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New Blog Posts: Merging Reports - Part 1 and Part 2

PDF files with editable form fields

edited February 2017 in Devices
Hi,

using the FormField property of the Checkbox component, I've noticed
that there is a difference between the design and the preview at the one
side and the PDF-Output at the other side: The Checkbox in the
PDF-Output is larger if the FormField property is set to true.

This occurs only in the PDF-Output. Preview and priting to a printer is Ok.

Testing is easy: Take the example in PDFForm.zip and change the
FormField property of one or two of the four Checkboxes to true.

Regards

Heinz Blase

D7, RB 18

Comments

  • edited February 2017

    Testing is easy: Take the example in PDFForm.zip and change the
    FormField property of one or two of the four Checkboxes to "false".


    Am 16.02.2017 um 22:11 schrieb Heinz Blase:
  • edited February 2017
    Hi Heinz,

    This is an unfortunate result of the original checkbox design.

    Checkboxes in ReportBuilder are drawn using the Wingdings font which
    does not take up the entire control space. In PDF, form field check
    boxes do take up the entire control space. Resizing and re-positioning
    is possible however it changes the control position and makes designing
    difficult.

    For now, it is not recommended that you mix non-form fields and form
    fields in the same form of a PDF.

    It is on our todo list for a future release to redesign the Checkbox
    components to avoid using fonts and render with vector graphics.

    --
    Best Regards,

    Nico Cizik
    Digital Metaphors
    http://www.digital-metaphors.com
  • edited February 2017
    Hi Nico,

    there is another strange behavior using the Checkbox with FormField set
    to "True":

    Using the Style "csXMark" the Box in the PDF is allways marked, even if
    Checked is set to "False". Using the Style "csXInBox" all works as apected.

    Same with the other Styles.

    Regards
    Heinz


    Am 17.02.2017 um 17:32 schrieb Nico Cizik (Digital Metaphors):
  • edited February 2017
    Hi Heinz,

    There is a patch available for RB 18.0 that fixes this issue. Active
    subscribers can email support@ to receive this patch.

    --
    Best Regards,

    Nico Cizik
    Digital Metaphors
    http://www.digital-metaphors.com
  • edited February 2017
    Hi Heinz,

    I have attempted to send you the patch multiple times however it appears
    your email server is blocking the email with the error message below.

    "554-Bad DNS PTR resource record."

    If you have an alternate email I can use or can resolve this on your end
    let me know.

    --
    Best Regards,

    Nico Cizik
    Digital Metaphors
    http://www.digital-metaphors.com
  • edited March 2017
    Hi Nico,

    I have to mix form fields and non-form fields because my customer
    demands a form, that ist filled out by two of his employees. The first
    should not change the form fields, which had to filled by the second,
    and vice versa.

    My solution:
    The "first" set of boxes are filled out in my program (non-form field in
    the PDF).
    For the "second" set of boxes only the naked boxes are written as
    non-form fields. On the top of them only the "mark" is written as form
    field which can to be filled in the PDF.

    Your announced future release would be very helpfull....


    There are other strange behaviours which I detected:

    * Checkmark instead of X-mark
    Writing a PDF with csXMark/csXInBox boxes shows different symbols
    depending on the viewer.
    - "Adobe Acrobat Reader" shows a "swinging" X
    - "PDF-XChange-Viewer" shows a very "fat" X
    - A viewer based on then "Chromium PDF Viewer" shows a checkmark !!!

    * Form fields in an encrypted PDF
    Form fields (boxes and labels) in encrypted PDFs are showing very
    strange characters, even the blank boxes. Maybe because of the encryption?

    Thanks.

    D7, RB17



    Am 17.02.2017 um 17:32 schrieb Nico Cizik (Digital Metaphors):
  • edited March 2017
    Hi Heinz,

    Thanks for the feedback.

    1. We extensively test our generated PDF files with Adobe products. The
    form fields make use of the built-in font ZapFDingbats to produce the
    "X" or check mark displayed inside the PDF. If non-Adobe viewers are
    showing something different they are likely not supporting this font or
    are using a substitute.

    Below is a excerpt from the PDF Reference 1.7 under font management:

    ---

    PDF prescribes a set of 14 standard fonts that can be used without prior
    definition. These include four faces each of three Latin text typefaces
    (Courier, Helvetica*, and Times*), as well as two symbolic fonts (Symbol
    and ITC ZapfDingbats®). These fonts, or suitable substitute fonts with
    the same metrics, are required to be available in all PDF consumer
    applications.

    ---

    2. Form field encryption: This issue will be fixed for the next release
    of ReportBuilder (18.01).

    --
    Best Regards,

    Nico Cizik
    Digital Metaphors
    http://www.digital-metaphors.com
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