Package org.faceless.pdf2

Class FDF

  • public final class FDF
extends Object

    A class representing an FDF object. "FDF" stands for "Forms Data Format", and is Adobes format for submitting form data from a PDF to a server, and generating a response. XFDF, an XML representation of FDF, can be handled the same way.

    This class supports both loading an existing FDF file which can be imported into a PDF via the PDF.importFDF() method, and creating a new FDF from a PDF which can then be rendered via the render(java.io.OutputStream) method.

    Here's a simple example showing how to complete a PDF form with an FDF and save the completed PDF to an OutputStream. 

     PDF pdf = new PDF(new PDFReader(new FileInputStream("blankform.pdf")));
 FDF fdf = new FDF(new InputStream("data.fdf"));
 pdf.importFDF(fdf);
 pdf.render(outputstream);

    And here's an example showing how to create an FDF and an XFDF file of all the fields in a PDF's Form

     FDF fdf = new FDF(pdf);
 fdf.setFields(pdf.getForm().getElements().values());
 fdf.render(new FileOutputStream("out.fdf"));
 Document xfdf = fdf.getXFDF();
 OutputStream out = new FileOutputStream("out.xfdf");
 Transformer tr = TransformerFactory.newInstance().newTransformer();
 tr.transform(new DOMSource(xfdf), new StreamResult(out));
    Note that an FDF may include JavaScript which may be executed when the FDF is imported into the PDF. See willExecuteJavaScript() and getJavaScript(java.lang.String)
    Since:
    1.2.1
    See Also:
    PDF.importFDF(org.faceless.pdf2.FDF), Form

    • Constructor Detail

      • FDF

        public FDF​(InputStream fdfstream)
    throws IOException
        Create a new FDF from the specified InputStream. The InputStream must be formatted as an FDF file, or since 2.2.4 an XFDF file (although this requires a SAX implementation to run). Note the InputStream is not closed by this method, and should be closed by the user.
        Parameters:
        fdfstream - an InputStream containing the form data.
        Throws:
        IOException

      • FDF

        public FDF​(PDF pdf)
        Create a new FDF from the specified PDF. This FDF may eventually be rendered using the render(java.io.OutputStream) method.
        Since:
        2.8.3

    • Method Detail

      • setFields

        public void setFields​(Collection<FormElement> fields)
        Set the fields that are to be included in this FDF. Can only be called if the FDF was created using the FDF(PDF) constructor.
        Parameters:
        fields - the fields to include - eg. pdf.getForm().getElements().values() or PDFAction.getFormSubmitFields()
        Since:
        2.8.3

      • setAnnotations

        public void setAnnotations​(Collection<PDFAnnotation> annots)
        Add the specified annotations to the FDF. Passing in ALLANNOTATIONS will add every annotation in the PDF. Since 2.11.7

      • getFields

        public Map<String,​String> getFields()
        Return a read-only map of all the field values in the FDF. Note this is just the field values - if the FDF contains other details, like annotations and the like, these will not be included.
        Since:
        2.10

      • setFile

        public void setFile​(String file)
        Set the filename associated with this FDF (the "F" entry).
        Parameters:
        file - the Filename, or null to clear it
        Since:
        2.11.6

      • getFile

        public String getFile()
        Return the file associated with this FDF (the "F" entry), or null if not set.
        Since:
        2.2.2

      • getDocumentID

        public String getDocumentID​(boolean primary)
        Return the document ID that this FDF belongs to. This method functions exactly the same as the PDF.getDocumentID(boolean) method, but returns the ID of the document associated with this FDF (or null if this is not specified)
        Parameters:
        primary - whether to return the primary or secondary ID
        Returns:
        a 32-character String representing the ID, or null if no ID is set
        Since:
        2.2.2

      • setIgnoreErrors

        public void setIgnoreErrors​(boolean ignore)
        Whether to ignore errors when importing this FDF. The default value is false, which means trying to set a field to an illegal value will throw an Exception. By setting this value to true, a warning will be displayed instead and the import will continue
        Since:
        2.2.6

      • setIncludeEmptyFields

        public void setIncludeEmptyFields​(boolean includeempty)
        Set whether to include empty fields when creating a new FDF or XFDF file.
        Since:
        2.11.7

      • setCanonicalDates

        public void setCanonicalDates​(boolean canonicaldates)
        Set whether to format dates as canonical dates when creating a new FDF or XFDF file.
        Since:
        2.11.7

      • setIncludeUniqueID

        public void setIncludeUniqueID​(boolean includenm)
        Set whether to include the "NM" or Unique ID for each annotation. The default is no.
        Since:
        2.11.18

      • render

        public void render​(OutputStream out)
            throws IOException
        Save the FDF file to the specified OutputStream. The OutputStream is not closed by this method.
        Throws:
        IOException

      • getXFDF

        public Document getXFDF()
        Get the FDF object as an XFDF Document. This can be then be written to an OutputStream using the usual DOM serialization routine, eg: 
         DOMSource source = new DOMSource(fdf.getXFDF());
 Transformer tr = TransformerFactory.newInstance().newTransformer();
 tr.transform(source), new StreamResult(System.out));
        Since:
        2.11.6

      • getCanonicalDate

        public static String getCanonicalDate​(FormElement field)
        For the given field, if it is a Date field return it's value in the "canonical" date format described in the PDF specification (necessary for form submission). For all other fields this method returns the regular Field Value
        Since:
        2.11.18

      • willExecuteJavaScript

        public boolean willExecuteJavaScript()
        Return true if this FDF will execute JavaScript on the PDF when it is imported - checks for a "Before", "After" or "AfterPermsReady" event. If this isn't desired, simply call setJavaScript(java.lang.String, java.lang.String) on the FDF to clear out the action that would be run before it is imported.
        Since:
        2.11.18

      • getJavaScript

        public String getJavaScript​(String type)
        Get the JavaScript from this FDF for the specified event, or null if none is defined.
        Parameters:
        type - one of Doc, Before, After, AfterPermsReady
        Since:
        2.11.18

      • setJavaScript

        public void setJavaScript​(String type,
                          String script)
        Set the JavaScript for this FDF for the specified event, or null if none is defined.
        Parameters:
        type - one of Doc, Before, After, AfterPermsReady
        Since:
        2.11.18