Question

How to enlarge components within a PDF file with Delphi 7?

Asked by: atdatadevtec

I have to enlarge a button in a pdf file but I'm not able to set the 'rect' property of it. Its possible to read the coordinates but not to write them even though the property has read/write access.
The strange thing is that it works in VB6.
The code below raises an EOleSysError with message 'wrong parameter'.
I need to do this programmatically because there is a big amount of pdf files stored in a database and all of them have to be updatet.

var
   mField:           OleVariant;
   rect:             Variant;
   dTmp:             Double;
begin
   ...
   mField := jso.getField('thebutton');
   rect := mField.rect;
 
   dTmp := rect[0];//this works
   rect[0] := ...//some value of type double
   rect[1] := ...//some value of type double
   rect[2] := ...//some value of type double
   rect[3] := ...//some value of type double
 
   mField.rect := rect;//the error occurs here
   ...

                                  
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Asked On
2008-05-19 at 23:25:20ID23416169
Tags

Delphi 7

Topics

Delphi Programming

,

Adobe Acrobat

,

Delphi IDE

Participating Experts
1
Points
500
Comments
7

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Answers

 

by: _iskywalker_Posted on 2008-05-20 at 02:21:29ID: 21604504

Hi!
I dont even know how do yoiu got the function getfield.
How did you did it?
MAybe i can help you, but i should at least reproduce it...

 

by: atdatadevtecPosted on 2008-05-20 at 02:46:55ID: 21604601

Hi,
this sample code demonstrates the way I get the 'jso' object.

var
    myAcrobat,
    myAcroPDDoc,
    myAcroAVDoc:      OleVariant;
begin
    myAcrobat := CreateOleObject('AcroExch.App');
    myAcroAVDoc := CreateOleObject('AcroExch.AVDoc');
 
    myAcroAVDoc.Open(FileName, '');
 
    myAcroAVDoc := myAcrobat.GetAVDoc(myAcrobat.GetNumAVDocs -1);
    myAcroPDDoc := myAcroAVDoc.GetPDDoc;
 
    jso := myAcroPDDoc.GetJSObject;
    ...
end;

                                              
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by: _iskywalker_Posted on 2008-05-20 at 04:10:27ID: 21605001

For the use of AcroExch.App you must have an installation of Adobe Acrobat Standard or Prof.  
Sry dont have it.
but what happens with:
mField.rect[0]:= 1.2;
mField.rect[1]:= 1.2;
?

 

by: atdatadevtecPosted on 2008-05-20 at 04:40:53ID: 21605163

Hi,
first of all thanks for your help.
It is not possible to set mField.rect[X] directly, it ends up in the same error.
I wrote a VB6 sample with the same code and it works. But even in VB6 it is not possible to set mField.rect[X] directly.

The problem seems to be the data type I use for the variable rect. I tried to find out which type I have to use with the functionality below.
mField.rect is from type varVariant and mField.rect[0] is from type varDouble. But even if I create an array like this:
         rect2 := VarArrayCreate([0,3], varVariant); //VarArrayCreate([0,3], varDouble); doesn't work too
         rect2[0] := rect[0];//or rect2[0] := 1.2;
         ........
it doesn't work.
I can't use VB6 because I need much more functionality which is all written in delphi.

var
  VT: TVarType;
begin
   VT := VarType(mField.rect);
   //VT := VarType(mField.rect[0]);
   case VT and varTypeMask of
      varStrArg: result := 'COM-compatible string';
      varEmpty   : result := 'The variant is Unassigned';
      varOleStr   : result := 'Reference to a dynamically allocated UNICODE string.';
      varVariant   : result := 'A variant';
      varString   : result := 'Reference to a dynamically allocated string (not COM compatible)';
      varNull   : result := 'The variant is Null.';
      varSmallint   : result := '16-bit signed integer (type Smallint in Delphi, short in C++ ).';
      varInteger : result := '32-bit signed integer (type Integer in Delphi, int in C++).';
      varSingle :   result := 'Single-precision floating-point value (type Single in Delphi, float in C++).';
      varDouble   : result := 'Double-precision floating-point value (type double).';
      varCurrency   : result := 'Currency floating-point value (type Currency).';
      varDate   : result := 'Date and time value (type TDateTime).';
      varDispatch   : result := 'Reference to an Automation object (an IDispatch interface pointer).';
      varError : result := 'Operating system error code.';
      varBoolean : result := '16-bit boolean (type WordBool).';
      varUnknown : result := 'Reference to an unknown object (an IInterface or IUnknown interface pointer).';
      varShortInt   : result := '8-bit signed integer (type ShortInt in Delphi or signed char in C++)';
      varByte   : result := 'A Byte';
      varWord   : result := 'unsigned 16-bit value (Word)';
      varLongWord   : result := 'unsigned 32-bit value (type LongWord in Delphi or unsigned long in C++)';
      varInt64   : result := '64-bit signed integer (Int64 in Delphi or __int64 in C++)';
      varAny : result := 'A CORBA Any value.';
      varArray : result := 'An array.';
      varByRef : result := 'A pointer.';
    else
      result := 'no type recognized!';
    end;
end;

                                              
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by: _iskywalker_Posted on 2008-05-20 at 05:56:09ID: 21605651

well what if you put the functionality of vb6 in a dll and use it from delphi?
ok, not the nicier way but could work.
Another possibility would to request the right var declaration:

var
   mField:           OleVariant;
   rect:             varVariant;
   dTmp:             varDouble;
begin
   ...
   mField := jso.getField('thebutton');
   rect := mField.rect;
 
   dTmp := rect[0];//this works
   rect[0] := ...//some value of type double
   rect[1] := ...//some value of type double
   rect[2] := ...//some value of type double
   rect[3] := ...//some value of type double

You could also try to delete this field and add a new one:
http://www.experts-exchange.com/Web_Development/Document_Imaging/Adobe_Acrobat/Q_21416303.html
 

 

by: atdatadevtecPosted on 2008-05-20 at 06:57:43ID: 21606155

dTmp: varDouble; doesn't work. Its not possible to declare a variable as type varDouble, you can declare it as type Variant and than make it varDouble (like below).
I had built an array of varDouble and set mField.rect to it but the result was the same.
Add a new field to the pdf ends up in the same problem because of the rect parameter.
I hoped to avoid it but it looks like I have to put the functionality into a VB6 dll as you said.
Thanks for your help.

var
    dTmp: Variant;
begin
    dTmp := VarType(varDouble);

                                              
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by: _iskywalker_Posted on 2008-05-20 at 09:29:41ID: 21607809

you could do a 2 step process like:
do what you can do in delphi then call a vbscript from delphi program then finish the delphi issues.
not the fastest way, but a solution.
It would be easier than using a dll.
I would use shellexecute or createprocess.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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