Further support on www.tinaja.com  

(The following is believed correct. Please report any errors or differing experiences.)

Netscape Communicator 4.1 apparently has three different ways it can interact with
Adobe Acrobat .PDF files. These are the default method, the plugin method, and the
helper method. All behave differently and none is quite optimum. At least not yet.

Default Method: If you do not have Reader or Exchange installed on your machine,
NetScape 4.1 will only give you the option of downloading a .PDF file to disk for later
processing or viewing. The default method can be forced by hiding any plugins and removing
any Acrobat helpers. Note that plugin and the helper method both let you optionally save
.PDF files to disk using their save or save as features.

No PDF screen viewing of any type is possible with the Default method.

Plugin Method: If you install either Reader 3.01 or Exchange 3.01 on your machine
after Netscape is installed, a plugin (perhaps named c:\program files\netscape\communicator\
program\plugin\nppdf32.dll) will automatically get installed for you.

The plugin method lets you view Acrobat files while online. It also lets you reach internal pages and other PDFMarked portions of the files being viewed. The plugin method apparently does not let
you view full screen PDF documents. This appears to be a horrendously grevious flaw.

Helper Method: If you install either Reader 3.01 or Exchange 3.01 on your machine
and you hide or delete any Acrobat plugin and you modify your Netscape preferences, you
can reach the helper mode. In the helper mode, Reader or Exchange gets "spawned" any time
Netscape receives an Acrobat .PDF file. The helper method apparently does let you use the
full screen mode. Apparently entry into full screen mode is not automatic; you have to invoke
it by ctrl-shift-L followed by ctrl-k. An escape exits your full screen mode.

The helper method apparently does not let you enter internal pages and other PDFMarked
portions of the files being viewed. Instead, a normal page one display is provided, apparently
ignoring any internal markers. This is also a horrendously grevious flaw.

To invoke the helper mode, first hide or delete any Netscape Acrobat plugin. Then enter
Communicator Preferences, selecting Navigator Applications. Click on New Type, entering
Acrobat as the Description, using PDF as the file extension, a space as the MIME type, and
the appropriate Acrobat app (such as c:\acrobat\exchange\AcroEx32.exe) as the application.

Switching modes: I have found it useful to put a hide folder called Xplugin located beside
the Netscape plugin folder. Note that this hiding folder must not lie inside the plugin folder!

To force the default mode, hide any Acrobat plugin and delete any Acrobat helper.
To force the plugin mode, unhide any Acrobat plugin and delete any Acrobat helper.
To force the helper mode, hide any Acrobat plugin and create an Acrobat helper.

Netscape should be closed before any mode change and reopened afterwards. A machine
reboot is apparently not needed.

Since full screen is so wonderful, my overwhelming preference is to nearly always use the helper
mode. Set your full screen preferences to escape escapes, any click advances, wraparound, and
video wipe down. But turn autoadvance off.

Note that my http://www.tinaja.com/linkpdf1.html linking demo apparently will only work
properly in the plugin mode.

Note also that unclicking escape escapes in the preferences will hang your full screen display. If
hung, the only way out is with the usual ctrl-alt-del. The only conceivable time you would want
to defeat escaping a full screen display would be in an unattended kiosk display.