Stack Overflow
Stack Overflow

Questions tagged [fdf]

FDF is a file format for representing form data and annotations that are contained in a PDF form.

FDF is a file format for representing form data and annotations that are contained in a PDF form. It is a part of Adobe's PDF file format specification. The syntax and structure of an FDF file is based on the syntax and structure of PDF.

FDF is often used to create interactive PDF forms where form data is submitted to a server, processed, and returned. It is also used to export data from PDF documents, as well as to import data into PDF document.

FDF data is most often used for form filling and annotations, but can also contain other data types, including:

  • X.509 certificates
  • Requests for certificates
  • Directory settings
  • Timestamp server settings
  • Embedded PDF files

The correct MIME Type to use for .fdf files is application/vnd.fdf.

For filling in form data and annotation, it is often easier to use XFDF instead of FDF.

FDF was introduced in PDF version 1.2, and extended in several later PDF specifications. The current version of the spec is 1.7 (ISO 32000-1:2008).

One of the most popular freeware programs for saving FDF data into a PDF file is pdftk.

131 questions
21
votes
4 answers

Merge FDF data into a PDF file using PHP

Is it possible to merge FDF data with a PDF file using PHP alone? Or is there no option but to use a 3rd party command line tool to achieve this? If that is the case can someone point me in the direction of one? I am currently outputting the FDF…
James
  • 1,397
  • 3
  • 21
  • 30
17
votes
6 answers

FDF - how to check a checkbox?

I'm using FDF to populate a PDF template. On my PDF template, I have a checkbox and radio field called c1 and r1 respectively. What's the syntax I should use in my FDF file to check or select the c1 and r1 field? I tried things like…
John
  • 32,403
  • 80
  • 251
  • 422
14
votes
4 answers

Visually identify name of field in PDF form

I know some similar issues exist (Find the field names of inputtable form fields in a PDF document?) but my question is different: I have all the field names (in fdf file). I wish I could visually identify directly on the PDF. With acrobat I should…
user2267379
  • 1,067
  • 2
  • 10
  • 20
7
votes
1 answer

Filling PDF forms in R?

I am seeking a way to automate PDF form filling in R. I cannot find a package written to do this. Is there an option out there? Alternative solutions I can think of: Using R to overlay a PDF containing text onto an blank PDF template. Using R to…
ADF
  • 522
  • 6
  • 14
7
votes
1 answer

pdftk fill_form utf8 problems

Possible Duplicate: Flatten FDF / XFDF forms to PDF in PHP with utf-8 characters I am using pdftk to fill template pdf with data from fdf. Data has correct utf-8 characters, but when I use fill_form, resulting pdf file has formating errors. (I…
mitric
  • 91
  • 1
  • 8
7
votes
3 answers

Bulk template based pdf generation in PHP using pdftk

I am doing a bulk generation of pdf files based on templates and I ran into big performance issues pretty fast. My current scenario is as follows: get data to be filled from db create fdf based on single data row and pdf form write .fdf file to…
Naz
  • 5,104
  • 8
  • 39
  • 63
6
votes
1 answer

Merge FDF and PDF without PDFTK

Is there a way to merge FDF file and a PDF File to create a flat format of all the data and form into 1 pdf without using PDFTK? Any light shed upon this would be greatly appreciated.
Justin
  • 2,502
  • 7
  • 42
  • 77
5
votes
4 answers

Missing characters in filled pdf using PDFTk with encoding UTF-8

I'm trying to fill pdf documents using PDFTk. Script working fine, it fills inputs in form but I don't get special characters [polish charset: UTF-8 or ISO-8859-2]. Script: https://github.com/mikehaertl/php-pdftk The weird thing is that generated…
Michał Lipa
  • 968
  • 2
  • 12
  • 22
4
votes
4 answers

Best method to create a PDF from MySQL: TCPDF/FPDF or FDF?

Our company allows its clients to view reports via our website. The pages are php based and the data is collected from MySQL. These reports were written a long time ago and include inline css. The pages themselves look fine, but the print version…
PatC
  • 168
  • 1
  • 2
  • 10
4
votes
0 answers

Adobe Reader importing XML data using command line reference

Financial Gonverment in Poland prepared new VAT declarations, which are protected from changing. Restrictions summary is as follows: Printing, Commenting, Filling of form fields: Allowed; other restrictions are not allowed. I am able to export xml…
argh
  • 143
  • 4
  • 16
4
votes
0 answers

Save Fillable PDF to Server via PHP

We have developed online software that allows an administrator in the software to upload files. Many of these files are PDF's. Numerous customers would like the ability to upload fill-able PDF's (PDF forms) and have their users save the PDF form…
Josh Davis
  • 157
  • 3
  • 10
4
votes
3 answers

php open fdf file in browser

I am working with cakephp. I need to fill up a PDF form for which I have generated the fdf file by getting the code from http://koivi.com/fill-pdf-form-fields. the fdf file is going to generate well but I am unable to open the file in browser. I…
nbhatti2001
  • 353
  • 2
  • 7
  • 33
4
votes
1 answer

pdftk field names for insertion

when I do pdftk samplex.pdf dump_data_fields I get back fields with format like: FieldType: Text FieldName: form1[0].Page1[0].Header[0].RepeatHeader[0].Project[0] FieldNameAlt: Project FieldFlags: 0 FieldJustification: Left I have a…
Halcyon
  • 1,376
  • 1
  • 15
  • 22
3
votes
1 answer

Adobe FDF (PDF Form) Submit Button - to Another Frame?

I have an Adobe PDF Form (FDF) displayed in an