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Filling out forms

For general information on how to programmatically fill form(s), refer to Chapter 4 of the iText Jumpstart tutorial (Java/.NET). This gives detailed instructions on creating interactive form fields based on AcroForm technology and filling them with iText Core.

These examples were written in answer to questions such as:

C04E04_FillForm

JAVA 
/*
    This file is part of the iText (R) project.
    Copyright (c) 1998-2023 Apryse Group NV
    Authors: Apryse Software.

    For more information, please contact iText Software at this address:
    sales@itextpdf.com
 */
package tutorial.chapter04;

import com.itextpdf.forms.fields.PdfFormCreator;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfDocument;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfReader;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfWriter;
import com.itextpdf.forms.PdfAcroForm;
import com.itextpdf.forms.fields.PdfFormField;
import java.io.*;
import java.util.Map;

/**
 * Simple filling out form example.
 */
public class C04E04_FillForm {

    public static final String SRC = "src/main/resources/pdf/job_application.pdf";
    public static final String DEST = "results/chapter04/fill_form.pdf";

    public static void main(String args[]) throws IOException {
        File file = new File(DEST);
        file.getParentFile().mkdirs();
        new C04E04_FillForm().manipulatePdf(SRC, DEST);
    }

    public void manipulatePdf(String src, String dest) throws IOException {

        //Initialize PDF document
        PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument(new PdfReader(src), new PdfWriter(dest));


        PdfAcroForm form = PdfFormCreator.getAcroForm(pdf, true);
        Map<String, PdfFormField> fields = form.getAllFormFields();
        fields.get("name").setValue("James Bond");
        fields.get("language").setValue("English");
        fields.get("experience1").setValue("Off");
        fields.get("experience2").setValue("Yes");
        fields.get("experience3").setValue("Yes");
        fields.get("shift").setValue("Any");
        fields.get("info").setValue("I was 38 years old when I became an MI6 agent.");

        pdf.close();

    }
}
C# 
/*
    This file is part of the iText (R) project.
    Copyright (c) 1998-2023 Apryse Group NV
    Authors: Apryse Software.

    For more information, please contact iText Software at this address:
    sales@itextpdf.com
 */
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.IO;
using iText.Forms;
using iText.Forms.Fields;
using iText.Kernel.Pdf;

namespace Tutorial.Chapter04 {
    /// <summary>Simple filling out form example.</summary>
    public class C04E04_FillForm {
        public const String SRC = "../../../resources/pdf/job_application.pdf";

        public const String DEST = "../../../results/chapter04/fill_form.pdf";

        public static void Main(String[] args) {
            FileInfo file = new FileInfo(DEST);
            file.Directory.Create();
            new C04E04_FillForm().ManipulatePdf(SRC, DEST);
        }

        public virtual void ManipulatePdf(String src, String dest) {
            //Initialize PDF document
            PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument(new PdfReader(src), new PdfWriter(dest));
            PdfAcroForm form = PdfFormCreator.GetAcroForm(pdf, true);
            IDictionary<String, PdfFormField> fields = form.GetAllFormFields();
            PdfFormField toSet;
            fields.TryGetValue("name", out toSet);
            toSet.SetValue("James Bond");
            fields.TryGetValue("language", out toSet);
            toSet.SetValue("English");
            fields.TryGetValue("experience1", out toSet);
            toSet.SetValue("Off");
            fields.TryGetValue("experience2", out toSet);
            toSet.SetValue("Yes");
            fields.TryGetValue("experience3", out toSet);
            toSet.SetValue("Yes");
            fields.TryGetValue("shift", out toSet);
            toSet.SetValue("Any");
            fields.TryGetValue("info", out toSet);
            toSet.SetValue("I was 38 years old when I became an MI6 agent.");
            pdf.Close();
        }
    }
}

fillformspecialchars

JAVA 
/*
    This file is part of the iText (R) project.
    Copyright (c) 1998-2023 Apryse Group NV
    Authors: Apryse Software.

    For more information, please contact iText Software at this address:
    sales@itextpdf.com
 */
package com.itextpdf.samples.sandbox.acroforms;

import com.itextpdf.forms.PdfAcroForm;
import com.itextpdf.forms.fields.PdfFormCreator;
import com.itextpdf.io.font.PdfEncodings;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.font.PdfFont;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.font.PdfFontFactory;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfDocument;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfReader;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfWriter;

import java.io.File;

public class FillFormSpecialChars {
    public static final String DEST = "./target/sandbox/acroforms/fill_form_special_chars.pdf";

    public static final String FONT = "./src/main/resources/font/FreeSans.ttf";
    public static final String SRC = "./src/main/resources/pdfs/test.pdf";

    // ěščřžýáíé characters
    public static final String VALUE = "\u011b\u0161\u010d\u0159\u017e\u00fd\u00e1\u00ed\u00e9";

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        File file = new File(DEST);
        file.getParentFile().mkdirs();

        new FillFormSpecialChars().manipulatePdf(DEST);
    }

    protected void manipulatePdf(String dest) throws Exception {
        PdfDocument pdfDoc = new PdfDocument(new PdfReader(SRC), new PdfWriter(dest));
        PdfAcroForm form = PdfFormCreator.getAcroForm(pdfDoc, true);

        // Being set as true, this parameter is responsible to generate an appearance Stream
        // while flattening for all form fields that don't have one. Generating appearances will
        // slow down form flattening, but otherwise Acrobat might render the pdf on its own rules.
        form.setGenerateAppearance(true);

        PdfFont font = PdfFontFactory.createFont(FONT, PdfEncodings.IDENTITY_H);
        form.getField("test").setValue(VALUE, font, 12f);
        form.getField("test2").setValue(VALUE, font, 12f);

        pdfDoc.close();
    }
}
C# 
/*
    This file is part of the iText (R) project.
    Copyright (c) 1998-2023 Apryse Group NV
    Authors: Apryse Software.

    For more information, please contact iText Software at this address:
    sales@itextpdf.com
 */
using System;
using System.IO;
using iText.Forms;
using iText.Forms.Fields;
using iText.IO.Font;
using iText.Kernel.Font;
using iText.Kernel.Pdf;

namespace iText.Samples.Sandbox.Acroforms
{
    public class FillFormSpecialChars
    {
        public static readonly String DEST = "results/sandbox/acroforms/fill_form_special_chars.pdf";

        public static readonly String FONT = "../../../resources/font/FreeSans.ttf";
        public static readonly String SRC = "../../../resources/pdfs/test.pdf";

        // ěščřžýáíé characters
        public const String VALUE = "\u011b\u0161\u010d\u0159\u017e\u00fd\u00e1\u00ed\u00e9";

        public static void Main(String[] args)
        {
            FileInfo file = new FileInfo(DEST);
            file.Directory.Create();

            new FillFormSpecialChars().ManipulatePdf(DEST);
        }

        protected void ManipulatePdf(String dest)
        {
            PdfDocument pdfDoc = new PdfDocument(new PdfReader(SRC), new PdfWriter(dest));
            PdfAcroForm form = PdfFormCreator.GetAcroForm(pdfDoc, true);

            // Being set as true, this parameter is responsible to generate an appearance Stream
            // while flattening for all form fields that don't have one. Generating appearances will
            // slow down form flattening, but otherwise Acrobat might render the pdf on its own rules.
            form.SetGenerateAppearance(true);

            PdfFont font = PdfFontFactory.CreateFont(FONT, PdfEncodings.IDENTITY_H);
            form.GetField("test").SetValue(VALUE, font, 12f);
            form.GetField("test2").SetValue(VALUE, font, 12f);

            pdfDoc.Close();
        }
    }
}

fillformspecialchars2

JAVA 
/*
    This file is part of the iText (R) project.
    Copyright (c) 1998-2023 Apryse Group NV
    Authors: Apryse Software.

    For more information, please contact iText Software at this address:
    sales@itextpdf.com
 */
package com.itextpdf.samples.sandbox.acroforms;

import com.itextpdf.forms.PdfAcroForm;
import com.itextpdf.forms.fields.PdfFormCreator;
import com.itextpdf.io.font.PdfEncodings;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.font.PdfFont;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.font.PdfFontFactory;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfDocument;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfReader;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfWriter;

import java.io.File;

public class FillFormSpecialChars2 {
    public static final String DEST = "./target/sandbox/acroforms/fill_form_special_chars2.pdf";

    public static final String FONT = "./src/main/resources/font/FreeSans.ttf";
    public static final String SRC = "./src/main/resources/pdfs/form.pdf";

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        File file = new File(DEST);
        file.getParentFile().mkdirs();

        new FillFormSpecialChars2().manipulatePdf(DEST);
    }

    protected void manipulatePdf(String dest) throws Exception {
        PdfDocument pdfDoc = new PdfDocument(new PdfReader(SRC), new PdfWriter(dest));
        PdfAcroForm form = PdfFormCreator.getAcroForm(pdfDoc, true);

        // This method tells to generate an appearance Stream while flattening for all form fields that don't have one.
        // Generating appearances will slow down form flattening,
        // but otherwise the results can be unexpected in Acrobat.
        form.setGenerateAppearance(true);

        PdfFont font = PdfFontFactory.createFont(FONT, PdfEncodings.IDENTITY_H);

        // ӧ character is used here
        form.getField("Name").setValue("\u04e711111", font, 12f);

        // If no fields have been explicitly included, then all fields are flattened.
        // Otherwise only the included fields are flattened.
        form.flattenFields();

        pdfDoc.close();
    }
}
C# 
/*
    This file is part of the iText (R) project.
    Copyright (c) 1998-2023 Apryse Group NV
    Authors: Apryse Software.

    For more information, please contact iText Software at this address:
    sales@itextpdf.com
 */
using System;
using System.IO;
using iText.Forms;
using iText.Forms.Fields;
using iText.IO.Font;
using iText.Kernel.Font;
using iText.Kernel.Pdf;

namespace iText.Samples.Sandbox.Acroforms
{
    public class FillFormSpecialChars2
    {
        public static readonly String DEST = "results/sandbox/acroforms/fill_form_special_chars2.pdf";

        public static readonly String FONT = "../../../resources/font/FreeSans.ttf";
        public static readonly String SRC = "../../../resources/pdfs/form.pdf";

        public static void Main(String[] args)
        {
            FileInfo file = new FileInfo(DEST);
            file.Directory.Create();

            new FillFormSpecialChars2().ManipulatePdf(DEST);
        }

        protected void ManipulatePdf(String dest)
        {
            PdfDocument pdfDoc = new PdfDocument(new PdfReader(SRC), new PdfWriter(dest));
            PdfAcroForm form = PdfFormCreator.GetAcroForm(pdfDoc, true);

            // This method tells to generate an appearance Stream while flattening for all form fields that don't have one.
            // Generating appearances will slow down form flattening,
            // but otherwise the results can be unexpected in Acrobat.
            form.SetGenerateAppearance(true);

            PdfFont font = PdfFontFactory.CreateFont(FONT, PdfEncodings.IDENTITY_H);

            // ӧ character is used here
            form.GetField("Name").SetValue("\u04e711111", font, 12f);

            // If no fields have been explicitly included, then all fields are flattened.
            // Otherwise only the included fields are flattened.
            form.FlattenFields();

            pdfDoc.Close();
        }
    }
}

formatfields

JAVA 
/*
    This file is part of the iText (R) project.
    Copyright (c) 1998-2023 Apryse Group NV
    Authors: Apryse Software.

    For more information, please contact iText Software at this address:
    sales@itextpdf.com
 */
package com.itextpdf.samples.sandbox.acroforms;

import com.itextpdf.forms.fields.PdfFormCreator;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfDocument;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfReader;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfWriter;
import com.itextpdf.forms.PdfAcroForm;

import java.io.File;

public class FormatFields {
    public static final String DEST = "./target/sandbox/acroforms/format_fields.pdf";

    public static final String SRC = "./src/main/resources/pdfs/form.pdf";

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        File file = new File(DEST);
        file.getParentFile().mkdirs();

        new FormatFields().manipulatePdf(DEST);
    }

    protected void manipulatePdf(String dest) throws Exception {
        PdfDocument pdfDoc = new PdfDocument(new PdfReader(SRC), new PdfWriter(dest));
        PdfAcroForm form = PdfFormCreator.getAcroForm(pdfDoc, true);

        // The second parameter sets how the field's value will be displayed in the resultant pdf.
        // If the second parameter is null, then actual value will be shown.
        form.getField("Name").setValue("1.0", "100%");
        form.getField("Company").setValue("1217000.000000", "$1,217,000");

        pdfDoc.close();
    }
}
C# 
/*
    This file is part of the iText (R) project.
    Copyright (c) 1998-2023 Apryse Group NV
    Authors: Apryse Software.

    For more information, please contact iText Software at this address:
    sales@itextpdf.com
 */
using System;
using System.IO;
using iText.Forms;
using iText.Forms.Fields;
using iText.Kernel.Pdf;

namespace iText.Samples.Sandbox.Acroforms
{
    public class FormatFields
    {
        public static readonly String DEST = "results/sandbox/acroforms/format_fields.pdf";

        public static readonly String SRC = "../../../resources/pdfs/form.pdf";

        public static void Main(String[] args)
        {
            FileInfo file = new FileInfo(DEST);
            file.Directory.Create();

            new FormatFields().ManipulatePdf(DEST);
        }

        protected void ManipulatePdf(String dest)
        {
            PdfDocument pdfDoc = new PdfDocument(new PdfReader(SRC), new PdfWriter(dest));
            PdfAcroForm form = PdfFormCreator.GetAcroForm(pdfDoc, true);

            // The second parameter sets how the field's value will be displayed in the resultant pdf.
            // If the second parameter is null, then actual value will be shown.
            form.GetField("Name").SetValue("1.0", "100%");
            form.GetField("Company").SetValue("1217000.000000", "$1,217,000");

            pdfDoc.Close();
        }
    }
}

multilinefield

JAVA 
/*
    This file is part of the iText (R) project.
    Copyright (c) 1998-2023 Apryse Group NV
    Authors: Apryse Software.

    For more information, please contact iText Software at this address:
    sales@itextpdf.com
 */
package com.itextpdf.samples.sandbox.acroforms;

import com.itextpdf.forms.fields.PdfFormCreator;
import com.itextpdf.forms.fields.TextFormFieldBuilder;
import com.itextpdf.io.source.IRandomAccessSource;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.geom.Rectangle;
import com.itextpdf.io.source.ByteArrayOutputStream;
import com.itextpdf.io.source.RandomAccessSourceFactory;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfDocument;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfReader;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.PdfWriter;
import com.itextpdf.forms.PdfAcroForm;
import com.itextpdf.forms.fields.PdfFormField;
import com.itextpdf.forms.fields.PdfTextFormField;
import com.itextpdf.kernel.pdf.ReaderProperties;

import java.io.File;

public class MultiLineField {
    public static final String DEST = "./target/sandbox/acroforms/multi_line_field.pdf";

    public static final String FIELD_NAME = "text";

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        File file = new File(DEST);
        file.getParentFile().mkdirs();

        new MultiLineField().manipulatePdf(DEST);
    }

    protected void manipulatePdf(String dest) throws Exception {
        
        // createForm() method creates a temporary document in the memory,
        // which then will be used as a source while writing to a real document
        byte[] content = createForm();
        IRandomAccessSource source = new RandomAccessSourceFactory().createSource(content);
        PdfDocument pdfDoc = new PdfDocument(new PdfReader(source, new ReaderProperties()), new PdfWriter(dest));
        PdfAcroForm form = PdfFormCreator.getAcroForm(pdfDoc, true);

        form.getField(FIELD_NAME).setValue(
                "A B C D E F\nG H I J K L M N\nO P Q R S T U\r\nV W X Y Z\n\nAlphabet street");

        // If no fields have been explicitly included, then all fields are flattened.
        // Otherwise only the included fields are flattened.
        form.flattenFields();

        pdfDoc.close();
    }

    public byte[] createForm() {
        ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
        PdfDocument pdfDoc = new PdfDocument(new PdfWriter(baos));
        Rectangle rect = new Rectangle(36, 720, 108, 86);

        PdfTextFormField textFormField = new TextFormFieldBuilder(pdfDoc, FIELD_NAME)
                .setWidgetRectangle(rect).createText();
        textFormField.setValue("text");

        // Being set as true, the field can contain multiple lines of text;
        // if false, the field's text is restricted to a single line.
        textFormField.setMultiline(true);
        PdfFormCreator.getAcroForm(pdfDoc, true).addField(textFormField);

        pdfDoc.close();

        return baos.toByteArray();
    }
}
C# 
/*
    This file is part of the iText (R) project.
    Copyright (c) 1998-2023 Apryse Group NV
    Authors: Apryse Software.

    For more information, please contact iText Software at this address:
    sales@itextpdf.com
 */
using System;
using System.IO;
using iText.Forms;
using iText.Forms.Fields;
using iText.IO.Source;
using iText.Kernel.Geom;
using iText.Kernel.Pdf;

namespace iText.Samples.Sandbox.Acroforms
{
    public class MultiLineField
    {
        public static readonly String DEST = "results/sandbox/acroforms/multi_line_field.pdf";

        public static readonly String FIELD_NAME = "text";

        public static void Main(String[] args)
        {
            FileInfo file = new FileInfo(DEST);
            file.Directory.Create();

            new MultiLineField().ManipulatePdf(DEST);
        }

        protected void ManipulatePdf(String dest)
        {
            
            // createForm() method creates a temporary document in the memory,
            // which then will be used as a source while writing to a real document
            byte[] content = CreateForm();
            IRandomAccessSource source = new RandomAccessSourceFactory().CreateSource(content);
            PdfDocument pdfDoc = new PdfDocument(new PdfReader(source, new ReaderProperties()), new PdfWriter(dest));
            PdfAcroForm form = PdfFormCreator.GetAcroForm(pdfDoc, true);

            form.GetField(FIELD_NAME)
                .SetValue("A B C D E F\nG H I J K L M N\nO P Q R S T U\r\nV W X Y Z\n\nAlphabet street");

            // If no fields have been explicitly included, then all fields are flattened.
            // Otherwise only the included fields are flattened.
            form.FlattenFields();

            pdfDoc.Close();
        }

        public virtual byte[] CreateForm()
        {
            ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
            PdfDocument pdfDoc = new PdfDocument(new PdfWriter(baos));
            Rectangle rect = new Rectangle(36, 720, 108, 86);

            PdfTextFormField textFormField =
                new TextFormFieldBuilder(pdfDoc, FIELD_NAME).SetWidgetRectangle(rect).CreateText();
            textFormField.SetValue("text");

            // Being set as true, the field can contain multiple lines of text;
            // if false, the field's text is restricted to a single line.
            textFormField.SetMultiline(true);
            PdfFormCreator.GetAcroForm(pdfDoc, true).AddField(textFormField);

            pdfDoc.Close();

            return baos.ToArray();
        }
    }
}

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