[SOLVED] Javascript automation to add add-on tool to the toolbar in Acrobat

Javascript automation to add add-on tool to the toolbar in Acrobat

Hello everyone,

I am a complete beginner in developing Acrobat functionalities, and I had been given a task of adding a button to the toolbar, which on pressing would display a pop-up, using Javascript. I was able to add a button to the add-on toolbar and then I manually added the button from the add-on tools to the toolbar. I have been asked if this manual addition could be automated, I went through the Javascript API reference and found that it provides the execMenuItem method but it only is able to perform some commands such as Save As. Could it be possible to write a script that would automate the manual addition ? The manual addition that I am talking about is Going to View -> Show/Hide -> Toolbar Items -> Customize Quick Tools

I am aware that we can add a button to the toolbar directly using plugins but that would require developing in C++, and our team is trying to explore functionalities that could be achieved using JS scripts

Thanks

Solution

You can use addToolButton() from page 100 of the JavaScript for Acrobat API Reference to achieve similar functionality.

However it appears that adding to Quick Tools is not supported through the JavaScript API, according to one AcrobatUsers post:

Note that as of version X you cannot place a button on the toolbar automatically, no matter what code you write - it will ALWAYS appear on the Tools Pane, down at the bottom corner - from where the user has to manually drag it into the Quick Tools area.