How to configure PDF viewer for STM32 cubeMX v6.16.1

[mlisowsk]

I have just installed STM32 cubeMX v6.16.1 on my Windows 10 machine have the following issue:
In the Pinout&Configuration step we can hover mouse over items in the left tree view and eventually we can click on links to Related Documents. However those documents open in Acrobat Reader on my machine, even tough I have configured PDF-XChange Editor as default PDF viewer (Windows Settings, Apps, by ending, .PDF -> PDF XChange Editor).

When I double-click PDF files in Windows Explorer they properly open in PDF Xchange, not Acrobat Reader.

Having PDFs open in Acrobat is really annoying due to the constant popups and waste of screen space with useless tabs.

[TDK]

It should open in the system editor if an editor is not explicitly defined. If you right click the PDF within STM32CubeIDE and then select Open With -> System Editor does it open in the system editor?

If you double click it within Windows Explorer, does it open in the system editor?

You can hard-code an editor for *.pdf files here:

Try Window > Preferences > General > Editors > File Associations

In Eclipse, how do I make a .pdf file open with the System Editor by default? - Stack Overflow

Maybe open that up and ensure it's not hard-coded to use Adobe.

[Pavel A.]

Hi,

There is no CubeMX version 2.0.0. Available versions are 4.24 to 6.16. Let's be accurate and leave hallucinations to Chatgpt :)

[mlisowsk]

Pavel you are correct, it's cubeMX 6.16.1 

If I use File->Open File in cubeIDE and select a PDF file it does open correctly in the default application configured in Windows settings.

Apologies for the confusion. It's cubeMX that is misbehaving, not cubeIDE.

[Pavel A.]

On my Win11 CubeMX 6.16.1 uses the user-selected PDF app (not Acrobat).  Do you run CubeMX as administrator ?

[mlisowsk]

I have installed cubeMX "for all users", i.e. in the Program Files directory and I run it as regular user. There is no UAC prompt when I start cubeMX.

Indeed, I just tried running cubeMX "as administrator" (with UAC prompt) and then clicking on the datasheet link won't launch any PDF viewer but I can see an Adobe Acrobat instance in task manager but no UI of it.

[Pavel A.]

Microsoft [in their dark days of Windows 8 insanity] created additional way to register file associations, thru Settings -> default app and the Explorer "always use this app". All modern Windows things are supposed to use this way.

But CubeMX is cross-platform program that once supported Windows 7 and older. So it likely uses the traditional Java mechanism or old Windows API. TL;DR the Acrobat hooks at this legacy layer and CubeMX finds it.

You can ask AI how to resolve this. To me it offered several instructions, some even involve editing registry to eradicate the Acrobat reader.    If you don't use the Adobe reader, try to uninstall it, then the other software could be enabled. 

[mlisowsk]

Hi Pavel,

I tried asking ChatGPT. It gave some suggestions, but all resulted in still Acrobat Reader being opened by cubeMX.

All ways to declare default applications point to PDF X-Change Editor on my machine. The old way of Control Panel -> Default Applications actually opens the modern Windows Settings pages.
Windows Explorer - right click on a PDF -> Properties - "Open with" is correctly set to PDF X-Change Editor.

So I tried the "nuclear" option of uninstalling Acrobat Reader. Now it gets almost comical: When I click on the cubeMX tooltip Datasheet link cubeMX shows a modal dialog:

"PDF Viewer: Can't open file: <....>, the application Adobe Acrobat Reader not found."

Once I click OK on that dialog the PDF opens correctly in PDF X-Change! They do know how to open PDFs, after all.

Are you guys seeing this behaviour as well? Or is everybody just using Acrobat Reader?

[TDK]

> Are you guys seeing this behaviour as well? Or is everybody just using Acrobat Reader?

I'm not using Adobe Reader and the PDFs in STM32CubeMX open in my default PDF application (Edge). I'm able to change the default to another application and then they open there instead. If I change it back, they open in Edge again. Shrug. Windows 11.

No doubt there's a Windows setting somewhere controlling this.

[Pavel A.]

Hmm so after uninstalling Acrobat it still leaves behind the registry AppID. 

Please try again chatgpt, or better Microsoft's own Copilot, how to clean up the registry. 

TL;DR this is a Microsoft's fault, and they won't fix Win10 any longer. Maybe CubeMX developers will be able to ensure the user preference of PDF viewer even in this scenario.