Remember Choices When Editing Bookmark Properties

[PHK]

Suppose the user is editing the "Go to a Page in the Document" of Bookmark Properties. The user wants to replicate his or her choices from one edit to the next. PDF-XCE does help the user do that now.

As an example, the user may want a series of Bookmarks to link to specific areas on a page that relates to the Bookmark. He or she wants the link to switch the focus to (i) a given page, (ii) at a specific XY location on that page, and (iii) at a preferred zoom level. As things are now, the user must tick the Use Current View box (the XY boxes in Use Page Number are grey-out meaning the user cannot input XY data directly) then enter afresh the all data above even if there is only one entry changed.

What would make more sense would be if the (i), (ii), and (iii) data were remembered from iteration to iteration. Also, it would be nice not to have to tick the Use Current View box to be able to input the XY data directly.

Your consideration of these suggestions is greatly appreciated as always.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, PHK

While I can understand the thought process behind this, there is one small problem. As an "Edit" tool, it is expected that when you open the Edit window, you see the current settings of the object you are editing. There is no way to retain these items while also showing the last used settings for easy application.

Kind regards,

[PHK]

... As an "Edit" tool, it is expected that when you open the Edit window, you see the current settings of the object you are editing. There is no way to retain these items while also showing the last used settings for easy application...

Fair enough: "Edit" means "Edit." But what if the user has not made any edits? If there have been no edits, those fields have entries. I don't understand the source of those default entries. Perhaps if I knew where these values come from and how I can adjust them to suit my needs I can adjust my style of working to achieve the work flow I desire. Any thoughts?

[David.P]

Hello all,

the following may not fit exactly to this feature request, but is probably similar enough to be mentioned here:


Batch edit Bookmarks and Links zoom level
https://forum.pdf-xchange.com/viewtopic.php?p=136654#p136654

It would be sensational if this could be implemented, as then the properties of multiple selected links or bookmarks could be changed all at once.

Best regards
David

[PHK]

Hello all,

the following may not fit exactly to this feature request, but is probably similar enough to be mentioned here:


Batch edit Bookmarks and Links zoom level
https://forum.pdf-xchange.com/viewtopic.php?p=136654#p136654

It would be sensational if this could be implemented, as then the properties of multiple selected links or bookmarks could be changed all at once.

Best regards
David

I agree, David. Your red box on the right does not include zoom level but I think it should and I note that your text includes zoom.

[David.P]

Yes, probably the red marking does not contribute much to clarity.

The simplest way probably would be to make all entries of the two Edit Action dialogs editable also when multiple links or bookmarks are selected.

Entries that are not the same for all selected links or bookmarks (e.g. usually the target page, or location) should get the value "Mixed", as indicated as a mockup in my above screenshot.

This is also already the case for the Link Properties and Bookmark Properties dialogs, which work fine with any number of selected links, or bookmarks, like this:

[PHK]

Yes, probably the red marking does not contribute much to clarity...

The clarity is fine, the box just needs to be extended down a few dozen pixels to include the zoom parameter.

The problem I have with the PXYZ (Page number, X-axis, Y-axis, Zoom level) parameters in Bookmark Actions is that there is no easy way of setting them. As it is now, if one is creating a new Bookmark with a new Action, the user must manually insert the PXYZ parameters (overriding some near-random parameters already there) requiring many steps. What would really be cool would be if the user could select an area of a document in the application window that is meant to be the Action's resultant window focus with a bounding box that saves the relevant PXYZ parameters which could then be pasted (in edit mode) into that Action instruction directly.

More must be done in PDF-XCE to enhance the UI on large sheets or pages. I find it slightly odd that the Product Manual illustrates the PDF-XCE features with a partial image of what appears to be a large sheet

image.png

and then does not support large-sheet UI as well as it does legacy small page (A4, Letter, etc.) UIs. For instance, I suggested adding the facility of a single-page search option to the "Where" options with large sheets in mind. This was flatly rejected.

PDF-XCE has the wonderful ability to merge multiple pages onto a single sheet, 1,000:1 is not unrealistic, which has many user benefits that I won't go into now. A hundred years from now, our successors will find it droll that we are still working in 2022 with the legacy A4/Letter page formats when there is no reason to be bound to those small sizes when much larger PDF page sizes are available. I find it vaguely ridiculous that my utility companies issue 3- or 4-page PDF files that are cumbersome to navigate each month when one larger page would accomodate all the content they are providing.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, PHK

Adding a cross reference for those interested in creating new bookmarks with specific zoom levels, please see this topic: viewtopic.php?p=162725#p162725

As for the request to bulk edit bookmarks. This has come up a few times in the past, at the moment we do not plan to offer something like this, but if you do wish to make these changes to already existing items, it is possible to affect bookmarks in bulk by utilizing Javascript (you can open our JS console with Ctrl+J . The JS api reference manual is available here: http://dev.datalogics.com/cookbook/docu ... erence.pdf

Kind regards,

[David.P]

Hello all,

The problem I have with the PXYZ (Page number, X-axis, Y-axis, Zoom level) parameters in Bookmark Actions is that there is no easy way of setting them. As it is now, if one is creating a new Bookmark with a new Action, the user must manually insert the PXYZ parameters (overriding some near-random parameters already there) requiring many steps. What would really be cool would be if the user could select an area of a document in the application window that is meant to be the Action's resultant window focus with a bounding box that saves the relevant PXYZ parameters

[Emphasis added]

I could be incorrectly interpreting the above, but I believe this very feature was introduced in 2015 after some years of bugging the awesome Tracker team with a corresponding feature request:


Defining targets for internal hyperlinks
https://forum.pdf-xchange.com/viewtopic.php?p=89170#p89170


What is "Ignore Zoom Level" and "Use Zoom Mode":
https://www.pdf-xchange.com/knowledgebase/402-What-is-the-Link-Creation-Tool-and-how-does-it-operate#:~:text=The options,are as follows

Hth & cheers
David
--

Edit: I just realized that this is about bookmarks not links, and that the initial issue regarding easy creation of bookmarks targets probably has already been resolved here in the meantime:
https://forum.pdf-xchange.com/viewtopic.php?p=162725#p162725

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]

Hello, David.P

I see your edit, and you are correct, this topic is about bookmarks not links, but thank you for the insight. For those who happen to have the same question you do, zoom mode is explained in the article you links, but I have copied the section out for quick access:
The options in the Browse for Link Target dialog box are as follows:

~If the Ignore Zoom Level box is selected then PDF-XChange Editor will ignore the current zoom percentage and mode when links are created. If this box is cleared then the link will use the zoom level (percentage) was that in place at the time of link creation when link is subsequently used (unless "Use Zoom Mode" is enabled).
~If the Use Zoom Mode box is selected then PDF-XChange Editor will use the active zoom mode (such as "fit width") when links are created. If this box is cleared then the zoom mode will not be used, and unless "Ignore Zoom Level" is enabled, the percentage zoom level will be used instead.
~Move to the desired link location and zoom level, then click Set Link to create a link to that location.
~Click Advanced for additional options. The Edit Action List dialog box will open and the Add dropdown menu will be expanded:

Kind regards,

[PHK]

Thanks, David and Daniel, useful discussion.

[Daniel - PDF-XChange]