Resource link to a PDF file at a particular bookmark

Have new ideas for the next release of IHMC CmapTools and IHMC CmapServer?
We welcome your suggestions and we will carefully consider whether to incorporate them into the software.
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scruffy1973
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2021 3:27 pm

Resource link to a PDF file at a particular bookmark

Post by scruffy1973 »

Hello,

(1) Create a concept
(2) Right click on the concept
(3) Select "Add and Edit links to resource"
(4) Select the desktop icon
(5) Select a PDF file

I would like CMapTools to have the additional functionality that a person, after step (5), can select a particular bookmark in the PDF file to open the PDF file to that bookmark in a viewer. The viewer gets activated when clicking on an option in the drop down list activated by clicking on a resource icon underneath the concept's text.

However, is there a method in the existing feature set that can implement this functionality without needing an additional enhancement?
cmapadmin
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Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2008 2:22 pm

Re: Resource link to a PDF file at a particular bookmark

Post by cmapadmin »

I don't know of a way to open a PDF in a particular location/bookmark. If you can provide the location as a parameter in the URL, then it would work. Otherwise I don't see how you could do it.
scruffy1973
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2021 3:27 pm

Re: Resource link to a PDF file at a particular bookmark

Post by scruffy1973 »

Could there be a way to point to a particular page in the PDF file as opposed to a bookmark?

I am actually not envisioning modifying the URL -- I am asking that a field or fields be added to the Add and Edit Links to Resource dialog to accommodate the additional information (e.g. the page or the bookmark).

However, I can see a scenario with a dangling pointer if the referenced PDF file gets modified external to the concept map being worked on. Not sure how to solve this.

There is a software system that I have looked at that offers tight integration between snippets of PDF documents and nodes in mind maps. It uses Freeplane under the hood. Its name is Docear (https://docear.org/). I am wondering if some of it functionality could be incorporated into CMapTools?
cmapadmin
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Re: Resource link to a PDF file at a particular bookmark

Post by cmapadmin »

OK, so you are asking for a tighter integration of PDFs with CmapTools. That's quite unlikely to happen, as all types of resources are linked to concept maps, and we on purpose try to keep CmapTools neutral to any of these resource types. When we started the development of CmapTools (decades ago) we started with a tighter integration but soon gave up as there are too many formats and types to keep up with. Would be nice if PDFs could have a parameter or option upon invocation indicating what page to open to -- that would be general solution for all software linking to PDFs.
scruffy1973
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2021 3:27 pm

Re: Resource link to a PDF file at a particular bookmark

Post by scruffy1973 »

OK, I understand that PDFs can't be tightly integrated. However, kindly check out this document: https://pdfobject.com/pdf/pdf_open_para ... pdf#page=1 . It discusses the PDF "open parameters". Could any of the options given in this document be retrofitted to work with CMAP Tools per the above discussion?
scruffy1973
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2021 3:27 pm

Re: Resource link to a PDF file at a particular bookmark

Post by scruffy1973 »

One thought is that if a PDF file could be stored in a location accessible by a URl, then perhaps "#page=xxx" (where 'xxx' is a page number) could be appended to a URL referenced by CMapTools?
cmapadmin
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Re: Resource link to a PDF file at a particular bookmark

Post by cmapadmin »

That would work if PDF viewers understood the location parameter, but I don't think PDF viewers will understand it. CmapTools passes PDFs to the operating system for it to open them with the default application for handling PDFs.
scruffy1973
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Aug 03, 2021 3:27 pm

Re: Resource link to a PDF file at a particular bookmark

Post by scruffy1973 »

Here is a web page From Adobe about creating a URL to open a PDF file at a specific page: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/link ... robat.html . I see that an Adobe viewer can be added to the firefox browser, which I use (see https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/us ... es-firefox). I also see that a person can not add a reference to a page number to a PDF URL that refers to a file location. This leads me to the following question. I see that PDFs can be added as CMapTools resources stored on the file system. Is there a way "under the covers" to get URL for those PDFs that don't involve the file system? Could a file storage web site (like Google Drive) be a way to get URLs for specific files? I am not sure if I am familiar enough with the idea, but concept maps can be stored in "soups" on the Internet? Is there a way to get a URL for a resource in a concept map that has been uploaded to the Internet or could there be some other mechanism I am not thinking of? Or, am I just getting confused about the whole issue?
cmapadmin
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Re: Resource link to a PDF file at a particular bookmark

Post by cmapadmin »

You can have the PDF be accessed through a web browser, and add it as a URL link to the Cmap. This way you can set the URL whichever way you want, as you can edit it when you add the resource. Just make sure the it's accessible through the URL.
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