Question

itextsharp form - programically filling in the form that doesn't allow data to be save in the original form

Asked by: Mike_Schnobrich

I am trying to fill out a pdf form using iTextSharp and I am having a bit of a problem. The tutorial on Code Project (http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/FillFormFieldsOfPDFs.aspx) works just fine using the IRS document example. However, the form I wish to fill out doesnt allow anyone to save the data they type into the form unlike the IRS example that does allow a person to save the data to the form. You can only print out what you enter in my pdf form.  Is this the reason that I cant save any data my application adds to my pdf form?

Can some property changed to allow me to save the data I have added to the form to another pdf file?

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Asked On
2009-10-30 at 12:38:38ID24859190
Tags

itextsharp

,

c# ASP.net

Topics

Open Source Programming

,

Microsoft Visual C#.Net

,

Programming for ASP.NET

,

Adobe Acrobat

Participating Experts
1
Points
500
Comments
11

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Answers

 

by: khkremerPosted on 2009-11-02 at 08:58:58ID: 25721119

Mike,

let's first find out what kind of form you have. From yourdescription, it can be one of two different type of PDF files:

- The PDF document is protected with security settings, and cannot be modified.
- The PDF document is a regular PDF document, but it does not allow Reader users to save the filled PDF form.

Do you know what type of document you have? If you don't know, would you be able to provide the document?

iText (and iTextSharp) can only work with unprotected PDF documents.

 

by: Mike_SchnobrichPosted on 2009-11-02 at 20:51:27ID: 25726137

How do I tell if its a protected document or not? Can programically tell if a document is proteted using iTextSharp?

I guess you anwered my question in that iTextSharp can't change the document type from protected to unprotected.

 

by: Mike_SchnobrichPosted on 2009-11-02 at 20:55:13ID: 25726150

I belive the document is the second you you suggested. I can fill it out both in code and in Adobe Reader but it can't be saved.

 

by: khkremerPosted on 2009-11-04 at 07:21:09ID: 25740190

When you open up the document in Reader and go to File>Document Properties do you find anything about the document being protected? In that case, you would also see an additional tab on the navigation pane with security settings.

If you are in doubt, you can email me the document (my email address is on my profile page).

 

by: Mike_SchnobrichPosted on 2009-11-05 at 16:45:44ID: 25755765

Here are the settings on the security tab for the document.


Descriptien Security Fonts Advanced
Document Security
The documents Security Method restricts what can be done to the document.
Security Method: No Security Show Details...
Can be Opened by: Aul versions of Acrobat
I
Document Restrictions Summary
Printing: Allowed
Document Assembly Not Allowed

content copying: Allowed
content Copying for Accessibility- Allowed
Page Extraction: Allowed
Commenting: Not Allowed
Filling of form fields Allowed
Signing: Not Allowed
Creation of Template Pages Not Allowed

 

by: khkremerPosted on 2009-11-07 at 05:47:39ID: 25766305

The information you provided shows that the document was actually created with document security applied. This means that as long as you do not have the password, iText cannot modify that document - just as I suggested in my first comment.

 

by: khkremerPosted on 2009-11-07 at 05:47:44ID: 25766306

The information you provided shows that the document was actually created with document security applied. This means that as long as you do not have the password, iText cannot modify that document - just as I suggested in my first comment.

 

by: Mike_SchnobrichPosted on 2009-11-11 at 17:07:25ID: 31648195

The answer was pretty much what I thought it was going to be. I was hoping for a easier solution. I would have given the answer an A grade but it took pretty much of a week to get someone to respond. That isn't khkremer's faul so he gets the full points.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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