Altering Form Fields with Javascript

Aspose.PDF Product Family
1

I’m developing a system which converts Word documents into PDFs and I need to be able to add a date to the resulting pdf when it is printed to show when it is to expire, basically 2 weeks from the date of printing.

I have Aspose.Words and Aspose.Pdf. I started with this article:

http://www.planetpdf.com/developer/article.asp?ContentID=AddingdynamicstampstoPDFswhenprinting

and am trying to adapt it to the Aspose technology. After reading through your documentation and forums I have developed the following technique, which adds a form field to the source Word document, converts it to PDF while preserving the form fields, and added Javascript to the resulting PDF to add the date when the document is opened:

MemoryStream xmlStream = new MemoryStream();
Document doc = new Document(path);

DocumentBuilder db = new DocumentBuilder(doc);
db.Document.SaveOptions.PdfExportFormFieldsAsText = false;
Aspose.Words.Fields.FormField ff = db.InsertTextInput ("DateField", Aspose.Words.Fields.TextFormFieldType.RegularText, "", "Adding a text field to word: ", 100);
ff.Enabled = true;
ff.Name = "DateField";
db.Document.Save(xmlStream, SaveFormat.AsposePdf);

Pdf pdf = new Pdf();
MemoryStream pdfStream = new MemoryStream();
pdf.BindXML(xmlStream, null);

// Save to a stream first to check for conversion problems.
// Saving to a file with conversion problems causes the file to
// become locked and requires an IIS reset to correct.

pdf.Save(pdfStream);

Pdf pdfFile = new Pdf();
pdfFile.BindXML(xmlStream, null);
string pdfOutputPath = "";

pdfOutputPath = path2
pdfFile.IsImagesInXmlDeleteNeeded = true;

pdfFile.JavaScripts = new JavaScripts();
pdfFile.JavaScripts.Add("this.getField(\"DateField\").value = \"Date Added by javascript\";");

pdfFile.Save(outputpath);

This code successfully adds the form field and it shows up in the PDF, but the text is not altered by the Javascript. From what I read you only have support for adding document level Javascript so I can’t add script to the print event, but if it were to alter the text when opened it would serve my purpose. Can anyone help me figure out how to get this done?

As a side note, the form fields seem to disappear when I try to put them in the footer. Is this a known issue?

2

Hi,

We are working over this issue and will reply to you soon.

3

Hello Adam,

Thanks for considering Aspose.

Let me share something related to one of our component named Aspose.Pdf.Kit which is used to manipulate/edit Pdf files. This component offers the capability to insert the watermark over the Pdf file, and also offers the capability to Print the Pdf files. According to your requirement, you can first convert the word file into Pdf and then use PdfFileStamp to add text watermark showing the current system date and finally Print the Pdf file using PdfViewer.

For more related information on adding watermark to Pdf file, please visit http://www.aspose.com/documentation/file-format-components/aspose.pdf.kit-for-.net-and-java/add-logo.html

For more information on Printing Pdf file, please visit http://www.aspose.com/documentation/file-format-components/aspose.pdf.kit-for-.net-and-java/pdfviewer.html

FYI: In recent version of Aspose.Words, you can save the Word file directly into Pdf format, without using Aspose.Pdf. So in this case, you would have to use Aspose.Words to generate the Pdf file, and Aspose.Pdf.Kit to add watermark and Print the resultant file.

Regarding the issue of adding form field in Footer section, we are looking into this matter and will reply to you soon.

In case, it does not satisfy your requirement, please feel free to share.

4

Hi Adam,

In Aspose.Pdf, it is known that form field is not supported in Header/Footer. I will contact with our developers and confirm if we plan to support it. Sorry for inconvenience.

Best regards.

5

Hi Adam,

I am afraid we have no plan to support form field in Header/Footer at present. Would you please let us know what is your intention of adding form field to Header/Footer ? We may find you some workarounds on it. Sorry for inconvenience.

Best regards.

6

This won’t work because another system is responsible for printing the documents. I need to be able to convert the Word Document to PDF, insert the system date mark, and send it to the other system. Then when that system opens the PDF in Adobe Reader and prints it, the date printed needs to be 14 days from the date it was printed (not the date I converted the PDF and sent it to the other system). I am not able to alter the other system.

7

Hi,

I am afraid you may need Aspose.Pdf.Kit to achieve it. Aspose.Pdf.Kit is used to editing an exist pdf file. For further help, please contact
Aspose.Pdf.Kit’s forum. Sorry for inconvenience.

Best regards.

8

Hi Adam,

I'm looking into your requirement. Can you please clarify one thing so I'll be able to help you out?

As I have understood your requirement, you want to add a placeholder for date when you convert a word document to pdf, and when that created pdf will be printed, or opened on the other system for that matter, you want this place holder to have date equal to current date plus the 14 days from this current date. Have I understood your requirement or you want to add something more?

Please confirm so I'll proceed to look into your requirement in detail.

Regards,

9

Yes that is correct. The date field doesn’t need to be added before the conversion, that’s just how I was trying to do it. If it could be added to the pdf that would be fine too. The key though, is to be able to have the date be 14 days from the time the pdf is opened or printed. I assume this would need to be done with Adobe Javascipt.

10

Hi Adam,

Thanks for the update. I'll look into your requirement and update you the earliest possible.

We really appreciate your patience.

Regards,

11

Hi,

I'm sorry to inform you that we may not be able to support this feature in short time, also I'm unable to share the ETA as well.

We're sorry for the inconvenience.

Regards,