Hi JP,
On Mon, May 25, 2026 at 19:17 (+0200), Jean-Pierre Delange via ntg-context
wrote:
> Hi Jim,
> This is probably not just a “you” problem. Radio buttons are among the least
> portable PDF form widgets. Text fields and check boxes often print correctly
> because their visible appearance is simpler, while radio buttons depend on
> the selected widget’s appearance stream being updated and honoured by the
> PDF viewer/printer. First thing to test: make sure the radio setup uses
>>option=printable|, and try the |framed| variant in the second optional
> argument of |\setupfield|, e.g.
>>\setupfield[MMradio][framed][option=printable,...]|.
Unfortunately, that did not help. When I saw that I was missing
"option=printable" I got hopeful, but alas...
I don't see any difference with the [framed] option or changing my
frame=off to frame=on. Or doing both.
> If that still fails, the robust workaround is to avoid live radio widgets in
> the printable version:
That seems like I may end up doing that. But here is an interesting
thing... For testing on other computers/OS/versions/... I sent the document
to someone who uses WordPerfect. (Yes, I'm not kidding.) A few minutes
ago he sent me back a copy of my document which he says he created with
Wordperfect; it appears to be a straight copy and paste, with the
formatting almost identical, but with LM replaced by some "typical" windows
fonts. While my ancient version of Acroread wouldn't open the file,
firefox would and when I printed it from firefox, the selected radio button
actually showed up selected.
This makes me think that getting radio buttons isn't completely out of
reach.
> either flatten the PDF after filling it, or generate a non-interactive
> print version using ordinary ConTeXt symbols/frames instead of PDF form
> widgets.
I am thinking the latter might be the way to go. The forms are for people
in an organization which is not associated with more than "average"
computer literacy, and I think explaining flattening to people might be
confusing. (It is a group of woodworkers, and telling woodworkers to
flatten something will have them running to their shops looking for a hand
plane.)
Originally I had three check boxes, which was not great, because no doubt
someone will, some time, check two or there of them. When I came across
the radio buttons I thought that was exactly what I wanted.
> Your radio field is missing |option=printable|, while your line field has
> it. I would also define and place the hidden default button, because
> |checkedButton| is used as the initial value but is not defined as a
> subfield in the example. Finally, I would remove
> |background=screen| while testing print output.
Thanks for taking the time to give me these suggestions. Unfortunately,
none of them convinced the PDFs to behave.
> Radio buttons are fragile across PDF viewers because their printed state
> depends on the widget appearance streams being honoured by the
> viewer/printer.
Indeed, very fragile. Part of me wonders whether there is an issue with
the dot I see when I select a radio button... I wonder if there is
something in the PDF to print a character, but the character is missing
from the fonts in the document. I guess I'll take a look at that now,
which gets me into dissecting PDFs, an occupation which I have little skill
in.
Cheers.
Jim
> Best//JP
> A testable MWE might be this one :
> \setupinteraction[state=start]
> \starttext
> \setupfield
> [setup_1]
> [reset, horizontal]
> [option=printable,
> frame=off,
> bottomframe=on,
> width=4in,
> height=1.2em,
> offset=-1pt,
> frameoffset=2pt]
> \definefield[line_1][line][setup_1][][]
> This is an input line: \field[line_1]
> \blank
> \setupfield
> [setup_2]
> [option=printable,
> width=1.2em,
> height=1.2em]
> \definefield[check_2][check][setup_2][X,_][_]
> Click this to see an “X” or check-mark: \field[check_2]
> \blank
> \setupfield
> [setup_3]
> [option=printable,
> width=1.2em,
> height=1.2em,
> frame=on]
> \definefield
> [radio_3]
> [radio]
> [setup_3]
> [checkedButton,Aaa,Bbb,Ccc]
> [checkedButton]
> \definesubfield[checkedButton][][circle]
> \definesubfield[Aaa][][circle]
> \definesubfield[Bbb][][circle]
> \definesubfield[Ccc][][circle]
> % Hidden default radio button:
> \hbox to 0pt{\field[checkedButton]\hss}
> Aaa \field[Aaa]
> Bbb \field[Bbb]
> Ccc \field[Ccc]
> \stoptext
> Le 25/05/2026 à 17:13, Jim via ntg-context a écrit :
>> Hi all,
>> I have attached a minimal non-working example .tex file and the resulting
>> PDF.
>> If I type something in the text input line, and/or click the check box,
>> when I print the file (from a variety of web browsers and versions of
>> Acrobat reader on Linux and windows) those show up in the printout (or the
>> "print to file" file).
>> However, if I select a radio button, while on screen the button is visibly
>> selected, but in the printout (or "print to file" file) the button is not
>> selected.
>> I understand (possibly incorrectly) that these widgets are using PDF
>> features which are a bit out toward the edge of the PDF galaxy, but in case
>> it is a "me" problem I come to the list, cap in hand.
>> Can anyone tell me how I can fix my example so that a selected radio
>> button prints out visibly selected?
>> [[
>> This PDF causes my "evince" program to dump core. Without the buttons
>> evince is somewhat happier, in that it doesn't dump core. I will wildly
>> guess that these problem are somehow related.
>> ]]
>> (In case you are wondering... I created a fourth button because I don't
>> want any visible button to be selected when the document is opened, and
>> other methods I tried failed in various ways, depending on the program used
>> to view the PDF.)
>> Thanks.
>> Jim
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