On 4/2/2011 8:37 PM, Tim Bolshaw wrote: > On Sun, Apr 3, 2011 at 9:12 AM, john depasquale <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > Hi all, > > I’m trying to determine if there’s a perl module with which I can create > pdf files and create input fields in the file( form fields? ), so that the > recipient of the pdf file can open it, fill in those fields, and save the > file. I’ve looked at the module pdf::api2 but it appears to only allow me to > create pdfs and insert text and images, but not create input fields( unless > I’m just not understanding it’s capability ). Is there such a module for perl? > > Thanks much. > > > I am not a PDF expert, but did look into this at one point. You may be > trying to do something that Adobe specifically blocks. If your users are > going to open the PDF in Adobe Reader, then saving the file will not be > possible. My understanding is that the best you can do is have the PDF file > have a submit button that creates or mails an FDF or XML file. You probably > want to read up on the Adobe FDFToolkit. Once upon a time, Adobe provided a > Perl interface to this. You may also find PDF::FDF::Simple might be part of > the solution. > > I eventually decided to approach this kind of functionality another way. As > an example, you could generate an Excel spreadsheet in which all cells except > those you want the user to fill in are locked. Modifying the cells > programmatically is possible without unlocking the cells. Thus, you create a > base template and lock in down. Later, your perl script customizes specific > cells and sends it to the user to fill out. > > Let us know if you find something better, or if any of the information above > is wrong.
Or just create a GUI app that gets the fields from the user and creates the PDF file from the data inputted. Then you don't need to worry about having a license for one of the Adobe apps that can modify fields etc. I think the PDF module can then handle creating the resultant file you want. _______________________________________________ ActivePerl mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe: http://listserv.ActiveState.com/mailman/mysubs
