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Posted to users@pdfbox.apache.org by Barry Neu <ba...@gmail.com> on 2016/03/31 18:54:48 UTC
Form Filling/Flattening Problem
>
>
>
>
> Hello.
> I’m trying out PDFBox 2.0 for an application where I need to flatten forms with data collected from a user interface.
> Using the below code, I set some sample fields and set the read only flag to true. The resulting output has the data populated on the form but the CheckBox is still editable.
> When using the PDAcroForm.flatten() method, the CheckBox is not editable, but the values set in the Text fields do not appear populated on the resulting form.
> Using Java 1.7 on OSX.
> Sample form attached.
>
> Probably something simple I am missing. Any help appreciated.
>
>
> import java.io <http://java.io/>.*;
> import java.util.Collection;
> import java.util.ArrayList;
> import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.*;
> import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.common.COSArrayList;
> import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.font.PDFont;
> import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.font.PDType1Font;
> import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.interactive.form.*;
> import org.apache.pdfbox.cos.COSDictionary;
> import org.apache.pdfbox.cos.COSArray;
> import org.apache.pdfbox.cos.COSBase;
>
> public class PdfFiller {
>
> public static void main(String[] args) {
> String template = “/mypath/alabama-abandoned-motor-vehicle-bill-of-sale.pdf";
> String flattened = “/mypath/FILLED-alabama-abandoned-motor-vehicle-bill-of-sale.pdf";
> try {
> File myFile = new File(template);
> PDDocument pdDoc = PDDocument.load( myFile );
> PDDocumentCatalog pdCatalog = pdDoc.getDocumentCatalog();
> PDAcroForm pdAcroForm = pdCatalog.getAcroForm();
> PDField field = pdAcroForm.getField("Make");
> field.setValue("Jeep");
> field.setReadOnly(true);
> field = pdAcroForm.getField("Model");
> field.setValue("Grand Cherokee");
> field.setReadOnly(true);
> field = pdAcroForm.getField("Check Box1");
> field.setValue("Yes");
> field.setReadOnly(true);
> //pdAcroForm.flatten(); //uncommenting line results in missing values in text fields
> pdDoc.save(flattened);
> pdDoc.close();
> }
> catch (Exception e) {
> e.printStackTrace();
> }
> }
> }
>
Re: Form Filling/Flattening Problem
Posted by Maruan Sahyoun <sa...@fileaffairs.de>.
Hi,
> Am 01.04.2016 um 08:25 schrieb Maruan Sahyoun <sa...@fileaffairs.de>:
>
> Hi,
>
> flatten() will flatten the form fields but without refreshing the fields appearance i.e. how you see it on the form. Now, as NeedAppearances is set to true, the prior setValue() call also didn't refresh the fields appearance as the NeedAppearances flag tells the viewer to handle that.
>
> There are two options: set the NeedAppearances flag to false using PDAcroForm.setNeedAppearances(false) or use flatten(List<PDField> fields, boolean refreshAppearances).
>
> Unfortunately there is an issue with the form as it doesn't contain a /DR entry (i.e. it doesn't specify which resources, most important the fonts, to use).
>
> Exception in thread "main" java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: /DR is a required entry
>
> PDFBox doesn't yet have a fall back see PDFBOX-2662.What you could do is generate an appropriate entry yourself.
>
> PDResources dr = new PDResources();
> dr.put(COSName.getPDFName("Courier"), PDType1Font.COURIER);
> dr.put(COSName.getPDFName("Helvetica"), PDType1Font.HELVETICA);
> pdAcroForm.setDefaultResources(dr);
>
> That reveals another issue
>
> Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
> at org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.PDPageContentStream.<init>(PDPageContentStream.java:195)
>
> Which is caused as the annotations are not connected to a page.
>
> The can be resolved by
>
> for (PDPage page : pdDoc.getPages()) {
> for (PDAnnotation annot : page.getAnnotations()) {
> annot.setPage(page);
> }
> }
I've created PDFBOX-3301 https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/PDFBOX-3301 for that, so that setting the widgets page reference is no longer necessary. You can try that using the latest snapshots for 2.0.1 or 2.1.0. If theses issues persist please comment in the issue tracker.
BR
Maruan
>
> Finally setReadOnly() needn't be set for the field as after flatten() there are no more fields.
>
> So the final code looks like that
>
>
> try {
> File myFile = new File(template);
> PDDocument pdDoc = PDDocument.load( myFile );
> PDDocumentCatalog pdCatalog = pdDoc.getDocumentCatalog();
> PDAcroForm pdAcroForm = pdCatalog.getAcroForm();
>
> // set the NeedApperances flag
> pdAcroForm.setNeedAppearances(false);
>
> // correct the missing page link for the annotations
> for (PDPage page : pdDoc.getPages()) {
> for (PDAnnotation annot : page.getAnnotations()) {
> annot.setPage(page);
> }
> }
>
> // Add the missing resources to the form
> PDResources dr = new PDResources();
> dr.put(COSName.getPDFName("Courier"), PDType1Font.COURIER);
> dr.put(COSName.getPDFName("Helvetica"), PDType1Font.HELVETICA);
>
> pdAcroForm.setDefaultResources(dr);
>
> PDField field = pdAcroForm.getField("Make");
> field.setValue("Jeep");
> field = pdAcroForm.getField("Model");
> field.setValue("Grand Cherokee");
> field = pdAcroForm.getField("Check Box1");
> field.setValue("Yes");
> pdAcroForm.flatten();
> pdDoc.save(flattened);
> pdDoc.close();
> }
> catch (Exception e) {
> e.printStackTrace();
> }
>
>
> BR
> Maruan
>
>
>> Am 31.03.2016 um 18:54 schrieb Barry Neu <ba...@gmail.com>:
>>
>>
>>>
>> <alabama-abandoned-motor-vehicle-bill-of-sale.pdf>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hello.
>>> I’m trying out PDFBox 2.0 for an application where I need to flatten forms with data collected from a user interface.
>>> Using the below code, I set some sample fields and set the read only flag to true. The resulting output has the data populated on the form but the CheckBox is still editable.
>>> When using the PDAcroForm.flatten() method, the CheckBox is not editable, but the values set in the Text fields do not appear populated on the resulting form.
>>> Using Java 1.7 on OSX.
>>> Sample form attached.
>>>
>>> Probably something simple I am missing. Any help appreciated.
>>>
>>>
>>> import java.io <http://java.io/>.*;
>>> import java.util.Collection;
>>> import java.util.ArrayList;
>>> import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.*;
>>> import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.common.COSArrayList;
>>> import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.font.PDFont;
>>> import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.font.PDType1Font;
>>> import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.interactive.form.*;
>>> import org.apache.pdfbox.cos.COSDictionary;
>>> import org.apache.pdfbox.cos.COSArray;
>>> import org.apache.pdfbox.cos.COSBase;
>>>
>>> public class PdfFiller {
>>>
>>> public static void main(String[] args) {
>>> String template = “/mypath/alabama-abandoned-motor-vehicle-bill-of-sale.pdf";
>>> String flattened = “/mypath/FILLED-alabama-abandoned-motor-vehicle-bill-of-sale.pdf";
>>> try {
>>> File myFile = new File(template);
>>> PDDocument pdDoc = PDDocument.load( myFile );
>>> PDDocumentCatalog pdCatalog = pdDoc.getDocumentCatalog();
>>> PDAcroForm pdAcroForm = pdCatalog.getAcroForm();
>>> PDField field = pdAcroForm.getField("Make");
>>> field.setValue("Jeep");
>>> field.setReadOnly(true);
>>> field = pdAcroForm.getField("Model");
>>> field.setValue("Grand Cherokee");
>>> field.setReadOnly(true);
>>> field = pdAcroForm.getField("Check Box1");
>>> field.setValue("Yes");
>>> field.setReadOnly(true);
>>> //pdAcroForm.flatten(); //uncommenting line results in missing values in text fields
>>> pdDoc.save(flattened);
>>> pdDoc.close();
>>> }
>>> catch (Exception e) {
>>> e.printStackTrace();
>>> }
>>> }
>>> }
>>>
>>
>
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Re: Form Filling/Flattening Problem
Posted by Maruan Sahyoun <sa...@fileaffairs.de>.
Hi,
flatten() will flatten the form fields but without refreshing the fields appearance i.e. how you see it on the form. Now, as NeedAppearances is set to true, the prior setValue() call also didn't refresh the fields appearance as the NeedAppearances flag tells the viewer to handle that.
There are two options: set the NeedAppearances flag to false using PDAcroForm.setNeedAppearances(false) or use flatten(List<PDField> fields, boolean refreshAppearances).
Unfortunately there is an issue with the form as it doesn't contain a /DR entry (i.e. it doesn't specify which resources, most important the fonts, to use).
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: /DR is a required entry
PDFBox doesn't yet have a fall back see PDFBOX-2662.What you could do is generate an appropriate entry yourself.
PDResources dr = new PDResources();
dr.put(COSName.getPDFName("Courier"), PDType1Font.COURIER);
dr.put(COSName.getPDFName("Helvetica"), PDType1Font.HELVETICA);
pdAcroForm.setDefaultResources(dr);
That reveals another issue
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
at org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.PDPageContentStream.<init>(PDPageContentStream.java:195)
Which is caused as the annotations are not connected to a page.
The can be resolved by
for (PDPage page : pdDoc.getPages()) {
for (PDAnnotation annot : page.getAnnotations()) {
annot.setPage(page);
}
}
Finally setReadOnly() needn't be set for the field as after flatten() there are no more fields.
So the final code looks like that
try {
File myFile = new File(template);
PDDocument pdDoc = PDDocument.load( myFile );
PDDocumentCatalog pdCatalog = pdDoc.getDocumentCatalog();
PDAcroForm pdAcroForm = pdCatalog.getAcroForm();
// set the NeedApperances flag
pdAcroForm.setNeedAppearances(false);
// correct the missing page link for the annotations
for (PDPage page : pdDoc.getPages()) {
for (PDAnnotation annot : page.getAnnotations()) {
annot.setPage(page);
}
}
// Add the missing resources to the form
PDResources dr = new PDResources();
dr.put(COSName.getPDFName("Courier"), PDType1Font.COURIER);
dr.put(COSName.getPDFName("Helvetica"), PDType1Font.HELVETICA);
pdAcroForm.setDefaultResources(dr);
PDField field = pdAcroForm.getField("Make");
field.setValue("Jeep");
field = pdAcroForm.getField("Model");
field.setValue("Grand Cherokee");
field = pdAcroForm.getField("Check Box1");
field.setValue("Yes");
pdAcroForm.flatten();
pdDoc.save(flattened);
pdDoc.close();
}
catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
BR
Maruan
> Am 31.03.2016 um 18:54 schrieb Barry Neu <ba...@gmail.com>:
>
>
>>
> <alabama-abandoned-motor-vehicle-bill-of-sale.pdf>
>>
>>
>> Hello.
>> I’m trying out PDFBox 2.0 for an application where I need to flatten forms with data collected from a user interface.
>> Using the below code, I set some sample fields and set the read only flag to true. The resulting output has the data populated on the form but the CheckBox is still editable.
>> When using the PDAcroForm.flatten() method, the CheckBox is not editable, but the values set in the Text fields do not appear populated on the resulting form.
>> Using Java 1.7 on OSX.
>> Sample form attached.
>>
>> Probably something simple I am missing. Any help appreciated.
>>
>>
>> import java.io <http://java.io/>.*;
>> import java.util.Collection;
>> import java.util.ArrayList;
>> import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.*;
>> import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.common.COSArrayList;
>> import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.font.PDFont;
>> import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.font.PDType1Font;
>> import org.apache.pdfbox.pdmodel.interactive.form.*;
>> import org.apache.pdfbox.cos.COSDictionary;
>> import org.apache.pdfbox.cos.COSArray;
>> import org.apache.pdfbox.cos.COSBase;
>>
>> public class PdfFiller {
>>
>> public static void main(String[] args) {
>> String template = “/mypath/alabama-abandoned-motor-vehicle-bill-of-sale.pdf";
>> String flattened = “/mypath/FILLED-alabama-abandoned-motor-vehicle-bill-of-sale.pdf";
>> try {
>> File myFile = new File(template);
>> PDDocument pdDoc = PDDocument.load( myFile );
>> PDDocumentCatalog pdCatalog = pdDoc.getDocumentCatalog();
>> PDAcroForm pdAcroForm = pdCatalog.getAcroForm();
>> PDField field = pdAcroForm.getField("Make");
>> field.setValue("Jeep");
>> field.setReadOnly(true);
>> field = pdAcroForm.getField("Model");
>> field.setValue("Grand Cherokee");
>> field.setReadOnly(true);
>> field = pdAcroForm.getField("Check Box1");
>> field.setValue("Yes");
>> field.setReadOnly(true);
>> //pdAcroForm.flatten(); //uncommenting line results in missing values in text fields
>> pdDoc.save(flattened);
>> pdDoc.close();
>> }
>> catch (Exception e) {
>> e.printStackTrace();
>> }
>> }
>> }
>>
>