[OS X TeX] Acrotex

[Ross Moore]

Hi Jens, and others.

On 17/09/2008, at 12:20 PM, Jens Noeckel wrote:

>
>> Is this not correct? Does AcroTeX itself (i.e. the eDucation Bundle
>> which corresponds to acrotex on CTAN) require Acrobat?
>>
>>
>
> Fortunately, AcroTeX doesn't need Acrobat. It allows to insert  
> document-level JavaScript for interactive features (that's used in  
> testing answers in quizzes etc.), and that works perfectly well  
> with Adobe Reader. Neither Preview nor Skim can handle JavaScript,  
> so it's probably accurate to say that AcroTeX requires Adobe Reader.

It doesn't need AR to *create* perfectly good PDFs having
embedded JavaScript functions and button controls, etc.

That Skim and Preview do not support these things is a deficiency
within those browsers, that has nothing to do with AcroTeX itself.
This is most unfortunate in that these browsers have other good
features, making them desirable to use on a Mac.

Basically, there is not yet a PDF browser (on the Mac) that
does *everything* that one would like.
(I'm deliberately leaving this last statement vague and ill-defined.)


> I don't know anything about the commercial version...

    Of what?  AcroTeX ?

    There will still be the problem of which browsers support
    the kind of features in the documents that it can create.

>
> Jens


Hope this helps,

	Ross

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Ross Moore                                       ross at maths.mq.edu.au
Mathematics Department                           office: E7A-419
Macquarie University                             tel: +61 (0)2 9850 8955
Sydney, Australia  2109                          fax: +61 (0)2 9850 8114
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