Forum Discussion
Acrobat pdf-Maker Add in deactivates macros in a macrobased template after having created the pdf
http://www.networksteve.com/exchange/topic.php/Macro_error_genereaetd_when_try_to_create_pdf_document/?TopicId=56966&Posts=1
This seems a relatively common problem people report, and, since there is a registry key setting that tells the program to do this, it seems clear it’s intended for your protection.
That’s a good thing, and I discourage attempting to tamper with the key as is suggested at that link.
thx a lot for your reply. i tried it on my workstation and it worked out perfectly.
What is not clear to me is the risk i might be running in?
The explanation was not clear to me. If i get a malicious file, than i have a problem much earlier than
at the point that i create a pdf from it. Or do i misunderstand something?
I also do not understand the order: the pdf is created perfectly and afterwards the word file is macro disabled. If there is a threat by creating´a pdf than the process must be prohibited before it starts not after everything important has been done, right?
Can you explain a bit more for a nerd like me? i have letter templates which are enhanced by some macros for letting the user just write content in certain areas/fields. Inside the fields i'm turning the enter key off, so that important style elements of a normed letter cannot be moved from the user etc.
So it is not quite clear to me what is the risk in detail.
There should be an enhancement, that if the templates are in a trusted folder, means coming from inside the company that it works without any registry change, shouldn't it? What i am gonna try is to make my macro a trusted one (means sign it) and allow only signed macros thru GPO.
Latest news: I tried it with a simple word add in:
something like:
Sub DocToPdf()
ActiveDocument.ExportAsFixedFormat Outputfilename:=Environ("USERPROFILE") & "\Desktop\" & "Test.pdf", _
ExportFormat:=wdExportFormatPDF, _
OpenAfterExport:=True, OptimizeFor:=wdExportOptimizeForPrint, Range:= _
wdExportAllDocument, Item:=wdExportDocumentContent, _
IncludeDocProps:=True, KeepIRM:=True, CreateBookmarks:= _
wdExportCreateNoBookmarks, DocStructureTags:=True, _
BitmapMissingFonts:=True, UseISO19005_1:=False
End Sub
in the normal.dotm, executed via quick tool bar. No problem, no deactivation of macros.
and i deleted the registry key, restarted the pc before. So, what does this tell us? 😉
Cheers
Michael
- The intent of the process disabling macros for protection is probably meant for the “average” user. I’m only guessing at this point. I can’t really speak to Adobe’s intentions.
Or, perhaps the add-in creates macros in the process of what it does and disables macros when it’s done?
I really can’t say. We’d have to get answers from them. I can definitely see how this is a problem though.- I talked to Adobe already....They don't want to know at all from it. Their reply was: pdf is created, anything what happens then is not their responsibilty.
But that was before i knew the thing with the registry key. It is unbelievable how user-unfriendly their customer service is.