[Solved] Named Destinations in PDF Docs

groundHog · Post by **groundHog** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 10:32 pm

I have been using OpenOffice Writer for a few years now, and really like it. I've used it exclusively to generate PDF documentation, but I've hit a snag.

I want to be able to call a PDF document from another program, and have the PDF open to a particular topic. In the Adobe PDF Reader world, this would be with a named destination, and the Adobe Reader call would use the option "nameddest=name" where name is the name of the named destination in the PDF. A lot like a bookmark, but I've tried defining a bookmark in Writer, and Adobe Reader does not recognize it as a named destination.

Anyone know if Adobe PDF named destinations can be created in Writer or not?

Thanks in advance.

- djb

Post by **acknak** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 4:51 pm

It seems to work for me if I choose File > Export to PDF > Links > Export bookmarks as named destinations: YES

The bookmark is not visible at all in the Acrobat reader graphical interface, but it does work if I start the reader with
$ acroread /a nameddest=BMK01 printme.pdf

groundHog · Post by **groundHog** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 8:32 pm

Excellent. You're right, Writer bookmarks will convert to PDF named destinations, but only if there are no special characters in the bookmarks. I have underscores ("_") in the bookmarks, and these got converted to "5F" in the PDF named destination. (eg, "marker_01" gets converted to "marker5F01) I simply removed the "_" and viola! It works!

Also, if anyone is interested, there is a way to see what text string the named destinations are in Acrobat.
Select View->Destination Panels->Destinations from the Acrobat menu. That's how I realized the underscores were getting replaced.

- djb

Post by **acknak** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 9:27 pm

Select View->Destination Panels...

No such menu in my Reader (the no-cost download from Adobe, v 9.1.2).

... only if there are no special characters in the bookmarks. I have underscores ("_") in the bookmarks, and these got converted to "5F" in the PDF...

I can't find any way to check how the bookmark names are exported but it sounds like it could be a bug.

If I look directly at the contents of a PDF exported from a document containing two bookmarks, named "BMK $1" and "BMK_01", I see:
/BMK2520241 ...
/BMK5F01 ...

So that matches your description for the underscore.

I know nothing about the internals of PDF files, but it may well be that the destination names have some strong limitations on what characters are allowed; perhaps only letters and numbers. If that's the case, then OOo is probably handling the "funny" characters about as well as could be expected.

You can always submit a bug report--it's really not very nice to munge the names without at least warning you there's a problem--and see what the developers have to say: [Tutorial] Reporting bugs or suggestions.

groundHog · Post by **groundHog** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 2:32 pm

acknak wrote:
Select View->Destination Panels...
No such menu in my Reader (the no-cost download from Adobe, v 9.1.2).

I'm using a paid version, Adobe Acrobat Pro version 8. I was supposed to use this to create the PDFs, but I like Writer sooooo much better.

acknak wrote:
... only if there are no special characters in the bookmarks. I have underscores ("_") in the bookmarks, and these got converted to "5F" in the PDF...
I can't find any way to check how the bookmark names are exported but it sounds like it could be a bug.
...
You can always submit a bug report--it's really not very nice to munge the names without at least warning you there's a problem--and see what the developers have to say: [Tutorial] Reporting bugs or suggestions.

Hadn't thought about it, I just may do that.

- djb

Watz · Post by **Watz** » Mon Nov 30, 2015 4:12 pm

... sorry to disturb You,
but under Acrobat 9 and newer,
this function is not functional any more.
You can't have bookmarks AND Named Destinations
with the PDFmaker.