[dbrown1029]

I would love to be able to use MobileSheets for my primary gig software, but I am missing one crucial function: being able to link in my imported PDF to a local file. I have hundreds of songs in PDFs with the links to my local mp3 backing tracks embedded. They work fine in any of the PDF readers I've used, but when I import them to MobileSheets, a bunch of stuff is added to the filepath and I get a "Unable to Access file" error. Changing the Storage Location in settings does get me closer to the original filepath, but there is still extra stuff that messes up the hyperlink. (See attached)        

Is there a fix for this? or even a workaround? Thanks in advance!

[Zubersoft]

So a couple of things:

1) MobileSheets won't have the ability to access any files outside the storage location due to the way permissions work with UWP applications
2) If the audio files are placed under the storage location, then MobileSheets should be able to get to them
3) It's better if you can use relative links to the files instead of absolute links so that MobileSheets can try to access them relative to the storage location (i.e. MyFolder\file.mp3 instead of C:\path to storage location\MyFolder\file.mp3).

How exactly is the URL stored in the PDF for one of those files? I want to know what it looks like, as it seems like (based on the screenshot) it's saved using a file:/// address. The URL also appears to have #page=1 in it, which seems unusual. 

Mike

[dbrown1029]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for your response. I have been perusing the knowledge base and have been very impressed by your responsiveness and the product in general.

I have been using the "Copy as Path" function in Windows file explorer and embedding the links in Word via "Insert Hyperlink" before exporting the Word document to PDF. If there's another way to do it (preferably without having to redo all of my hundreds of existing links, I'm open to suggestions, including moving my mp3's to another folder. I also noticed the "Page 1" thing but figured that was probably an artifact from the MS import process since it's not part of the link I created. I've inserted a link to one of my PDFs here. As you can see, I actually use 1 page per song in my PDFs, with a TOC and bookmark navigation (which all work fine). 

01 Dave's Gig Program - Latin.pdf

Thanks again!

Dave

[Zubersoft]

I'm not sure how you intended for the links in that PDF to show up, but most of them just link to either no page or the first page. One links to page 13 and another links to page 5. I'm verifying this with Adobe Acrobat. When I click one of the song titles, it does attempt to load an audio file, and it uses the absolute path you stored, so it seems correct. I have Settings->Display Settings->Render Preference set to "Quality". If your storage location (Settings->Storage->Set the MobileSheets Storage Location) is not set to a folder containing C:\Users\dave|OneDrive\Music\Backing_Tracks, then this is not going to work, as MobileSheets won't have permission to access any of the files. Note that if you purchased through my FastSpring store, then there is a way around that, as you can change a setting in Windows to allow MobileSheets to have access to any file on any drive (but this is not available in the Microsoft Store version as Microsoft won't approve it).

Mike

[dbrown1029]

I'm not sure how you intended for the links in that PDF to show up, but most of them just link to either no page or the first page. One links to page 13 and another links to page 5. I'm verifying this with Adobe Acrobat. When I click one of the song titles, it does attempt to load an audio file, and it uses the absolute path you stored, so it seems correct. I have Settings->Display Settings->Render Preference set to "Quality". If your storage location (Settings->Storage->Set the MobileSheets Storage Location) is not set to a folder containing C:\Users\dave|OneDrive\Music\Backing_Tracks, then this is not going to work, as MobileSheets won't have permission to access any of the files. Note that if you purchased through my FastSpring store, then there is a way around that, as you can change a setting in Windows to allow MobileSheets to have access to any file on any drive (but this is not available in the Microsoft Store version as Microsoft won't approve it).

Mike

Hi Mike, I have just purchased MobileSheets through your Fastspring store. Can you direct me to the setting in Windows to allow MobileSheets to have access to the files? Thanks!

[Zubersoft]

If you already backed up your library, uninstalled the Microsoft Store version, installed the FastSpring version, entered the license key and restored your library, you can then go to the Windows Settings->Apps->Installed Apps->MobileSheets, click the three dots and Advanced Settings, then just toggle on "File system". MobileSheets will then have access to the entire file system and should be able to open files from any location.

Mike

[dbrown1029]

If you already backed up your library, uninstalled the Microsoft Store version, installed the FastSpring version, entered the license key and restored your library, you can then go to the Windows Settings->Apps->Installed Apps->MobileSheets, click the three dots and Advanced Settings, then just toggle on "File system". MobileSheets will then have access to the entire file system and should be able to open files from any location. 

Mike

Thank you, Mike. I've made some progress. By adding the hyperlink directly in Adobe (as a hotspot) instead of in the original Word document, I have managed to remove the extraneous path information, but I am still getting the File access error message (even after toggling the "File system" in Windows), whether using the original location for the file or a copy of the same file in the Library folder. I'm also still getting that weird "page 1". Could it be related to that? Do hyperlinks in MS maybe only work for specific file types like PDFs? 
  Dave's Gig Program - Pop-Rock mobilesheets test.pdf (Size: 201.37 KB / Downloads: 4)    

[Zubersoft]

Sorry, I actually would have liked you to leave the full path information now that you have the FastSpring version (unless you happened to copy every one of your mp3s into the Backing_Tracks folder under the LocalState folder listed in that screenshot). Relative paths are going to be relative to the location of the PDF. MobileSheets will take the path of the folder containing the PDF, then append the rest of the path to that and try to access the file directly. So based on our setup, an absolute path is probably best. 

You can also try switching Settings->Display Settings->Render Preference, as that changes which PDF library is used which has an impact on how the links are processed. One may work better for you than the other. I definitely don't know why you are seeing the page number though, as I didn't see that with the files you provided to me. I do see that the path seems to be different than what I'm expecting. When I click on the pirates title, the hyperlink in the PDF specifies ../../Backing_Tracks/Pirates.mp3 which is causing issues. I'll change the logic to try looking for the file in the root of the storage location as a last resort.

Mike

[dbrown1029]

Just to clarify, you don't get the page number suffix when you import my song into your system? So it must be something specific to my environment?

I changed the Render Preference to "Speed" and got a different result (see attached). Not sure if that's better or worse ...     

[Zubersoft]

That's a better result. You may need some of the bug fixes I've implemented, although it should still work okay if you use a full absolute path. Was that with a relative or absolute path?

Mike

[dbrown1029]

That's a better result. You may need some of the bug fixes I've implemented, although it should still work okay if you use a full absolute path. Was that with a relative or absolute path?

Mike

How do I get the bug fixes? I tried updating the version this morning but it says I already have the latest version. 

I have only ever been using full absolute paths. I tested both my original path (which would be by far my preference) and the Local State folder and here are the results after importing just now:

Code:

C:\Users\dave\OneDrive\Music\Backing_Tracks\Pirates.mp3

imports to

Code:

C:\Users\dave\AppData\Local\Packages\Backing_Tracks\Pirates.mp3

and

Code:

C:\Users\dave\AppData\Local\Packages\Zubersoft.MobileSheets_9fx6hze9e3cne\LocalState\Backing_Tracks\Pirates.mp3

imports to

Code:

C:\Users\dave\AppData\AppData\Local\Packages\Zubersoft.MobileSheets_9fx6hze9e3cne\LocalState\Backing_Tracks\Pirates.mp3

[Zubersoft]

You'll have to wait for when the update is released - I'm currently in the midst of making rather large changes for ChordPro files, so it will still be a little bit before that is finished. I can send you an early build since you purchased through the FastSpring store, so if you'd like to do that, I can set you up with a new installer, however I will either have to bump the version number for you (meaning the official update won't install properly when it's released) or you'll have to uninstall and reinstall if I leave the version number the same, as Microsoft won't allow the app to be installed if the version number in the installer is the same as the version number currently installed. Just let me know if you'd prefer to test this sooner rather than later.

Mike

[dbrown1029]

You'll have to wait for when the update is released - I'm currently in the midst of making rather large changes for ChordPro files, so it will still be a little bit before that is finished. I can send you an early build since you purchased through the FastSpring store, so if you'd like to do that, I can set you up with a new installer, however I will either have to bump the version number for you (meaning the official update won't install properly when it's released) or you'll have to uninstall and reinstall if I leave the version number the same, as Microsoft won't allow the app to be installed if the version number in the installer is the same as the version number currently installed. Just let me know if you'd prefer to test this sooner rather than later.

Mike

I'd be very happy to test it as soon as possible. And I have no problem with uninstalling/reinstalling. Thanks!

[Zubersoft]

I've sent you an email.

Mike