Acrobat Forms Plug-In¶
The Acrobat Forms plug-in allows a PDF document to act as a form; that is, the Acrobat equivalent of a paper form with fields. This chapter describes the OLE automation methods exported by the Acrobat AcroForm plug-in.
The Forms plug-in for Acrobat (versions 4.0 and above) allows users to author form fields. For Acrobat Reader, the Forms plug-in does not allow form authoring, but allows users to fill in data and print Acrobat forms. The Acrobat Reader Forms plug-in also does not allow users to save data to the local hard disk. Both Acrobat and Acrobat Reader allow Web designers to send data from the form back to a Web server.
Note
Forms as used here do not refer to XObject forms as defined in the PDF Reference.
For more information on forms, see the Acrobat Help and the PDF Library documentation.
Forms plug-in OLE automation¶
The Acrobat Forms plug-in works as an automation server in the Windows environment. Because the automation capabilities have been added to a plug-in, rather than an executable that can be directly launched, the following steps are necessary to access them from an automation controller. Instantiate the Acrobat application by using the Visual Basic CreateObject method. For example:
CreateObject("AcroExch.App")
This causes the Acrobat Forms plug-in to run, at which time it registers its class object with OLE. Instantiate the main exposed object:
CreateObject("AFormAut.App")
Registration in the Windows registry (which is different from the class object registration described above) happens every time Acrobat loads the plug-in. Therefore, you must run Acrobat at least once with the AForm32.api file in the Plugins folder before its type library can be found for object browsing within the Microsoft Visual Studio environment. This is also necessary in order to allow early binding. Declare the program variables as objects of the corresponding classes in AFORMAUTLib, and not simply as Object.
Note
Neither Acrobat nor the Acrobat Forms plug-in are thread-safe, and therefore Acrobat Forms OLE automation uses the single-threading model.
Exceptions
All methods and properties may return an exception. These may include standard OLE exceptions, such as:
E_OUTOFMEMORY(0x8007000E)E_INVALIDARG(0x80070057)
These exceptions are not specifically listed in the descriptions of the methods and properties that appear in this chapter. Others are Acrobat Forms-specific, and are listed in the following table.
The actual numeric value of the returned exception is assembled as an HRESULT, uses the FACILITY_ITF, and starts with decimal 512 (hex 0x0200), as recommended by Microsoft. For example, the numeric value of the exception AutErcNoForm is 0x80040201. The important part is the right-most (0x201), which is the first error in the enumeration below.
Exception name |
Numeric value |
Description |
|---|---|---|
AutErcNoDoc |
1 |
No document is currently open in the Acrobat application. |
AutErcNotTerminal |
2 |
This property or method applies to terminal fields or their annotations. |
AutErcNotToThisFieldType |
3 |
This property or method is not applicable to this type of field. |
AFormApp¶
AFormApp is the only object the controller can externally instantiate (that is, using CreateObject). All other objects must be created by navigating down the hierarchy with the methods and properties described in this section.
Field¶
A field in the document that is currently active in Acrobat.
PopulateListOrComboBox¶
Specifies the item names and optionally exports values for a field of type listbox or combobox.
Syntax
void PopulateListOrComboBox ( const VARIANT& arrItems,
const VARIANT& arrExportVal);
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
arrItems |
An array of strings, with each element representing an item name. There is a limit of 64K for string data in a combo or list box control on Windows platforms. For Mac OS systems, the limit is 200 entries for the combo or list box control. Using more than these limits degrades performance and makes the control unusable. |
arrExportVal |
Optional. An array of strings, the same size as the first parameter, with each element representing an export value. Some of the elements in |
Exceptions
Raises AutErcNotToThisFieldType if the field is not of type listbox or combobox.
Related methods
SetBackgroundColor¶
Specifies the background color for a field. The background color is used to fill the field’s rectangle.
Syntax
void SetBackgroundColor (LPCTSTR bstrColorSpace, float GorRorC, float GorM, float BorY, float K);
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
bstrColorSpace |
Values are defined by using a |
GorRorC |
Used if |
GorM |
Used if |
BorY |
Used if |
K |
Used if |
Example
Field.SetBackgroundColor "RGB", 0.7, 0.3, 0.6, 0
SetBorderColor¶
Specifies the border color for a field. The border color is used to stroke the field’s rectangle with a line as large as the border width. The new border color is propagated to any child annotations underneath, so the field may be non-terminal.
Syntax
void SetBorderColor (LPCTSTR bstrColorSpace, float GorRorC, float GorM, float BorY, float K);
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
bstrColorSpace |
Values are defined by using a |
GorRorC |
Used if |
GorM |
Used if |
BorY |
Used if |
K |
Used if |
Example
Field.SetBorderColor "RGB", 0.7, 0.3, 0.6, 0
SetButtonCaption¶
The caption to be used for the appearance of a field of type button.
Syntax
void SetButtonCaption (LPCTSTR bstrFace, LPCTSTR bstrCaption);
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
bstrFace |
A string that specifies the face for which the caption will be used. Valid strings include: |
bstrCaption |
The caption for the button. If a button’s layout is of type |
Exceptions
Raises AutErcNotToThisFieldType if the field is not of type button. The new appearance is propagated to any child annotations underneath; the field may be non-terminal.
Example
Field.SetButtonCaption "D", "Submit Form"
SetButtonIcon¶
Specifies the icon to be used for the appearance of a field of type button.
Syntax
void SetButtonIcon (LPCTSTR bstrFace, LPCTSTR bstrFullPath, short pageNum);
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
bstrFace |
A string that specifies the face for which the icon will be used. Valid strings include: |
bstrFullPath |
The full path of the PDF file to be used as the source of the appearance. |
pageNum |
Used to select the page inside that PDF file (zero-based). If a button’s layout is of type |
Exceptions
Raises AutErcNotToThisFieldType if the field is not of type button. The new appearance is propagated to any child annotations underneath, so it is OK if the field is non-terminal.
Example
Field.SetButtonIcon "N", "c:Clipart.pdf", 0
SetExportValues¶
Sets the export values for each of the annotations of a field of type radio button and checkbox.
For radio button fields, this is necessary to make the field work properly as a group. One button is checked at any given time, giving its value to the field as a whole.
For checkbox fields, unless an export value is specified, the default is used when the field checked is Yes. When it is unchecked, its value is Off (this is also true for a radio button field when none of its buttons are checked).
Syntax
void SetExportValues (const VARIANT& arrExportVal);
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
arrExportVal |
An array of strings, which is expected to have as many elements as there are annotations in the field. The elements of the array are distributed among the individual annotations comprising the field, using their tab order. |
Exceptions
Raises AutErcNotToThisFieldType if the field is not of type radio button or checkbox.
Example
Dim arrExp(1) As String
arrExp(0) = "CreditCardA"
arrExp(1) = "CreditCardB"
Field.SetExportValues arrExp
SetForegroundColor¶
Specifies the foreground color for a field. It represents the text color for text, button, combobox, or listbox fields and the check color for checkbox or radio button fields.
The parameters are similar to SetBorderColor and SetBackgroundColor, except that the transparent color space is not allowed.
Syntax
void SetForegroundColor (LPCTSTR bstrColorSpace, float GorRorC, float GorM, float BorY, float K);
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
bstrColorSpace |
Values are defined by using a |
GorRorC |
Used if |
GorM |
Used if |
BorY |
Used if |
K |
Used if |
Example
Field.SetForegroundColor "CMYK", 0.25, 0.25, 0.25, 0.1
SetJavaScriptAction¶
Sets the action of the field to be of type JavaScript. When using SetJavaScriptAction within Visual Basic, you can use Chr(13) to add a <CR>, and Chr(9) for tabs, so that the function is well formatted.
Syntax
void SetJavaScriptAction (LPCTSTR bstrTrigger, LPCTSTR bstrTheScript);
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
bstrTrigger |
A string that specifies the trigger for the action. Valid strings include: - |
bstrTheScript |
The script itself. If the trigger is |
Calculation script
A simple calculate script is supplied with Acrobat.
AFSimple_Calculate(cFunction, cFields)
cFunction is one of
AVG,SUM,PRD,MIN,MAXcFields is the list of the fields to use in the calculation.
Formatting scripts
The following scripts and formats can be used for the format and keystroke triggers:
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
AFDate_KeystrokeEx(cFormat)AFDate_Format(cFormat) |
cFormat is one of: “m/d”, “m/d/yy”, “mm/dd/yy”, “mm/yy”, “d-mmm”, “d-mmm-yy”, “dd-mmm-yy”, “yy-mm-dd”, “mmm-yy”, “mmmm-yy”, “mmm d, yyyy”, “mmmm d, yyyy”, “m/d/yy h:MM tt”, “m/d/yy HH:MM” |
AFTime_Keystroke(ptf)AFTime_Format(ptf) |
ptf is the time format: 0 = 24HR_MM [ 14:30 ] 1 = 12HR_MM [ 2:30 PM ] 2 = 24HR_MM_SS [ 14:30:15 ] 3 = 12HR_MM_SS [ 2:30:15 PM ] |
AFPercent_Keystroke(nDec,sepStyle)AFPercent_Format(nDec,sepStyle) |
nDec is the number of places after the decimal point. sepStyle is an integer denoting whether to use a separator. If sepStyle is |
AFSpecial_Keystroke(psf)AFSpecial_Format(psf) |
psf is the type of formatting to use: 0 = zip code 1 = zip + 4 2 = phone 3 = SSN |
AFNumber_Format(nDec,sepStyle,negStyle,currStyle,strCurrency,bCurrencyPrepend)AFNumber_Keystroke(nDec,sepStyle,negStyle,currStyle,strCurrency,bCurrencyPrepend) |
nDec is the number of places after the decimal point. sepStyle is an integer denoting whether to use a separator. If sepStyle is |
SetResetFormAction¶
Sets the action of the field to be of type ResetForm.
Syntax
void SetResetFormAction (LPCTSTR bstrTrigger, long theFlags, const VARIANT& arrFields);
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
bstrTrigger |
A string that specifies which trigger is used for the action. Valid strings include: |
theFlags |
When |
arrFields |
Optional. An array of strings for the fully-qualified names of the fields. Depending on the value of |
SetSubmitFormAction¶
Sets the action of the field to be of type SubmitForm.
Syntax
void SetSubmitFormAction (LPCTSTR bstrTrigger, LPCTSTR bstrTheURL, long theFlags, const VARIANT& arrFields);
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
bstrTrigger |
A string that specifies which trigger is used for the action. Valid strings include: |
bstrTheURL |
A string containing the URL. |
theFlags |
A collection of flags that define various characteristics of the action. See the PDF Reference to learn how the binary value of this |
arrFields |
Optional. If specified, represents an array of strings for the fully-qualified names of the fields to submit when the action is executed. If the array is interpreted as fields to submit (as opposed to fields excluded from the submission, depending on the least-significant bit in the flags), then it may include the names of non-terminal fields, which is a way to cause all their children to be included in the submission. If not specified, the created action does not include a |
Alignment¶
The text alignment of a text field. Valid alignments are:
left
center
right
Syntax
[get/set] String
Returns
If the field is terminal and has multiple child annotations, a get returns the alignment for the first child, whichever annotation that happens to be.
On a set, the property is propagated to any child annotations underneath, so the field may be non-terminal.
Exceptions
If the field is not of type text, an exception AutErcNotToThisFieldType is returned.
On a get, if the field is non-terminal, an exception AutErcNotTerminal is returned.
Example
Field.Alignment = left
BorderStyle¶
The border style for a field. Valid border styles include solid, dashed, beveled, inset, and underline.
Syntax
[get/set] String
Returns
If it is terminal and has multiple child annotations, a get returns the value of the border style for the first child, whichever annotation that happens to be.
On a set, the property is propagated to any child annotations underneath, so the field may be non-terminal.
Exceptions
On a get, raises AutErcNotTerminal if the field is non-terminal, an exception is returned.
Example
Field.BorderStyle = "beveled"
BorderWidth¶
The thickness of the border when stroking the perimeter of a field’s rectangle. If the border color is transparent, this property has no effect except in the case of a beveled border. The value 0 represents no border, and the value 3 represents a thick border.
Syntax
[get/set] short
Returns
If it is terminal and has multiple child annotations, a get returns the value of the border width for the first child, whichever annotation that happens to be.
On a set, the property is propagated to any child annotations underneath, so the field may be non-terminal.
Exceptions
On a get, if the field is non-terminal, an exception AutErcNotTerminal is returned.
Example
Field.BorderWidth = 1
ButtonLayout¶
The layout appearance of a button. Valid values include:
0: Text only; the button has a caption but no icon.1: Icon only; the button has an icon but no caption.2: Icon over text; the icon should appear on top of the caption.3: Text over icon; the text should appear on top of the icon.4: Icon then text; the icon should appear to the left of the caption.5: Text then icon; the icon should appear to the right of the caption.6: Text over icon; the text should be overlaid on top of the icon.
If it is terminal and has multiple child annotations, a get returns the layout for the first child, whichever annotation that happens to be.
On a set, the property is propagated to any child annotations underneath, therefore the field can be non-terminal.
Syntax
[get/set] short
Exceptions
If the field is not of type button, an exception AutErcNotToThisFieldType is returned.
On a get, if the field is non-terminal, an exception AutErcNotTerminal is returned.
Example
Field.ButtonLayout = 2
CalcOrderIndex¶
The zero-based calculation order of fields in the document. If you want the calculation for a field f2 to be performed after that for field f1, you need only set the CalcOrderIndex for f2 to f1 ‘s CalcOrderIndex + 1. The elements in the calculation order array are shifted to make room for the insertion, but the first calculation is still at index 0.
Syntax
[get/set] short
Example
Set F1 = Fields("SubTotal")
Set F2 = Fields("Total")
F2.CalcOrderIndex = F1.CalcOrderIndex + 1
CharLimit¶
The limit on the number of characters that a user can type into a text field.
On a set, the property is propagated to any child annotations underneath, if any.
Syntax
[get/set] short
Exceptions
If the field is not of type text, an exception AutErcNotToThisFieldType is returned.
DefaultValue¶
The default value of the field. It returns the empty string if the field has no default value. If the field is non-terminal, an exception AutErcNotTerminal is returned.
Syntax
[get/set] String
See also Value.
Editable¶
Determines whether the user can type in a selection or must choose one of the provided selections. Comboboxes can be editable; that is, the user can type in a selection.
On a set, the property is propagated to any child annotations underneath, if any.
Syntax
[get/set] Boolean
Exceptions
Returns an exception of AutErcNotToThisFieldType if the field is not of type combobox.
Example
Field.Editable = False
Highlight¶
Defines how a button reacts when a user clicks it. The four highlight modes supported are:
none
invert
push
outline
If it is terminal and has multiple child annotations, a get returns the highlight for the first child, whichever annotation that happens to be.
On a set, the property is propagated to any child annotations underneath, so the field may be non-terminal.
Syntax
[get/set] String
Exceptions
If the field is not of type button, an exception AutErcNotToThisFieldType is returned.
On a get, if the field is non-terminal, an exception AutErcNotTerminal is returned.
Example
Field.Highlight = "invert"
IsMultiline¶
Determines whether the text field is multi-line or single-line. On a set, the property is propagated to any child annotations underneath, if any.
Syntax
[get/set] Boolean
Exceptions
If the field is not of type text, an exception AutErcNotToThisFieldType is returned.
Example
Field.IsMultiline = True
IsPassword¶
Determines whether the field will display asterisks for the data entered. Upon submission, the actual data entered is sent. Fields that have the password attribute set will not have the data in the field saved when the document is saved to disk.
On a set, the property is propagated to any child annotations underneath, if any.
Syntax
[get/set] Boolean
Exceptions
If the field is not of type text, an exception AutErcNotToThisFieldType is returned.
Example
Field.IsPassword = True
IsReadOnly¶
The read-only characteristic of a field. When a field is read-only, the user can see the field but cannot change it. If a button is read-only, the user cannot click it to execute an action.
Because this is a field flag and not an annotation flag, both a get and a set of this property are allowed regardless of whether the field is terminal or non-terminal.
A get on a non-terminal field retrieves that field’s flag.
A set changes the flag on all its terminal children.
Syntax
[get/set] Boolean
IsRequired¶
The required characteristic of a field. When a field is required, its value must be non-NULL when the user clicks a submit button that causes the value of the field to be sent to the web. If the field value is NULL, the user receives a warning message and the submit does not occur.
Since this is a field flag and not an annotation flag, both a get and a set of this property are allowed, regardless of whether the field is terminal or non-terminal.
A get on a non-terminal field retrieves that field’s flag. A set changes the flag on all its terminal children.
Syntax
[get/set] Boolean
IsTerminal¶
true if the field is terminal, otherwise false.
Syntax
[read-only] Boolean
Example
Dim Field As AFORMAUTLib.Field
Dim bTerminal As Boolean
'bTerminal should be True
bTerminal = Field.IsTerminal
Name¶
The fully qualified name of the field. It is the default member of the Field interface.
Syntax
[read-only] String
NoViewFlag¶
Determines whether a given field prints but does not display on the screen.
Set the NoViewFlag property to true to allow the field to appear when the user prints the document but not when it displays on the screen; set it to false to allow both printing and displaying.
On a get, if the field is non-terminal, an exception AutErcNotTerminal is returned. If it is terminal, and has multiple child annotations, a get returns the value of the no-view flag for the first child, whichever annotation that happens to be.
On a set, the property is propagated to any child annotations underneath, so the field may be non-terminal.
Syntax
[get/set] Boolean
PrintFlag¶
Determines whether a field prints. Set the PrintFlag property to true to allow the field to appear when the user prints the document, set it to false to prevent printing.
On a get, if the field is non-terminal, an exception AutErcNotTerminal is returned. If it is terminal, and has multiple child annotations, a get returns the value of the print flag for the first child, whichever annotation that happens to be.
On a set, the property is propagated to any child annotations underneath, so the field may be non-terminal.
Syntax
[get/set] Boolean
Style¶
The style of a checkbox or a radio button (the glyph used to indicate that the check box or radio button has been selected).
Valid styles include:
check
cross
diamond
circle
star
square
If it is terminal and has multiple child annotations, a get returns the style for the first child, whichever annotation that happens to be.
On a set, the property is propagated to any child annotations underneath, therefore a field can be non-terminal.
Syntax
[get/set] String
Exceptions
During set, if the field is not of type checkbox or radio button, an exception AutErcNotToThisFieldType is returned.
On a get, if the field is non-terminal, an exception AutErcNotTerminal is returned.
Example
Field.Style = "star"
TextFont¶
The text font used when laying out the field. Valid fonts include:
Courier
Courier-Bold
Courier-Oblique
Courier-BoldOblique
Helvetica
Helvetica-Bold
Helvetica-Oblique
Helvetica-BoldOblique
Symbol
Times-Roman
Times-Bold
Times-Italic
Times-BoldItalic
ZapfDingbats
On a set, the property is propagated to any child annotations underneath, if any.
Syntax
[get/set] String
Example
Field.TextFont = "Times-BoldItalic"
TextSize¶
The text points size used in the field. In combobox and radio button fields, the text size determines the size of the check. Valid text sizes include zero and the range from 4 to 144 inclusive.
A text size of zero means that the largest point size that can still fit in the field’s rectangle should be used. In multi-line text fields and buttons this is always 12 points.
On a set, the property is propagated to any child annotations underneath, if any.
Syntax
[get/set] short
Example
Field.TextSize = 18
Type¶
The type of the field as a string. Valid types that are returned:
text
button
combobox
listbox
checkbox
radiobutton
signature
Syntax
[read-only] String
Example
Set Field = Fields("name.last")
'Should print "name.last"
print Field
' Should print the type of field. Example,
' "text"
print Field.Type
Value¶
A string that represents the value of the field. Returns the empty string if the field has no value. If the field is non-terminal, an exception AutErcNotTerminal is returned.
For fields of type checkbox, the value Off represents the unchecked state. The checked state is represented using the export value. This is also true for radio buttons (where each individual button in a group should have a different export value; see SetExportValues). For fields of type listbox or combobox, if an export value is defined, then that represents the value, otherwise the item name is used.
These remarks apply also to DefaultValue.
Syntax
[get/set] String
Example
Dim arrExp(1) As String
arrExp(0) = "CreditCardV"
arrExp(1) = "CreditCardM"
Field.SetExportValues arrExp
Field.Value = arrExp(0)
Fields¶
A collection of all the fields in the document that are currently active in Acrobat at the time Fields is instantiated.
The Fields collection includes both terminal and non-terminal fields. A terminal field is one that either does not have children, or if it does, they are simply multiple appearances (that is, child annotations) of the field in question.
Note
If you instantiate a Fields object, and subsequently fields are manually added or removed using the Forms tool in Acrobat, the Fields object will no longer be in sync with the document. You must re-instantiate the Fields object.
Add¶
Dynamically adds a new field to the Acrobat form and to the Fields collection.
Returns the newly-created
Fieldobject. You can pass the name of an existing field as a parameter, as long as that field is of the same type as the one being created.
This is useful in the following circumstances:
For radio buttons to use the
SetExportValuesmethod to make the radio buttons mutually exclusive.For fields that should have multiple appearances (that is, child annotations) in the document.
Syntax
LPDISPATCH Add (LPCTSTR bstrFieldName, LPCTSTR bstrFieldType, short pageNum, float left, float top, float right, float bottom);
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
bstrFieldName |
The fully-qualified name of the field. |
bstrFieldType |
Field type for the newly created field. Valid types are: - |
pageNum |
The page number (zero-based). |
left, top, right, bottom |
These parameters are floats representing the left, top, right, and bottom coordinates of the field rectangle, measured in rotated page space; that is, [0,0] is always at the left bottom corner regardless of page rotation. |
Returns
The newly-created Field object.
Example
Set Field = Fields.Add("payment",_ "radiobutton", 0, 100, 600, 130, 570)
AddDocJavascript¶
Adds a document-level JavaScript function to the PDF file. When using AddDocJavascript, within Visual Basic, you can use Chr(13) to add a <CR>, and Chr(9) for tabs, so that the function is well formatted.
Syntax
void AddDocJavascript (LPCTSTR bstrScriptName, LPCTSTR bstrTheScript);
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
bstrScriptName |
The name of the function to be added to the document. |
bstrTheScript |
The definition to be added to the document. |
Example
'Adding a document-level JavaScript
'function, to compute factorials:
Fields.AddDocJavaScript "Fact", _
"function Fact(n)" & Chr(13) & _
"{" & Chr(13) & _
Chr(9) & "if (n <= 0)" & Chr(13) & _
Chr(9) & Chr(9) & "return 1;" & Chr(13) & _
Chr(9) & "else" & Chr(13) & _
Chr(9) & Chr(9) & "return n * Fact(n - 1);" & Chr(13) & _
"}"
ExecuteThisJavascript¶
Executes the specified JavaScript script.
Syntax
CString ExecuteThisJavascript (LPCTSTR bstrTheScript);
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
bstrTheScript |
A string containing a JavaScript script, which is executed by Acrobat in the context of the currently active document. See the Acrobat SDK JavaScript API Reference for information on event level values. |
Returns
Returns a result by assigning it to event value.
Example
Fields.ExecuteThisJavaScript "var f =_ this.getField(""myButton""); f.delay =_ false;"
To get the returns in Visual Basic:
Dim cSubmitName As String
cSubmitName = Fields.ExecuteThisJavaScript
"event.value = this.getField(""myField"").submitName;"
ExportAsFDF¶
Exports the data as FDF from an Acrobat form.
Syntax
void ExportAsFDF (LPCTSTR bstrFullPath, LPCTSTR bstrSubmitButton, BOOL bEmptyFields, const VARIANT& arrFields);
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
bstrFullPath |
A full path of the file to which the produced FDF file will be saved. |
bstrSubmitButton |
The name of an existing form field of type |
bEmptyFields |
A Boolean value to indicate whether fields with no value should be included in the produced FDF file. |
arrFields |
Optional. An array of strings representing the fully-qualified names of the fields to include in the FDF file. This array may include the names of non-terminal fields, which is a fast and easy way to cause all their children to be included in the FDF file. |
Example
Dim arrFields(1) As String
arrFields(0) = "name"
arrFields(1) = "address"
'This will create an FDF that includes
'name.last, name.first, address.street,
'etc., but only if they have a value
'(since we are passing False for the
' "bEmptyFields" parameter.
Fields.ExportAsFDF "C:Tempout.fdf", "", False, arrFields
ExportAsHtml¶
Exports the data as HTML from an Acrobat form. This method is similar to ExportAsFDF. The only difference is that the form data is exported in URL-encoded format.
Syntax
void ExportAsHtml (LPCTSTR bstrFullPath, LPCTSTR bstrSubmitButton, BOOL bEmptyFields, const VARIANT& arrFields);
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
bstrFullPath |
A full path of the file to which the produced FDF file will be saved. |
bstrSubmitButton |
The name of an existing form field of type |
bEmptyFields |
A Boolean to indicate whether fields with no value should be included in the produced FDF file. |
arrFields |
Optional. An array of strings representing the fully-qualified names of the fields to include in the FDF file. This array may include the names of non-terminal fields, which is a fast and easy way to cause all their children to be included in the FDF file. |
ImportAnFDF¶
Imports the FDF file into an Acrobat form.
Syntax
void ImportAnFDF (LPCTSTR bstrFullPath);
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
bstrFullPath |
The full path of the file containing the FDF file to be imported. |
Remove¶
Removes a field from the Acrobat Form and from the Fields collection.
Syntax
void Remove (LPCTSTR bstrFieldName);
Parameters
Parameter |
Description |
|---|---|
bstrFieldName |
The fully-qualified name of the field to be removed from the Acrobat form. If the field has multiple child annotations, all of them are removed. If multiple fields have the same name, all are removed. |
Example
'Remove fields you no longer used.
Fields.Remove("MyOldField")
Count¶
The number of items in the collection.
Syntax
[read-only] long
Example
Dim Field As AFORMAUTLib.Field
Dim nFields As Long
nFields = Fields.Count
For Each Field In Fields
If Field.IsTerminal Then
print Field.Value
End If
Next Field
Item¶
Takes the fully qualified name of the field (for example, "name.last") as a parameter, and returns the Field object for it. It is the default member of the Fields interface. That is, item is the property invoked if the object name is specified by itself without a property or a method in the controller script.
Syntax
[read-only] IDispatch*
Example
Dim Field As AFORMAUTLib.Field
Dim nFields As Long
Set Field = Fields.Item("name.last")
'Since Item is the default_ property:
Set Field = Fields("name.last")
_NewEnum¶
The IEnumVariant enumerator for the collection.
You do not need to call this property directly. Visual Basic calls it in the background whenever the code contains a For Each Field In Fields loop. For example:
For Each Field in Fields
If Field.IsTerminal
print Field.Value
End If
Next Field
Syntax
[read-only] IUnknown*