Draft - Updating PDF forms via scripts

Published: 10 Dec 2015 - Last update: 12 Dec 2015 (c) Nicolai Kjaer / Spinner Software B.V.

This document explains how to read from, and write to, Adobe Acrobat / Adobe LiveCycle PDF forms.

1. Setup

TODO: This may need Acrobat installed ; I will update the document later for Adobe Reader.

2. ListAllFields script

This script will be very helpful later, when you're trying to determine what field name to update. It lists all fields found in the PDF. I usually pipe the output to a text file I can have open at the same time as my script, for easy field reference.

Change line 3 (Const PDFFile = "D:\Test.pdf") to point to your pdf.

ListAllFields.vbs:

Option Explicit

Const PDFFile = "D:\Test.pdf"

'----------
' You should not need to modify any code below this line.
'----------

Dim AcroApp, theForm, jso

Set AcroApp = CreateObject("AcroExch.App")
If AcroApp Is Nothing Then
	WScript.Echo "ERROR: Unable to get AcroExch.App object. Install Acrobat?"
	WScript.Quit(-1)
End If

Set theForm = CreateObject("AcroExch.PDDoc")
theForm.Open PDFFile

Set jso = theForm.GetJSObject
If jso Is Nothing Then
	WScript.Echo "ERROR: Unable to get js object!"
Else
	Dim tstXfa
	Set tstXfa = Nothing
	On Error Resume Next
	Set tstXfa = jso.xfa
	On Error Goto 0

	If Not tstXfa Is Nothing Then
		WScript.Echo PDFFile & " is an XFA document."
	Else
		WScript.Echo PDFFile & " is a standard Acrobat document."
	End If

	Dim numFields, fldName, fld, n
	numFields = jso.numFields
	For n = 0 To numFields - 1
		fldName = jso.GetNthFieldName(n)
		Set fld = jso.getfield(fldName)
		If fld.Type = "text" Then
			If fld.readonly = False Then
				WScript.Echo "text (r/o) field " & fld.Name & "=" & fld.Value
			Else
				WScript.Echo "text field " & fld.Name & "=" & fld.Value
			End If
		ElseIf fld.Type = "combobox" Then
			Dim x
			WScript.Echo "combobox field " & fld.Name & " value = '" & fld.Value & "'"
			WScript.Echo "  Choices: "
			For x = 0 to (fld.numItems - 1)
				WScript.Echo "    [" & fld.getItemAt(x,false) & "] = '" & fld.getItemAt(x) & "'"
			Next
		Else
			WScript.Echo "*** Unsupport field of type " & fld.Type
		End If
	Next
End If

theForm.Close
AcroApp.Exit

Set AcroApp = Nothing
Set theForm = Nothing

3. UpdatePDF script

This script will update a single form field in the PDF, outputting debug information along the way.

UpdatePDF.vbs:

Option Explicit

Const PDFFile = "D:\Test.pdf"

Const PDSaveFull = 1
Const PDSaveBinaryOK = 16
Const PDSaveCollectGarbage = 32
Const PDSaveCopy = 2
Const PDSaveIncremental = 0
Const PDSaveLinearized = 4
Const PDSaveWithPSHeader = 8

Dim AcroApp, theForm, jso

Set AcroApp = CreateObject("AcroExch.App")
If AcroApp Is Nothing Then
	WScript.Echo "ERROR: Unable to get AcroExch.App object. Install Acrobat?"
	WScript.Quit(-1)
End If

Set theForm = CreateObject("AcroExch.PDDoc")
WScript.Echo "Opening " & PDFFile
theForm.Open PDFFile

Set jso = theForm.GetJSObject
If jso Is Nothing Then
	WScript.Echo "ERROR: Unable to get js object!"
Else

	Dim tstXfa
	Set tstXfa = Nothing
	On Error Resume Next
	Set tstXfa = jso.xfa
	On Error Goto 0

	If Not tstXfa Is Nothing Then
		WScript.Echo PDFFile & " is an XFA document."
	Else
		WScript.Echo PDFFile & " is a standard Acrobat document. Need a different script!"
		WScript.Quit(-1)
	End If

	Dim f1
	Set f1 = jso.xfa.resolveNode("form.form1.MyField.MyField2.Row1.MyField3")

	WScript.Echo "Current values read from PDF: "
	WScript.Echo "Field = " & f1.formattedValue

	WScript.Echo "Updating.."
	f1.formattedValue = "Hello!"

	WScript.Echo "Updated field values in PDF: "
	WScript.Echo "Field = " & f1.formattedValue

	WScript.Echo "Saving.."
	If (theForm.Save(PDSaveIncremental, PDFFile) = False) Then
		WScript.Echo "ERROR: Unable to save document!"
	Else
		WScript.Echo "Document saved."
	End If

	Set f1 = Nothing

	WScript.Echo "Done!"
End If

theForm.Close
AcroApp.Exit

Set AcroApp = Nothing
Set theForm = Nothing

I hope you enjoyed this guide !

(c) 2015 Nicolai Kjaer, Spinner Software B.V.