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Launching other applications from Java GUI

 
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Hi All -
We are planning to rewrite a GUI application in Java/Swing. In our current GUI (using Visual Basic), users can search for some documents and the search results display a list of PDF documents. If the user does a double click on one of the results, the application launches Adobe Acrobat reader with the corresponding PDF file. We know that Acrobat Reader is available in most platforms. But, how can I launch Acrobat reader from my Java application without sacrificing the platform independent feature of Java? How can I check whether Acrobat reader is installed in the platform in which the GUI is run? All suggestions will be appreciated.
- Hari Gangadharan
 
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Well, this will get it started.
try {
Runtime.getRuntime().exec("C:\\Program Files\\Adobe\\Acrobat 4.0\\Reader\\AcroRd32 S:\\wherever\\yourFile.pdf");
}
catch(IOException e) {
//something clever
}

However, this is of course very dependant on the location of the installation of AcroRd32.
You can alway hope that the AcroRd32.exe is in the path and try
Runtime.getRuntime().exec("AcroRd32 yourFile.pdf");
You could set up your exception to look for am IOException and do something clever about asking the user to find the reader.
[ November 12, 2002: Message edited by: Cindy Glass ]
 
Hari Gangadharan
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Thanks Cindy --
I was thinking in those lines. I think I may have to build intelligence into the application to look for possible locations of Acrobat Reader. I think I may have to popup a JFileChooser and ask the user to locate acrobat reader, if I fail.
Cindy, thanks for these tips, once again.
 
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