Previous | Next | (P-PDF) Developers

Topic: RE: Acrobat browser plugin detection script?
Conf: (P-PDF) Developers, Msg: 36787
From: spinstir
Date: 3/16/2002 08:15 AM

IE needs a piece of VBscript to create an ActiveX
control, then test whether that control exists.

If you search the macromedia site for plugin
detection, you'll find a pretty definitive plugin
detection script (for the shockwave or the flash
player). You can modify either of those scripts to
detect the Reader plugin by replacing the plugin
name and the mimetype and the ActiveX control
classID.

For example, in the Shockwave player plugin
detection script, the plugin name is "Shockwave for
Director", the mimetype is "application/x-director"
and the classID in the VBscript area is
"SWCtl.SwCtl". (it might actually be
"SWCtl.SWCtl.8", or something like that - the .8 just
refers to the version of the shockwave player.)

Replace each instance of "Shockwave for Director"
with "PDFViewer", each instance of
"application/x-director" with "application/x-pdf", and
each instance of "SWCtl.SWCtl.8" (or whatever is
there) with "PDF.PdfCtrl.5".

And that's it.

Incidentally, I finally found the Reader ClassID by
downloading a Windows application called
OLE/COM Object Viewer from the MS developer
site. It is a standalone version of a component of
Visual InterDev. It's free and it gives all kinds of
information on plugins and what-all other things
fall into the OLE/COM category.

On 1/5/2000 11:27:42 AM, Deleted User wrote:
>Netscape exposes installed
>helper information to
>Javascript, but IE isn't
quite
>so conforming, have you
>checked out the latest IE
>browser (if that's
an
>option)?

I have to agree with
>Aandi, forcing your users to
>download Acrobat Reader
isn't
>good
>netiquette.

Dave.............
>..
---
AcroBuddies Forum
>Moderator
http://www.AcroBuddi
>es.com/
---
> I've seen a
>couple of posts in here
>regarding scripting plugin
>detection
> for Acrobat, but
>no successful answers yet.
>Seems IE on PCs needs a VB
>
>script to dig out the ActiveX
>controls. I've tried to
>combine the JS
> writing of
>this VB script with the JS
>necessary to detect it on
>other
> browsers/platforms,
>but to no avail (see
>attached).
>
> All I want to
>do is somehow find out if the
>viewer of a web page has an
>
>Acrobat Reader web browser
>plugin (any version) installed
>and if so open a
> PDF
>(preferably in a new browser
>window) and if not redirect
>them to a
> download page to
>get it (also preferably in a
>new browser window). This is
>
>simple to do for other plugins
>& simple if you only care
>about Netscape or
> Macs, but
>all my attempts to be
>inclusive have thus far
>failed.
>