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Password protected pdf

Hi All

 

currently i am using the System Exec.vi to open a pdf from my labview application. i have a new application which depending on user type i want to restrict access to what pdf the user has access to. ie i do not want them to be able to open the pdfs outside of the application. is it possible to send the password to the pdf as a command line argument?

 

thanks for your help

 

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Hi adehaas.

Just to clarify, sounds like you want to use System Exec.vi to open a password protected file programatically without the user being prompted for a password? Also, will the user be able to manually navigate to these files to open the PDFs outside of LabVIEW? The System Exec.vi doesn't open the files in LabVIEW; instead it simply issues a command line that can open the PDF.

 

From searching online, I couldn't find anything on how you can open an Adobe password protected PDF through a command line without some extra plug ins. Active X with LabVIEW should provide a few options. You may be able to use Windows or third party password protection, and if you find a way to do that through the command line, then you can plug that straight into System Exec.vi. However, I could not find any definitive documentation of how to do that online.

 

There's also a third option which is much easier but also far less secure. You can save the PDFs in a hidden folder so users can't access them and call them using System Exec.vi.

 

Let us know if you find anything or if one of these options is sufficient.

Josh Y.
Applications Engineer
National Instruments
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Hi Josh

 

yeah that is the idea to be able to open the password protected pdf from labview using the System Exec.vi. like you i have searched the web and can not find any good documentation on sending password via command line.

the user will manually be able to navigate to the folder where the pdfs are this is why i would like them password protected this way they will not be able to access the files outside of the labview application.

i have thought about storing the pdfs as hidden files but as suggested this is not very secure.

 

Andrew

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Hi Andrew,

 

How secure do you need these files to be? Having LabVIEW essentially hardcoded with passwords is also not an ultra-secure method of locking out users. There are many third party solutions to data security, such as ways to only give certain programs read access from certain applications. If you're looking to prevent malicious intent, instead of just wandering hands (which hidden files would be good for), you may want to look into some of these programs.  I don't have much experience with such programs, so I wouldn't be the best person to reference on data security. 

 

Regards

Josh Y.
Applications Engineer
National Instruments
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Try ActiveX instead.  Display the pdf within LabVIEW.

 

George Zou
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