RT#7686 - Error with Cancelling Link Creation SOLVED

[rakunavi]

=== UPDATE ===================================================================
The issue reported below has been resolved in Ver 10.8.0 build 405.
I appreciate all the hard work and efforts of the support and development team.
==============================================================================

Hello all,

Enabling link adding/editing mode displays the "Browse for Link Target" dialog. Naturally, pressing the Cancel button prevents the link from being created. While the dialog is open, you can perform a wide range of operations not just page navigation, but also creating bookmarks, named destinations, and even comments.

However, I noticed that if you create any of these items and then press the Cancel button in the "Browse for Link Target" dialog, the link is still created. Links created this way have no action assigned, making them largely useless as links. In contrast, when performing a similar operation in an ancient version of Acrobat I have, the link was not created.

• Animation.gif

This depends on personal preference, and I believe its importance is extremely low, but perhaps it would be more intuitive for users if clicking the cancel button prevented the link from being created.

Hoping that the above information will be of some help to you.
Thank you so much for your continued support.

Best regards,
rakunavi

- PDF-XChange Editor PRO Version: 10.7.6 build 404
- Adobe Acrobat X Standard Version 10.1.16
- OS Version: Windows 11 Pro / Home 25H2 Build 26200.7171
- PC Model: GMKtec Nucbox M7 Pro with HUION Kamvas Pro 19 / Lenovo IdeaPad C340-15IWL

[EDIT] Since a ticket has been officially issued for this matter, I have changed the topic title as follows. 2025-11-28 20:47 JST (UTC+9)

• Previous Title: When creating anything after "Browse for Link Target" dialog appears, link will be created even if you cancel the dialog
• New Title: RT##7686 - Error with Cancelling Link Creation

[Sean - PDF-XChange]

Good morning Rakunavi - I will let the development team know.

Thanks and have a good day,

[Sean - PDF-XChange]

Hi Rakunavi, there is an update on this - the development team have clarified that the current behaviour is the desired logic:

At the moment the “Browse for Link Target” dialog starts, the link annotation is already added to the document. If the user performs actions only on this link (moving, resizing, changing its properties), we can track all these modifications in the undo history and revert them together when the dialog is canceled.

However, if while the dialog is still open the user performs other actions in the document (for example, adds a bookmark), an additional entry adds in the undo history. We cannot undo it automatically, as doing so would discard the user’s changes.
At the same time, we cannot selectively undo only the link-related actions, since undo operations must be applied strictly in reverse order.

This leaves the development team with only two possible approaches:

1.Keep the intermediate changes as they are, allowing the user to decide whether they want to undo all actions in order to remove the link and return the document to its previous state. (The current behavior.)

2. Remove the link automatically when the dialog is canceled, which will itself create a new modification in the document. As a result, the undo history would contain unnecessary entries: annotation added -> bookmark added -> annotation removed. This is also not ideal.

They are going to review how the link tool operates in more detail to see whether they can improve the logic.

Many thanks for your excellent feedback, as always.

Kind regards,

[rakunavi]

Hello Sean, thank you for taking the time to review this despite your busy schedule.

Regarding the “Browse for Link Target” dialog, another point of concern is that it allows multiple links to be created simultaneously. Beyond automated processes using scripts, it's difficult to envision a use case where multiple dialogs would be opened concurrently to create links in parallel. Personally, I believe it would be better if, when a “Browse for Link Target” dialog is already open and waiting for a target to be specified, attempting to create another link would trigger an error sound and prevent the operation.

Incidentally, if multiple “Browse for Link Target” dialogs appear, canceling them in the exact reverse order they were displayed will remove all links. However, if the order differs even slightly, some links will remain as links with no action assigned.

• Animation.gif

Please give my best regards to developers.

Best regards,
rakunavi

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, rakunavi

Thank you for the added notes, I have passed this along to the team members who are investigating the situation, and looking at possibilities for the future. I expect the number of people who have stumbled on this "feature" is relatively small, given there are very few scenarios where one would try to accomplish these things.

For the time being, I cannot promise what may happen, but the team is looking into it.
[Edit] I have heard back from the Dev team regarding the ability to create multiple links at once. The dev team have confirmed this is intended, and will not be changing.

It's not a bug, it's a feature.

We do not restrict user actions while the “Browse for Link Target” dialog is active. This dialog is non-modal, meaning the user can continue performing any actions in the document - such as adding bookmarks or creating additional links. The primary purpose of this dialog is to allow free navigation through the document to accurately set the target destination, while not restricting any other actions.

Let me share a real example. When working on my dissertation, I had to create links for the same term that appeared many times throughout the document. I would add all those links first, then navigate to the place where the term was defined, and set the destination for all of them at once. This workflow is far more convenient than repeating the full link-creation process dozens of times.

I would also like to note that Acrobat behaves the same way:
in the “Create Link” dialog, if select “Go to a page view” -> “Next”, a non-modal “Create Go to View” dialog appears. While it is open, the user is free to perform any actions, including creating additional links.

Therefore, we do not plan to change this behavior, as it is by design and provides a more flexible workflow.

Kind regards,

[Sean - PDF-XChange]

A ticket has been made in relation to this issue:

Ticket #7686 - Error with Cancelling Link Creation

Kind regards,

[rakunavi]

Thank you, Sean and Daniel, for creating the ticket and sharing the developer's review results.

If all destination pages are identical, as the developer mentioned, one possible approach is to first create multiple links, then navigate to the destination page, and finally press the OK button for all dialogs at once. Personally, in such a case, I would create the link first and then copy and paste it, but it's always better to provide multiple methods.

If all destination pages are identical, the ultimate ideal implementation would be to open only one dialog even when multiple links are specified, with the settings from that dialog applying to all source links. Displaying the total number of affected links in the dialog title might help users understand they're batch-specifying destinations for multiple links.

Of course, as mentioned above, this proposal is only valid if the same action is set for all links. Therefore, if you want to ensure users have various options available, keeping things as they are is naturally preferable. However, in that case, the challenge of how users will distinguish between multiple dialogs remains.

• figure.png

Let me share a real example. When working on my dissertation, I had to create links for the same term that appeared many times throughout the document. I would add all those links first, then navigate to the place where the term was defined, and set the destination for all of them at once. This workflow is far more convenient than repeating the full link-creation process dozens of times.

For that purpose, I would use the “Create Links from Bookmarks” feature. While it diverges significantly from the feature's intended purpose, it achieves functionality close to BlueBeam's Batch Link. At the very least, it perfectly fits the use case the developer illustrates. By simply preparing a temporary bookmark with the link destinations for the target terms beforehand, you can create links in an instant, regardless of whether there are thousands of target terms or thousands of target pages.

This feature is so astonishingly useful that I almost don't want to share this workaround with others.
I can confidently state that among all PDF-XChange Editor features, this one holds the most value. In BlueBeam, this functionality is only available with the most expensive, premium plan. If the developer knew about this usage, it would surely be helpful when writing their next dissertation.

Best regards,
rakunavi

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, rakunavi

Thank you for the input. We will consider it again in the future, but for now this feature will not be changing.

Kind regards,