PDF viewers which don't lock the file

[alexey_r]

And preferably have a shortcut for reloading the file.

Are there any on Windows (other than Sumatra)?

[r0bertdenir0]

Why don't you want the file locked - wat's the background to this question?
Maybe you cud create a wrapper applet for yr PDF viewer so whenever you open a file, it either marks the file as read-only or opens the file 4 writing - thus the viewer will have no choice but to open the file as read-only.
When the viewer exits, the file can be restored to normal.
But again, this depends on yr situation & yr problem.

[alexey_r]

Because I want to edit the paper I am working on, recompile it, and check the results without having to close the reader and reopen it every time.

[AndyM]

Because I want to edit the paper I am working on, recompile it, and check the results without having to close the reader and reopen it every time.

Why can't you just close and re-open the file without exiting the reader?

[alexey_r]

Because that still requires 3 actions:
1) close the file
2) recompile
3) open the file

Or more often 5:
-1) recompile
0) realize that I haven't closed the file
1)-3)

With a non-locking viewer that's one action:
1) recompile

Or possibly two if the viewer doesn't detect the file changing:
1) recompile
2) reload the file.

[Nod5]

I don't know any such pdf viewer.

A temporary solution might be a script that monitors the edit program for filesaves. Each time you save the edited file the script automatically makes a copy of the file and opens the copy in the pdf viewer.

[40hz]

Why not just:

• copy the text in your PDF to a Word doc file
• do whatever edits you want to that - and then
• "print" it back out as a PDF file

That way, you'll have an easily editable document that you can use to generate an updated PDF from anytime you like.

(You also won't need to worry about 'closing' your edited file if you do it this way.)

Word 2007 and Open Office can already output a PDF file. If your wordprocessor can't do it directly, just download one of the free PDF virtual printer apps like BullZip or PrimoPDF and use that to create your PDF output. Primo and BullZip also have an option to automatically open any PDF they generate in your default viewer so you won't need to open anything to check it once it's ready.

[alexey_r]

For writing math papers Word is about the worst software known to man. It is a lot harder to edit Word files containing any math than nice LaTeX.

[40hz]

For writing math papers Word is about the worst software known to man. It is a lot harder to edit Word files containing any math than nice LaTeX.

Won't argue with you about that.  (I love LaTeX BTW. )

Ok. Good point. Then why not use something like LyX ( www.lyx.org/Features ) to compose and edit? It can import and export to to just about anything including PDF.

LyX combines the power and flexibility of TeX/LaTeX with the ease of use of a graphical interface. This results in world-class support for creation of mathematical content (via a fully integrated equation editor) and structured documents like academic articles, theses, and books. In addition, staples of scientific authoring such as reference list and index creation come standard.

[alexey_r]

I prefer editing straight LaTeX, but I'll check it out. Is there an equivalent of the listings LaTeX package (or a way to access it), do you know?

[40hz]

Ooo... if I'm correctly understanding what you're asking, that could be a problem. Take a look at these links for the low down:

http://www.mail-archive.com/lyx-docs@lists.lyx.org/msg04106.html

http://www.mail-archive.com/lyx-docs@lists.lyx.org/msg04108.html

[fenixproductions]

2alexey_r
Maybe give a try to LEd?
http://www.latexeditor.org/

It has nice preview feature and I remember it was awesome tool when I was working with a lot of math in the past.

P.S. Yes, I know I recommended it once on DC already