Overview and description of Editor components

[Spiff]

Dear Tracker Support,

Up to now, I use PDF-Change Viewer, but I think it's time for me to move to the Editor.

As I don't need all Editor features, with installation I would like to do a custom setup, to only install the Editor components that I need.
I don't need the PDF-XChange Lite printer driver, and I don't need the SharePoint, Google Drive and Dropbox plugins, but I am not sure about several other Editor components.

Of course I searched the online product manual, the knowledge base and the forums for information to help decide which components to install and which not, but I have not been able to find an overview of all components that can be selected or deselected with custom setup, and most importantly, a description of the exact functionality of all those components, and information about which components are free to use and which require a license. (Of course the latter is specified in the Feature List, but still that information would be welcome in an overview and description of Editor components.)

Is such overview and description of components that can be selected or deselected with custom setup available?
If not, would it be possible to provide such overview?


Thank you very much
and best regards,

Spiff

[Paul - Tracker Supp]

Hi Spiff,

the installer has a GUI option to select the desired components and includes a simple description of the feature's capabilities. Select "Custom" rather than "Complete" when prompted in the "Choose Setup Type" screen to get the following:



If you are looking for more detail I suggest you look at the MSI installer options https://help.pdf-xchange.com/pdfxe6 ... edpub.html and use either the command line or a transform to specify exactly what you wish to install.

These articles details how to create a transform to do just that:
https://www.pdf-xchange.com/knowle ... r-products - Basic usage
https://www.pdf-xchange.com/knowle ... sform-file - more detail

let me know if you need anything more?

regards

[Spiff]

Thanks very much, Paul.

I intend to use the EXE installer and its GUI to select the desired components, I don't intend to do a command line installation or use a transform.

I had been searching for a table that shows all options in the installer GUI Custom Setup field, including a more extensive description of the functionality of all those components, and information about which components are free to use and which require a license.

I had overlooked the "list of features" in the Switches for MSI Installers. Thanks for your suggestion.
I assume that list shows all options that are also in the installer GUI Custom Setup field, with a simple description of the feature's capabilities.
I would've liked a more extensive description of the functionality of all those components, and information about which components are free to use and which require a license, but the simple description must do.
For each component I'll search the documentation to see if I need it or not, and which components are free to use. It's not as easy as having the more extensive description that I was looking for, but if I give it a little time, I will figure it out.

Thanks again.

Best regards

[Paul - Tracker Supp]

No worries Spiff and thanks for the feedback.

The exe installers have a far more limited set of switches available. This is because they are really MSI installers inside an exe wrapper and we cannot pass all the options we would like. If you want to have fine grained control of the components installed then the MSI installers are definitely the way to go.

I appreciate the feedback on the documentation and will pass that on to the guys responsible for maintaining the docs.

regards.

[Spiff]

Thanks, Paul!

Do you mean, in the installer GUI Custom Setup field the EXE installer does not offer all the selection options that are offered in the MSI installer's GUI Custom Setup field? I would never have expected that. Definitely good to know!
In that case, I'll use the MSI installer.

Thanks very much, once again.

[Paul - Tracker Supp]

Hi Spiff,

no, not the GUI, those should have the same options. It is for passing the options to an installer for silent installations where the exe has it's limitations. Having said that, if you know your architecture then I would always use the MSI because the exe is just a wrapper to call the very same MSI.

If there were a way for an MSI to easily and reliably auto-detect the system architecture (know that as a sysadmin this is trivial but not so for regular users) I would love to see the exe installer go the way of the dodo. It is essentially to make installation easier for users who do not understand about x86 Vs x64 installations that we maintain the exe installers.

As always - the choice is yours, the GUI installs will have the same options.

hth

[Spiff]

Thanks, Paul.

I know that not all the switches for silent install are available in the installer GUI Custom Setup. As I don't need most of those switches, that's not a problem.
But I hope the installer GUI Custom Setup still offers the option to deselect specific plugins that I don't need. If not, that's not a major issue. In that case, I'll use the options the installer GUI Custom Setup has to offer.
I'll see in a few days, when I find some time to search the documentation to see which features I need, and which components are free to use, and to check out the installer GUI Custom Setup options.

Thanks again.

[Paul - Tracker Supp]

Hi Spiff,

I believe you will find the same options in the GUI and through the command line as far as choosing components is concerned. Let us know when you get there if yo need any clarification.

[Spiff]

I believe you will find the same options in the GUI and through the command line as far as choosing components is concerned.

Ah, that's great, thanks.

Let us know when you get there if yo need any clarification.

Thanks very much, Paul, I will do so, if I need any clarification.
But I assume, with a little effort, I should be able to find all information that I need in the manual and in the feature list.

Oh, and better not stay up for me, as it may be a while till I find the time to study the documentation.
So better HTH (hit the hay).

[Paul - Tracker Supp]

[Spiff]

Back to report that I successfully installed Editor 6.0.319.0, using Custom Setup, deselecting the components that I don't need.

I have a few remarks, though.


There seem to be some discrepancies between the list of plugins that is displayed in the "list of features" in Switches for MSI Installers, and the features in 6.0.319.0 Custom Setup, and the Feature List.

In Switches for MSI Installers, the OFCPlugin is mentioned ("to install the plugin that allows the opening of MS Office documents directly within the software"). This plugin is not available in Custom Setup.

In Custom Setup, the Covert to MS Office plugin is available. This plugin is not mentioned in Switches for MSI Installers. I think this is not the same as the OFCPlugin, is it?

In the Feature List, "View Image and MSOffice files natively" (which to me seems to correspond to the OFCPlugin description) and "Convert PDF to MSWord format"/"Convert PDF to MSPowerPoint format" (which to me seems to correspond to the Covert to MS Office plugin) are mentioned separately.
This seems to say that the Covert to MS Office plugin is not the same as the OFCPlugin.

Furthermore, in Custom Setup there's also the Markdown files to PDF plugin available. This plugin and its functionality is not mentioned in Switches for MSI Installers, nor is it mentioned in the Feature List.

So far for the discrepancies that I noticed.


One final thing that I noticed, unrelated to the above.

Customizing the Editor went fine. And just as with the Viewer before, exporting and importing settings is great for applying settings on other computers, and in other Windows accounts, and in the web browsers.
The odd thing, however, is that I need to run Import Settings from File two times in succession to correctly apply all settings. That's fine, I'm glad it works, but it is just a bit odd there's the need to run Import Settings twice.


That's all for now.

I'm very happy with PDF-XChange Editor.
Thanks very much!


Best regards,
Spiff

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hello Spiff,

Glad to hear that the install went well!
I will pass your remarks for the documentation and lists in the installations to the respective people for fixing.

Regards,
Stefan

[Spiff]

Thanks very much, Stefan!

Best regards,
Spiff

[Will - Tracker Supp]

[Paul - Tracker Supp]

HI Spiff,

thanks for the details. There is not a lot of room in that GUI interface for long descriptions. You are right though that it is not as clear as it could be as to exactly which plugin is being referred to in the case of the MS Office plugins.

For example, the editor has the built in capability of opening Office documents directly (conditional on the system having MS Office already installed) and that is different from the OFCPlugin which gives the capability of converting PDF to Office formats. That is listed in the GUI as "Convert to MS Office":



So we will go over the GUI before the next release and see about making those descriptions more accurate.

hth

[Spiff]

[...] the editor has the built in capability of opening Office documents directly (conditional on the system having MS Office already installed) and that is different from the OFCPlugin which gives the capability of converting PDF to Office formats. That is listed in the GUI as "Convert to MS Office" [...]

Thanks Paul, that is clear.

What was confusing, however, is the fact that in Switches for MSI Installers, the OFCPlugin is mentioned ("to install the plugin that allows the opening of MS Office documents directly within the software"), but the OFCPlugin is not available in Custom Setup in the installation GUI,
and also, in Custom Setup, the Covert to MS Office plugin is available, but this plugin is not mentioned in Switches for MSI Installers,
and in Custom Setup there's also the Markdown files to PDF plugin available, which is not mentioned in Switches for MSI Installers either.
See the discrepancies?

I assume the description in Custom Setup in the installation GUI is accurate, but the information in the list of plugins that is displayed in the "list of features" in Switches for MSI Installers may be somewhat out of date and may need some attention.

[Paul - Tracker Supp]

Hi Spiff,

indeed, you have made us aware of some inconsistencies and we are changing those. The MSI install switches page is actually incorrect when it told you:

F_OFCPlugin - to install the plugin that allows the opening of MS Office documents directly within the software.

As you pointed out, this is actually the plugin to convert PDF files to Office formats. Opening MS documents in the Editor does not require a plugin, it is built in to the Editor and as such not an option in either the GUI Custom Setup screens nor the switches document. This is being changed in the online manual.

in Custom Setup, the Covert to MS Office plugin is available, but this plugin is not mentioned in Switches for MSI Installers,

By the end of the day the corrections should be in the online manual, the plugin to convert to MS formats actually is OCFPlugin and this will be reflected in the manual.

Thanks for pointing this out to us, it is great to correct such inconsistencies.

[Spiff]

By the end of the day the corrections should be in the online manual, [...]

And please don't forget to add the "Markdown files to PDF" plugin info in the online manual, also.

Thanks for pointing this out to us, it is great to correct such inconsistencies.

Thanks, Paul. You're most welcome.
It's great to have been of some help pointing out those inconsistencies in the documentation.

I suppose keeping the info in the installation GUI, and program features info, and all documentation consistent with every new program update could almost be a job on its own. Don't get me wrong, I'm not applying for a job, though.

Best regards,
Spiff

[Patrick-Tracker Supp]

Hi Spiff,

Paul has gone home for the evening. However, he did mention that the manual changes have been made and uploaded. You should be able to see them for yourself now.

Cheers!

[Spiff]

[...] the manual changes have been made and uploaded. You should be able to see them for yourself now.

Thanks, Patrick.
I checked the list of plugins that is displayed in the "list of features" in Switches for MSI Installers.
The description for the "F_OFCPlugin" switch now reads: "to install the plugin that allows the conversion of MS Office documents directly within the software", which clearly corresponds to the Covert to MS Office plugin.
However, it is still listed as "F_OFCPlugin" switch in the list of switches for MSI Installers. Is this correct?
What does OFC stand for? Is OFC an abbreviation for Office? Ah, if so, that is OK, I guess. However, not everyone may find "F_OFCPlugin" for Covert to MS Office very self-explanatory. I didn't. But the description "to install the plugin that allows the conversion of MS Office documents directly within the software" that is very clear, so that's OK.
Thanks again.