PDF (Port)folio files

[Gary Evans]

Have searched your site info and literature and find no reference to this problem. I am unable to get any search results for multiple pdf files wrapped in another pdf 'portfolio', - an option that Acrobat supports and Reader understands. Indexing finds data in 'standalone' pdf files just fine, but as soon as I combine them in an Adobe pdf 'portfolio', no data is indexed, (and the Indexer reports no errors). Please confirm, and is there a workaround, (besides NOT using the 'portfolio' Adobe option ?

Example: www.skootamatta.ca/archives/newsletters/1987/Newsletters 1987.pdf (portfolio containing 3 pdf files)

Any help appreciated. TIA

[Ray]

Unfortunately, "PDF Packages" (aka "PDF portfolio) are not supported by XPDF (which is the third-party developers/package that provide the PDF conversion plugin we use). Just like older versions of Acrobat Reader which does not recognize this new format, it will only see a message like the following when it opens a PDF package:

Multiple files are bound together in this PDF Package.
Adobe recommends using Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat version 8 or later to work with documents contained within a PDF Package. By updating to the latest version, you'll enjoy the following benefits: · Efficient, integrated PDF viewing · Easy printing · Quick searches
Don't have the latest version of Adobe Reader?
Click here to download the latest version of Adobe Reader
If you already have Adobe Reader 8, click a file in this PDF Package to view it.

Adobe has its own "PDF IFilter" which it provides for Windows' indexing service. And we could look into adding support for that and using it as a plugin (assuming its license allows for this, and it is not restricted for use with Microsoft Windows Indexing Service only). But it actually gets more complicated than that.

From what we can tell, the last downloadable version of the Adobe IFilter is V6. However, this apparently does not esupport PDF packages/portfolios either. IFilter V8 and V9 provides support for these files, but only the 64-bit versions can be downloaded separately.

These are just the issues on the surface. We'll have to look into it in more detail to see if there's actually any practical possibility for us to utilize Adobe's IFilters. You are the first person to ask us about this, and we have not come across portfolio files before. Needless to say, Adobe has not made this easy for anybody.

[Gary Evans]

Ray:

Thanks for the prompt response.

Yes, Adobe, in spite of its gift of 'pdf' to the world, remains somewhat cavalier about features, (I've found inconsistencies in the way their own PDF Search works).

I'm surprised that there haven't been other requests about pdf packages. It appears to be a great feature to 'reduce clutter' in large pdf document databases.

A possible workaround:

Place BOTH the individual pdf files and the pdf 'package' file in the same folder. The 'package' can be accessed from its own website link and Zoom Search should still be able to index the (same) info in the individual files. Haven't tried this, but should work?

[Ray]

Yes, but the search results will then link the user to the individual files. Unless you are okay with this, but then it would seem like it defeats the point of reducing the number of files.

If there is a consistent naming scheme between your individual files and your package files, you may be able to get around this with the "Rewrite links" feature. Click "Configure"->"Indexing options" and check "Rewrite all indexed URLs as follows..." and click on the "Help" button for more information on how to use this.