it
achieves the end result?


Well, a PDF is a single file. The HTML mirror you speak about would be a
billion files. They're completely different things, like motorcycles and
cars are completely different things.

If you need to haul a refrigerator in a single trip, then a pickup is what
you need, not a zillion motorcycles.

Anyway, Paul answered the question, which is that there are two known apps
which will create a single self-contained clickable PDF of an entire web
site, one of which is free, the other of which is the Adobe payware.

Really, this discussion should be in alt.comp.freeware but there is very
little relevant activity in that group now.


I'm an old hand at a.c.f and I agree that it has gone to ruin.
  #19  
Old June 22nd 18, 08:14 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
nospam
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,718
Default Acrobat failed to connect to a DDE server"

In article , Arlen Holder
wrote:

I've tested *all* the known PDF writers over time


that's a very tall claim, and given what you write below, it *can't* be
true.

as you don't know this,
but I was one of the first people to get on the PDF bandwagon oh, I don't
know, so very many years ago around the time Apple did too. I thought it
was great stuff at the time for portability but my company constantly told
me that they never heard of it and that they didn't want to support yet
another file format. How dumb they were ... as everyone supports PDF
nowadays. But (if you believe me), that proves I was early on the
bandwagon.


actually, it proves you weren't.

apple adopted pdf as the internal graphics imaging model and native
file format for mac os x well after pdf became popular, not to get on
any bandwagon, but because pdf offered many advantages over display
postscript, what was used in nextstep/openstep.

prior to that, third party software was needed, and quite common on
macs. it just wasn't part of the os itself.

therefore, since you're using apple as a time marker, you were late to
the party, which means there were pdf writers you did *not* test, if
for no other reason that they existed before you 'got on the bandwagon'
and also because they were on a platform you do not use.
  #20  
Old June 22nd 18, 09:25 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
Nicodemus[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 10
Default Acrobat failed to connect to a DDE server"

nospam wrote in
:

In article , Arlen Holder
wrote:

I've tested *all* the known PDF writers over time


that's a very tall claim, and given what you write below, it *can't*
be true.

as you don't know this,
but I was one of the first people to get on the PDF bandwagon oh, I
don't know, so very many years ago around the time Apple did too. I
thought it was great stuff at the time for portability but my company
constantly told me that they never heard of it and that they didn't
want to support yet another file format. How dumb they were ... as
everyone supports PDF nowadays. But (if you believe me), that proves
I was early on the bandwagon.


actually, it proves you weren't.

apple adopted pdf as the internal graphics imaging model and native
file format for mac os x well after pdf became popular, not to get on
any bandwagon, but because pdf offered many advantages over display
postscript, what was used in nextstep/openstep.

prior to that, third party software was needed, and quite common on
macs. it just wasn't part of the os itself.

therefore, since you're using apple as a time marker, you were late to
the party, which means there were pdf writers you did *not* test, if
for no other reason that they existed before you 'got on the
bandwagon' and also because they were on a platform you do not use.


Is it possible to print to pdf the results of htttrack
https://www.technorms.com/35952/5-wa...-websites-for-
offline-use or https://www.cyotek.com/cyotek-webcopy
  #21  
Old June 26th 18, 01:30 AM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
Arlen Holder
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 466
Default Acrobat failed to connect to a DDE server"

On Fri, 22 Jun 2018 20:25:51 +0000 (UTC), Nicodemus wrote:

Is it possible to print to pdf the results of htttrack
https://www.technorms.com/35952/5-wa...-websites-for-
offline-use or https://www.cyotek.com/cyotek-webcopy


Bearing in mind that the problem is to create a single PDF of the entire
web site (or as deeply as you wish to delve) which is clickable, in so much
as every link works, but stays within the single PDF document - I don't see
how making a *copy* of the web site changes anything in the printing to PDF
process.

Those web pages are nice though, if someone wishes to download the entire
web site to a ton of HTML files on their own system - but I think that's a
different problem set than printing the web site to a single clickable PDF
is.

For printing a web site to a self-contained clickable PDF, I think there
are only two known answers:
1. Paul's suggested freeware wh html to PDF command line tool, and,
2. The Adobe Acrobat payware (control + shift + o).

BTW, even after I uninstalled PDF Creator (using CCleaner) and rebooted
many times since, there is *still* PDF-creator stuff I run into, e.g.,
C:\app\editor\pspdf\pdfcreator\PDFCreatorShell.{0C F118F4-616B-4755-A548-050F80CC71DE}.dll
Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHa ndlers\PDFCreator.ShellContextMenu
http://img4.imagetitan.com/img.php?image=18_clickablepdf.jpg

PDF Creator may be fine as a PDF creator (I don't know), but PDF Creator
doesn't create a clickable PDF so for that purpose, I wouldn't suggest
anyone bother with it. Pauls answer is the best one for freeware to create
a clickable PDF of an entire web site.
  #22  
Old June 30th 18, 11:19 PM posted to alt.comp.os.windows-10,alt.comp.freeware
Nicodemus[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 10
Default Acrobat failed to connect to a DDE server"

Arlen Holder wrote in
news
On Fri, 22 Jun 2018 20:25:51 +0000 (UTC), Nicodemus wrote:

Is it possible to print to pdf the results of htttrack
https://www.technorms.com/35952/5-wa...-websites-for-
offline-use or https://www.cyotek.com/cyotek-webcopy


Bearing in mind that the problem is to create a single PDF of the
entire web site (or as deeply as you wish to delve) which is
clickable, in so much as every link works, but stays within the single
PDF document - I don't see how making a *copy* of the web site changes
anything in the printing to PDF process.

Those web pages are nice though, if someone wishes to download the
entire web site to a ton of HTML files on their own system - but I
think that's a different problem set than printing the web site to a
single clickable PDF is.

For printing a web site to a self-contained clickable PDF, I think
there are only two known answers:
1. Paul's suggested freeware wh html to PDF command line tool, and,
2. The Adobe Acrobat payware (control + shift + o).

BTW, even after I uninstalled PDF Creator (using CCleaner) and
rebooted many times since, there is *still* PDF-creator stuff I run
into, e.g.,
C:\app\editor\pspdf\pdfcreator\PDFCreatorShell.{0C F118F4-616B-4755-A54
8-050F80CC71DE}.dll
Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHa ndlers\PDFCreator.Sh
ellContextMenu
http://img4.imagetitan.com/img.php?image=18_clickablepdf.jpg

PDF Creator may be fine as a PDF creator (I don't know), but PDF
Creator doesn't create a clickable PDF so for that purpose, I wouldn't
suggest anyone bother with it. Pauls answer is the best one for
freeware to create a clickable PDF of an entire web site.


I like the idea of a complete clickable pdf file, similar to that offline
wikipedia ( I think it is called qwix), there was a program that allowed
you to create your own wikipedia, can't remember what it is called, I use
Bullzip here, but I don't think it can do what you want. Please let us know
how you resolve this matter.
 




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