2021 Acrobat SDK Release Notes

Note

A new release is available which fixes bug 4324516: Acrobat cannot launch if PDFLib TET Plugin is present. If you’re using v1 - Jan 2021, migrate to the latest version described below.

Downloads

To access the downloads:

  1. Go to https://console.adobe.io/downloads.

  2. Download the SDK:

  • Windows: SDK version v2 - Mar 2021

  • Macintosh: SDK version v2 - Mar 2021

Installers

The 32-bit Windows and Mac platform uses separate installers for Reader and Acrobat. Windows 64-bit installers combine the two into a single installer.

  • Adobe Acrobat Reader DC: 32 and 64 bit

  • Adobe Acrobat Pro DC: 32 and 64 bit

System requirements

The SDK supports the following:

  • Windows: Samples have been upgraded to compile using VS2019 for Windows 7, 8, and 10.

  • Macintosh: With this release Acrobat SDK samples could be compiled using X-CODE 9.2. Target Mac OS Deployment version is 10.11.

Changes for this release

All code samples, tools, and other API dependent assets are updated for compatibility with the latest compilers.

Windows

  • General changes for 64-bit Windows:

    • You must upgrade 32-bit plugins to 64-bit for them to work with the 64-bit app.

    • The SDK provides 64-bit public headers to 3rd party plug-in developers so that they can successfully create or upgrade their plugins.

    • Acrobat and Reader use the same, single installer. The unified application determines the mode in which it’s running (Reader/Acrobat) at run time. Plugins must dynamically check the whether the app is in Acrobat or Reader mode in order to determine what functionality should be available.

    • The application can transition from Reader mode to Acrobat mode without a relaunch, so plugins must react to mode notifications accordingly.

    • If any Acrobat-specific HFT is invoked in Reader Mode, it could throw a run-time exception. Plugins need to ensure Acrobat specific HFTs are not invoked while the application is running in Reader mode.

    • Existing plugins with different binaries for Acrobat and Reader must combine into a single binary. Product differentiation (Reader vs Acrobat) at install time is not possible.

  • Installation path

    • 64-bit: /Program Files/Adobe/<app name>/Acrobat/plug_ins

    • 32-bit: /Program Files (x86)/Adobe/<app name>/Acrobat/plug_ins

    • There is no “Acrobat Reader” specific path for 64-bit; there is for 32-bit.

    • The app name in the path is Acrobat DC.

  • Samples

    • App Wizard: The App wizard has been upgraded and will only work with VS2019.

    • wxPlugin: Upgraded to use wxWidgets 3.1.3. Developers must compile wxwidgets and copy the generated libs to NonAdobeSupport\wxWidgets\win\lib and header files to NonAdobeSupport\wxWidgets\win\include. File paths may vary with a user’s project configuration.

    • Removed unsupported CommonInterfaceAIR.air from snippetRunner Sample.

    • All existing samples are ported from Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 to Microsoft Visual Studio 2019. Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 is recommended to create and upgrade 64-bit native plugins.

    • Public header and sample plugins are updated.

  • Config folder: A new folder contains the common Visual Studio Settings for import by all VS project solutions: Adobe\Acrobat DC SDK\Version 1\Config.

  • Code changes:

Module

Impacted API

Change

AccessibilitySupport (AcrobatAccess.idl)

get_accID. See PDF Accessibility API Reference

32-bit: HRESULT get_accID(long *id); 64-bit: HRESULT get_accID(long long *id)

  • New data type

The following new data scalar type is added to the data types:

Type

Byte size

Description

ASIntPtr_t

4 ( win-32); 8 (win-64)

intptr_t: Signed integer of size equal to a pointer

ASSize_t

4 ( win-32); 8 (win-64)

size of objects (as in size_t)

Macintosh

  • Plugin samples

    • MultiTab: To run the sample, place multitab_icons.pdf (from the SDK package) in /users/{username}/documents

    • wxPlugin: This plugin is delivered as Windows only due to dependency on the wxwidget library in Macintosh. TBD

  • AppleScript: WatermarkJsoAs: you must place the package input files present on the desktop. On script execution, users are prompted to specify an output folder in which to save the stamped file.

  • Tools

    • verifyUrl.acroplugin: Removed since it uses HITToolBox which is deprecated by Mac.

    • Sign Plugin.exe: Upgraded to 64 Bit to support Mac OS Catalina.

Known issues

  • Mac only: Acrobat crashes while running media in RunMediaPlayers.pdf

  • Mac only: Flash player crashes while running media in ScriptEvents.pdf

  • “SHA1 algorithm warning message” appears when signing using DocSign SDK sample

  • When protected mode is ON:

    • PDF file will open in a temporary window while using StaticViewVC.exe/StaticViewVB.exe

    • WatermarkJsoVB.exe will not work

Other issues:

  • 4301819: PDDomView present in Acrobat SDK sometimes doesn’t work

  • 4316221: Snippet Runner and Weblink Demo are not working on 64-Bit Acrobat due to dependency on the CommonInterfaceAIR.air

  • 4315936: [Protected mode] DMS integration sample is not working

  • 4315935: [Protected mode] Error coming while running ClienApp.exe for the DDE server sample

  • 4324516: Acrobat cannot launch if PDFLib TET Plugin is present. Note: this bug is fixed in the 3/11/2021 update (v2 - Mar 2021).