pdftools: org link type not recognized + xdg-open is used instead of pdfview

[malanders380]

I just installed pdf-tools and org-pdftools and have the following two weird behaviors:

1. Any links of the form [[./file.pdf]] within a org file gets opened externally using /usr/bin/xdg-open instead of within emacs! (but if I click on a file from within dired, it gets properly opened within emacs with pdfview)

2. Any links of the form [[pdftools:./file.pdf]] within a org file does not get opened at all. When clinking on the link the following result is shown "No match - create this as a new heading? (y or n)". Then entering "n" appears "No match for fuzzy expression: pdftools:./file.pdf". Does org-pdftools not play well with other packages?

Emacs version: GNU Emacs 27.1

pdftools configuration:

(use-package pdf-tools
:ensure t
:config
(pdf-tools-install)
(setq-default pdf-view-display-size 'fit-width)
(define-key pdf-view-mode-map (kbd "C-s") 'isearch-forward)
(setq pdf-annot-activate-created-annotations nil)
(setq pdf-view-resize-factor 1.1)
(setq TeX-view-program-selection '((output-pdf "PDF Tools"))
TeX-view-program-list '(("PDF Tools" TeX-pdf-tools-sync-view))
TeX-source-correlate-start-server t)
(add-hook 'TeX-after-compilation-finished-functions
#'TeX-revert-document-buffer)
)

org-pdftools configuration:

(use-package org-pdftools
:ensure t
:hook (org-mode . org-pdftools-setup-link))

(use-package org-noter-pdftools
:ensure t
:after org-noter
:config
(with-eval-after-load 'pdf-annot
(add-hook 'pdf-annot-activate-handler-functions #'org-noter-pdftools-jump-to-note)))

Any help to fix the two issues would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

[malanders380]

Some more infos:

• org-version 9.4
• org-pdftools-20200422.1350
• pdf-tools-20200512.1524

[malanders380]

Looking through the source code I suspect that the correct org link type is pdf: and not pdftools: as written in the README.org
Links of the form [[pdf:./file.pdf]] open nicely within emacs as expected.

It still remains unclear to me why links of the type [[./file.pdf]] are opened using xdg-open instead of being open within emacs. Any idea? Thx.

[fabriziojpiva]

Hi @malanders380 could you solve the issue? I am facing the same thing, the prefix "pdftools:" before the file destination does not work, and if I put only "pdf" it opens it, but if you open a pdf with comments, you won't be able to see them. You will only see the plain pdf.

[hyiltiz]

It would be ideal if all of the below would be opened properly inside emacs using pdftools:

• [[./file.pdf]]
• pressing enter on pdf files in dired
• opening/finding a file path pointing to a pdf

[firmart]

Just to clarify a bit, if one does not configure org-pdftools-link-prefix, then org-pdftools-setup-link activates the default prefix pdf:. So pdftools: won't work.

[avilaHugo]

Hi, just in case someone still have the same problem.

I follow the README instructions and copy the suggested config. Until now all features seem to work but in org-mode pdf links only open with DocView not PDFview. I try a feel changes to this block of code but none of then worked:

;;  Original (README recomended)
(use-package org-pdftools
  :hook (org-mode . org-pdftools-setup-link))

;;  Failed fixes
(use-package org-pdftools
  :ensure t
  :hook (org-mode . org-pdftools-setup-link))

(use-package org-pdftools
  :ensure t
  :after org
  :hook (org-mode . org-pdftools-setup-link))

(use-package org-pdftools
  :ensure t
  :after org-noter
  :hook (org-mode . org-pdftools-setup-link))

(use-package org-pdftools
  :ensure t
  :hook (org-noter . org-pdftools-setup-link))

After some research i was able to activate PDFview everywhere by adding this code to the recommended config:

  ;;(use-package org-pdftools
  ;;  :ensure t
  ;;  :hook (org-mode . org-pdftools-setup-link))

;; source code from: http://alberto.am/2020-04-11-pdf-tools-as-default-pdf-viewer.html

  (use-package pdf-tools
     :pin manual
     :config
     (pdf-tools-install)
     (setq-default pdf-view-display-size 'fit-width)
     (define-key pdf-view-mode-map (kbd "C-s") 'isearch-forward)
     :custom
     (pdf-annot-activate-created-annotations t "automatically annotate highlights"))

  (setq TeX-view-program-selection '((output-pdf "PDF Tools"))
	TeX-view-program-list '(("PDF Tools" TeX-pdf-tools-sync-view))
	TeX-source-correlate-start-server t)

  (add-hook 'TeX-after-compilation-finished-functions
	    #'TeX-revert-document-buffer)

  (add-hook 'pdf-view-mode-hook (lambda() (linum-mode -1)))

Is there an easier way to do this ?

my emacs version: GNU Emacs 26.3

ORG-NOTER
Status: Installed in ‘org-noter-20191020.1212/’ (unsigned).
Version: 20191020.1212
Commit: 9ead81d42dd4dd5074782d239b2efddf9b8b7b3d

ORG-NOTER-PDFTOOLS
Status: Installed in ‘org-noter-pdftools-20210118.1611/’ (unsigned). Delete
Version: 20210118.1611
Commit: a5b61bc

Thanks for the work ! it is a very helpful tool