Adobe acrobat 7.0.5 sdk User Manual

Page of 122
Deciding Which Acrobat SDK Technology to Use
When to Use Interapplication Communication
3
30
Wh e n   t o   Us e   I n te ra p p l i c a t i o n   Co m m u n i c a t i o n
To take advantage of Acrobat functionality from within an external application, you use 
Interapplication Communication (IAC).
Viewing PDF Documents from an External Application
If your Windows application only views a PDF document and does not need to edit it in any 
way, it is recommended that you use the PDF Browser Controls to view the document from 
your external VB or C# application. When you open a document for viewing using the PDF 
Browser Controls, the document is displayed in the application window. Acrobat toolbars 
are also displayed and can be used with no additional API calls. The toolbars can optionally 
be hidden. See 
 or the Acrobat Interapplication 
Communication Overview for more details.
N
O T E
:
Acrobat or Adobe Reader must be installed on the end-user’s computer for the PDF 
Browser Controls to function correctly. 
You can also use the IAC API to open and view a PDF document. However, when you use 
the IAC API, no toolbars are displayed; you must place your own buttons with 
corresponding API calls for standard toolbar tasks such as printing and searching.
The following table summarizes some of the issues to consider when deciding whether to 
use the PDF Browser Controls or IAC APIs.
Controlling Acrobat From an External Application
If you need to do more than just view a PDF document from your application, you can use 
either the IAC API or, if your application is written in VB, you can access Acrobat JavaScript 
using the 
JSObject
T
ABLE
 3.1
Comparing the PDF Browser Controls and IAC APIs
PDF Browser 
Controls
Acrobat toolbars can be displayed with no additional API calls.
Supports only viewing, not editing, of PDF documents. 
IAC API
Supports editing PDF documents and manipulating Acrobat or 
Adobe Reader through a richer set of APIs than the PDF Browser 
Controls. Note that the set of APIs for Adobe Reader is limited unless 
the PDF document has rights enabled (see 
Acrobat toolbars cannot be displayed.