General ⇒ PDF Problems Persist

[steven_nevets]

There are now several unresolved threads regarding the widely experienced problem that TexnicCenter has with viewing PDF documents. The following error message has become infamous:

[DocOpen("%bm.pdf")][FileOpen("%bm.pdf")] Cannot execute the command.

One can find various hacks and workarounds on the web, but of all places, THIS is the place that we should find a definitive solution to this outstanding problem. And all we get from the Site Moderators are snarky responses like "check the log file" or "try a different editor". This is unacceptable. You guys- localghost and Stefan_K- are the TexnicCenter experts, and we desperately need a solution. Please, address this persistent problem once and for all!

[Stefan Kottwitz]

There are various reasons why this error message could appear, such as

• incorrect configuration
• incorrect file path or executable name
• DDE problems with the Acrobat Reader in some versions, for example: Adobe Reader 10 and viewing error
• MiKTeX and TeXnicCenter compatibility, see MiKTeX 2.9 Known Issues. Known symptoms are: the log file abruptly ends, or "GUI framework cannot be initialized" is displayed.
• Errors in the LaTeX document, no PDF produced, so it cannot be opened.

So one can hardly give an allround answer that works for all Viewer/Acrobat versions, both TeX distributions, all configurations and independent of document errors. That's why we usually ask

1. Do you get any errors? If you cannot see an error, provide the .log file, which contains the errors, warnings and additional information. Or it shows the above mentioned symptom of abruptly ending, being incomplete.
2. Which PDF reader do you use? And which version of it? (Adobe Reader 9.x, Adobe Reader X, ... ?
3. Did it work to change the "Installating missing packages on the fly" option in the MiKTeX option, regarding the known MiKTeX issues?
4. Which is your output profile configuration?

If a user provides this information, it's possible that we can help. Sometimes a user doesn't tell such details, perhaps he doesn't know or he doesn't care. In such cases I've seen often that a user took another PDF reader (Sumatra PDF, PDFXchange, FoxIt, ...) which solved his problem. Or he chose another editor. If this happens, the thread ends, nobody can give a solution anymore, since there's insuccicient information.

So, perhaps you could show the information to the questions above in your case.

Stefan

[mcassey]

Here is the solution, which I found with a little searching:

Under "Build\Define Output Profiles..." choose the "Viewer" tab. In the three sections, select the "DDE command" radio button, and in the "Server:" box change the contents to "acroviewR10" (without the quotes). Hit "OK" and problem solved.

This is ONLY if you are using Abobe Reader X to view your output. Apparently Adobe made some changes without regard for the impact on their users.

[Ofboir]

Hi

You can also try the simple solution I proposed here : TeXnicCenter doesn't open Adobe Reader X. It works perfectly.

Cheers

[Stefan Kottwitz]

Also, drk posted a solution here: Error while opening a created pdf-file.

Stefan