Speeding Up The Reopening of Large PDF Files

Steven Luciani

Forums

Have you ever waited for hours for a large PDF file to open up in Report Reader? If so, this tip is for you.

  1. Using the Print Report and Adobe PDF option in IDEA’s Import Assistant, open the large PDF file.
  2. When the file has finally opened and you are ready to build your JPM file, use Windows Explorer to IDEA's Temp Folder. To verify your Temp folder location in IDEA go to View/Options/Folders/Temporary Folder from within the software) (IDEA 8.5)
  3. In here you will find a much smaller text file with a similar name as your original PDF file (largepdf.pdf). The only difference is an_0 added to the end of the original file name (largepdf_0.txt).
  4. Copy this file to same directory as your original PDF file in the event that you need to open the PDF again with Report Reader.
  5. This time using the Print Report and Adobe PDF option in IDEA’s Import Assistant, open the Text file you copied from the Temp directory. It will open much faster this time and you will have your new JPM finished much sooner.

Brian Element Mon, 07/28/2014 - 07:16

Hi Steve, I finally tried this out this morning and it works great!!!  I had a pdf that I wanted to make some changes to it, I thought I would have to export it and recreate it but I remembered this post.  It is great having a text file that I can now edit.  Thanks!

ecarlile Tue, 03/03/2015 - 12:14

 
To build on this idea... At some points in the Month I have to import multiple large PDF files. Using the 'regular' method renders IDEA completely useless during the import, as Report Reader sits on top and does not let me use IDEA.
 
I have discovered that if I run the report reader directly from the IDEA directory, I can have Report Reader in the background doing the imports, and I can use IDEA. Additionally I can have more than one instance of Report Reader going in the background... keeping in mind that each instance of Report Reader utilises one of the CPU's cores. My steps are as follows:
 
 

    1. Open IDEA

 

    1. Open separate instances of Report Reader

 

    1. Open the PDF file in Report Reader and leave to complete the reading

 

    1. Once reading is complete navigate to IDEA's temp folder and find the text file that Report Reader created (Per above instructions)

 

    1. Open Report Reader within IDEA and import the text file.

 
 
I find this is much quicker when importing multiple large files or even one, as you don't loose the use of IDEA during the import process.
 
 
 

Brian Element Tue, 03/03/2015 - 12:18

Hi Edward, thanks for the tip, appreciate it.  I have never tried that before, I will have to check it out.

Steven Luciani Tue, 01/12/2016 - 12:27

To open a separate instance of Report Reader you must find the ReportReader.exe file on you computer. It will most likely be located at: C:\program files\caseware IDEA\IDEA assuming a standard install of IDEA onto the C: drive partion of the hard drive in your computer.