Mars Project

A plug-in for Acrobat 8.1 is available that enables you to save PDF documents in Mars format and to open Mars documents. A plug-in is also available for Reader 8.1 that enables you to open Mars documents. Keep in mind that this is an early build and not all feature and performance tuning work is complete. You should be able to get a good idea of what is possible and how it all works. Try creating a few Mars files, open them with your favorite ZIP tool or the Mars PDFXML Inspector and look inside.

Note: An earlier version of the plug-in was available for Acrobat and Reader 8.0. This earlier version will not work in 8.1 nor will the 8.1 version of the plug-in work in Acrobat or Reader 8.0 or earlier.

Follow these steps to get started with the Mars file format:

1. Review the Mars Release Notes
2. Ensure that you have Adobe Acrobat 8.1 or Adobe Reader 8.1 installed. On Windows, there is a single installer that works with either Acrobat 8.1 or Reader 8.1. On Mac, there are separate installers for Acrobat 8.1 and Reader 8.1. Uninstall any earlier release of the Mars plug-in first.
3. Download and install the Mars plug-in
4. Review the available documentation for the Mars Project
5. Take a look inside some of the sample documents.
6. Review the code in the sample applications to get some ideas on how to actually write code to create or manipulate Mars files in Java or using an Adobe AIR application.
7. You can open a Mars file with any Zip tool or the Mars PDFXML Inspector, which allows you to display the file contents and make simple edits.

8. Ask questions and share your feedback in the Mars General Discussion forum or by using the mars-comments@adobe.com or mars-bugs@adobe.com mailing addresses.

   Please note that your submission of comments, ideas, feature requests and techniques on this and other Adobe maintained forums, as well as Adobe's right to use such materials, is governed by the Terms of Use.

Below you'll find references and links to help you participate in the Reader and PDF communities.

Online Forum

Ask questions, discuss, and share feedback with other developers in online forums.

• Visit the Mars General Discussion forum

Please note that your submission of comments, ideas, feature requests and techniques on this and other Adobe maintained forums, as well as Adobe's right to use such materials, is governed by the Terms of Use.

Bug Reports and Comments

To report a bug, send email to mars-bugs@adobe.com with a description of the problem. Please include platform (Windows or Mac), whether it is in Reader 8 or Acrobat 8, and the date of the Mars plug-in which can be obtained from menu Help (Windows) or Acrobat or Adobe Reader (Mac) : About Adobe Plug-ins, click on Mars; the date appears in the upper right.

To send general comments or suggestions, send email to mars-comments@adobe.com. We want to hear from you! This early release is your opportunity to influence the format before it is frozen. If you find design problems or have suggestions for making it easier to work with or more efficient, let us know.

Resources

Blogs

• Visit the Mars Blog
• Visit the PDF Developer Junkie blog

Developer Center

• Visit the Acrobat Developer Center

Documentation

• See documentation relating to Mars

• Documentation
• FAQ
• System Requirements
• Release Notes

Documentation

• Developing Applications Using Mars – A general tutorial introduction to the Mars format and how to create Mars files
• Mars Specification – A detailed technical specification of the Mars file format
• Mars Reference – A reference guide to the Mars schema
• Mars Schema – The raw Mars schema in RelaxNG format
• Sample Mars Files – A Zip file containing a number of example files in Mars format.
• Sample Mars Applications – Example applications that can help you write code to create or manipulate Mars files in Java or using an Adobe AIR application.

FAQ

What is Mars?

Mars is the code name for a project developing an XML-based representation of PDF documents. XML, Extensible Markup Language, is a cross-platform, extensible, and text-based standard for representing data of all kinds. PDF, Portable Document Format, is the global standard to reliably view, print, and share documentation over the web and with other people, regardless of a computer's operating system. PDF preserves all of the fonts, formatting, colors, and graphics of any source document.

Why Mars?

The Mars project was initiated to use XML and similar open standards in ways that enable more developers to better integrate a PDF into existing and future applications and solutions. The Mars project has been hosted on Adobe Labs so that developers can review, participate and provide feedback on the development of the Mars technology. Eager to receive feedback, the Mars forum and mail addresses are staffed by the Mars development team.

Who should use Mars?

Mars supports developers who want to leverage their XML tools and knowledge to create, manipulate and extract information from PDF documents. It also provides an XML document solution for organizations that have chosen to unify their infrastructure using XML as the base representation. Architects and developers working on enterprise integration solutions or AJAX web applications should definitely take a look at the Mars technology. Those working on document generation and conversion, data extraction and integration, form generation and publishing projects should be closely following the Mars project.

How does Mars relate to PDF?

Mars documents, like PDF documents, can be displayed within a viewer application. When viewed, Mars documents have the same appearance and behavior as a PDF document with similar content. Other than having a different file suffix, an end user would not see any difference between a Mars document and a PDF document. However, if you look under the hood, a document created in the Mars format will appear different, containing XML components that enable some exciting enterprise use cases. With the Mars plug-in, Adobe Reader and Acrobat 8.1 can open, display, and operate on Mars documents.

What advantages does SVG bring to a Mars document?

SVG is an abbreviation for Scalable Vector Graphics, an XML-based, W3C standard language for describing graphics. Many applications and tools can create or manipulate SVG page contents. SVG page content can also be converted to PDF graphic operators using Acrobat 8.1 Professional and the Mars plug-in.

• See answers to more frequently asked questions in the Mars FAQ

System Requirements

To create Mars files, Adobe Acrobat 8.1 on a supported operating system is required.

To view Mars files, Adobe Acrobat 8.1 or Adobe Reader 8.1 on a supported operating system is required.

Release Notes

This is a new release of Mars. For detailed support information, including a list of known issues, please review the release notes document.

See the full Release Notes