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"Operation is not permitted" error when attempting to SAVE A COPY

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natureboy

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Jun 16, 2003
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Acrobat Reader 6.0, the PDF is an OLE embedded file in an Excel Spreadsheet (though I'm not sure that matters). After opening the file, I attempt to save a copy. I choose the destination and select ok - get the error, "The document could not be saved. This operation is not permitted." I see a number of folks having the same problem on the Adobe forum, but nothing to address it on the Adobe Support site. Thanks in advance.
 
I didn't think PDFs could incorporate OLE objects.

Rereading your post, I'm confused:

...the PDF is an OLE embedded file in an Excel Spreadsheet...

Are you saying you have a PDF that has an Excel spreadsheet embedded in it as an OLE?

 
Yup. These are typically VISIO diagrams saved as a PDF, then attached to the the spreadsheet via a
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ActiveSheet.OLEObjects.Add(Filename:= thefile, Link:= False, DisplayAsIcon:=False).Select
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
command.
I then manually invoke the PDF - starting Reader v6 - then manually attempt to save the PDF locally. I'm quite sure the problem is not related to the way the PDF is stored since Reader opens and reads it perfectly.
 
I know ***nothing*** about scripting but I have used Visio and made them into PDFs. Are you then inserting the Visio PDF into the Excel file? I didn't think you could do that either (but then I am not using the latest version of Excel). And then you are trying to convert the Excel file (which has a PDF embedded into it) into a PDF? I still don't understand what you are trying to do.
 
To give you a little background:

I manage an Engineering organization that is resposible for test and certification of heterogeneous computer environments, typically in a Storage Area Network. The Test Engineers verify that all the combined software and hardware components properly work together. Upon successful completion if the tested environment, they enter all necessary information (hardware, software, firmware, drivers, ...) into this excel spreadsheet. Additionally, there is a layout of the tested SAN showing interconnections etc. that is drawn in VISIO, then saved to a PDF. The PDF is then inserted to the spreadsheet via (menu bar)Insert, Object, Create From File (Display As Icon), select the PDF. I'm running Excel 2000 (v9), but I think this option was available in prior versions.

The Test Engineer is then completed with his task, and submits the Excel spreadsheet to me. Once I get the speadsheet, I attempt to extract that PDF (this is where the "Save A Copy" problem comes in), and through some VBA magic, I push the associated text in the spreadsheet up to an Oracle database. The PDF doc is also to be saved in Oracle.

Make sense?

I think I may have confused you earlier - the PDF is saved in the Excel spreadsheet, not the other way around.

It really boils down to the Reader failure to perform the "Save A Copy" function...I don't think the other factors come into play.
 
Make sense?

Way over my head.

But I think I am beginning to see what the problem is. You want to save the embedded PDF? But it's still embedded in the Excel spreadsheet? That's probably why Reader cannot save it. But the PDF of the Visio doc must exist separately somewhere, right? Why not just upload that to the Oracle database?

So - do you have Acrobat Distiller? If you only have the Reader you won't be able to do this, but you can 're-PDF' a PDF with Distiller i.e. convert the whole spreadsheet and its embedded PDF to a PDF (assuming Distiller can handle an OLE, which I have my doubts about). How did you make the PDF from Visio?

I wonder if the Visio diagram can be saved in another graphic format? And this gets inserted into the spreadsheet. Can you 'save as' or 'export' the Visio file in any other graphic format? Or what about in HTML? My limited experience with doing this with an Excel graph was that it saved it as a GIF - not particuarly good quality, but it may even work with Visio. Then you could insert the diagram into the spreadsheet as a GIF. However, again I am not sure how well that would convert to PDF.

I don't have access to Visio any more, so cannot test this out for you.
 
Eggles - thanks for your help, but I think I may have solved my problem. Sometimes the simplest answer is the most overlooked. I believe the problem has to do with how the Reader opens the file. I noticed the title bar in Reader says, "Adobe Reader - [PKG1E14.PDF - Linked File]". Now PKG1E14.PDF is not the name I assigned the PDF, and Reader believes the file is a linked file. (Perhaps in Adobe terminology it is, but it is not in Excel terminology). I noticed that I only have SAVE COPY AS problems when the file is listed as "linked". So...back to basics...what am I trying to do?...simply extract the file from the spreadsheet and place it on my local drive. By simply right-clicking the embedded file's icon, selecting copy, and pasting the files to my filesystem does exactly what I need. Duh.

Thanks for your cycles!
 
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