Fields, Markup and Movies Example

In general you will use PDF templates containing Fields and Annotations created by a designer.

However occasionally you may need to create Fields and Annotations at run-time. You can perform this kind of operation using the low level functionality within ABCpdf.

Annotations are a generic class of objects which exist outside the page Content Stream. Because they are independent of the PDF Content Stream they operate independently of the page. They float over it rather than being embedded in it.

Movie Annotations, Note Annotations, Stamp Annotations, Line Annotations and Polygon Annotations are just a few of the many Annotation types which exist.

Fields are a specific type of Annotation combined with a named value. It is the fact that the Field is an Annotation which allows you to see it and interact with it. It is the fact that the Annotation is linked into the Field hierarchy which allows it to take a value and be located by name.

Movies are a specific type of Annotation. You can embed a variety of movie formats including Flash and WMV.

Creating these types of objects on the fly is complex. For this reason the examples here are simple summaries. You can find a full project and classes under the ABCpdf menu item.

For full details of the way that Annotations work you should see the Adobe PDF Specification.

You may wish to generate a PDF document with Fields created dynamically at run-time.

The code below creates a set of Fields including text boxes, radio buttons, checkboxes and signatures.

[C#]
Doc theDoc = new Doc();
theDoc.Font = theDoc.AddFont("Helvetica");
theDoc.FontSize = 36;

//Create interactive form
InteractiveForm form = new InteractiveForm (theDoc);
theDoc.Pos.X = 40;
theDoc.Pos.Y = theDoc.MediaBox.Top - 40;
theDoc.AddText("Interactive Form annotations");

//Radio button items
form.AddRadioButtonGroup(new string[2]{"40 610 80 650", "40 660 80 700"}, "RadioGroupField", 0);
theDoc.Pos.String = "100 696";
theDoc.AddText("RadioButton 1");
theDoc.Pos.String = "100 646";
theDoc.AddText("RadioButton 2");

//Text field 1
FormField text = form.AddTextField("40 530 300 580", "TextField1", "Hello World!");
text.DefaultAppearance = "/TimesRoman 36 Tf 0 0 1 rg";
text.BorderColor = "0 0 0";
text.FillColor = "220 220 220";
text.TextAlign = "Left";

//Text field 2
text = form.AddTextField("40 460 300 510", "TextField2", "Text Field");
text.BorderColor = "0 0 0";
text.DefaultAppearance = "/TimesRoman 36 Tf 0 0 1 rg";
text.TextAlign = "Left";
text.SetFlag(FormField.FieldFlag.Password);

//Text field 3
text = form.AddTextField("320 460 370 580", "TextField3", "Vertical");
text.BorderColor = "0 0 0";
text.DefaultAppearance = "/TimesRoman 36 Tf 0 0 0 rg";
text.Rotate = 90;

//Combobox field
FormField combo = form.AddChoiceField("ComboBox", "40 390 300 440", "ComboBoxField");
combo.DefaultAppearance = "/TimesRoman 24 Tf 0 0 0 rg";
combo.AddOptions(new string[] {"ComboBox Item 1", "ComboBox Item 2", "ComboBox Item 3"});

//Listbox field
FormField listbox = form.AddChoiceField("ListBox", "40 280 300 370", "ListBoxField");
listbox.DefaultAppearance = "/TimesRoman 24 Tf 0 0 0 rg";
listbox.AddOptions(new string[] {"ListBox Item 1", "ListBox Item 2", "ListBox Item 3"});

//Checkbox field
form.AddCheckbox("40 220 80 260", "CheckBoxField", true);
theDoc.Pos.String = "100 256";
theDoc.AddText("Check Box");

//Pushbutton field
FormField button = form.AddButton("40 160 200 200", "ButtonField", "Button");
button.BorderColor = "0 0 0";
button.BorderStyle = "Beveled";

//Signature field
FormField signature = form.AddSignature("40 100 200 140", "Signature");
signature.BorderColor = "0 0 0";

You may wish to generate a PDF document with markup created dynamically at run-time.

The code below creates a set of markup Annotations including squares, lines, text effects, circles and polygons.

[C#]
//Markup annotations
theDoc.Page = theDoc.AddPage();
theDoc.Pos.X = 40;
theDoc.Pos.Y = theDoc.MediaBox.Top - 40;
theDoc.AddText("Markup annotations");

SquareAnnotation square = new SquareAnnotation(theDoc, "40 560 300 670", "255 0 0", "0 0 255");
square.BorderWidth = 8;

LineAnnotation line = new LineAnnotation(theDoc, "100 565 220 665", "255 0 0");
line.BorderWidth = 12;
line.RichTextCaption = "<span style= \"font-size:36pt; color:#FF0000\">Line</span>";

theDoc.FontSize = 24;
theDoc.Pos.String = "400 670";
int id = theDoc.AddText("Underline");
TextMarkupAnnotation markup = new TextMarkupAnnotation(theDoc, id, "Underline", "0 255 0");
theDoc.Pos.String = "400 640";
id = theDoc.AddText("Highlight");

markup = new TextMarkupAnnotation(theDoc, id, "Highlight", "255 255 0");
theDoc.Pos.String = "400 610";
id = theDoc.AddText("StrikeOut");

markup = new TextMarkupAnnotation(theDoc, id, "StrikeOut", "255 0 0");
theDoc.Pos.String = "400 580";
id = theDoc.AddText("Squiggly");

markup = new TextMarkupAnnotation(theDoc, id, "Squiggly", "0 0 255");
theDoc.FontSize = 36;

CircleAnnotation circle = new CircleAnnotation(theDoc, "80 320 285 525", "255 255 0", "255 128 0");
circle.BorderWidth = 20;
circle.BorderStyle = "Dashed";
circle.BorderDash = "[3 2]";

LineAnnotation arrowLine = new LineAnnotation(theDoc, "385 330 540 520", "255 0 0");
arrowLine.LineEndingsStyle = "ClosedArrow ClosedArrow";
arrowLine.BorderWidth = 6;
arrowLine.FillColor = "255 0 0";

PolygonAnnotation polygon = new PolygonAnnotation(theDoc, "100 70 50 120 50 220 100 270 200 270 250 220 250 120 200 70", "255 0 0", "0 255 0");
PolygonAnnotation cloudyPolygon = new PolygonAnnotation(theDoc, "400 70 350 120 350 220 400 270 500 270 550 220 550 120 500 70", "255 0 0", "64 85 255");
cloudyPolygon.CloudyEffect = 1;

You may wish to generate a PDF document with movies inserted dynamically at run-time.

The code below inserts a Flash movie and a WMV movie.

[C#]
//Movie annotations
//WMV is courtesy of NASA - http://www.nasa.gov/wmv/30873main_cardiovascular_300.wmv
theDoc.Page = theDoc.AddPage();
theDoc.Pos.X = 40;
theDoc.Pos.Y = theDoc.MediaBox.Top - 40;
theDoc.AddText("Multimedia features");

theDoc.FontSize = 24;

theDoc.Pos.String = "40 690";
theDoc.AddText("Flash movie:");
MovieAnnotation movie1 = new MovieAnnotation(theDoc, "80 420 520 650", Server.MapPath("ABCpdf.swf"));

theDoc.Pos.String = "40 400";
theDoc.AddText("Video File:");
MovieAnnotation movie2 = new MovieAnnotation(theDoc, "80 40 520 360", Server.MapPath("video.wmv"));

You may wish to generate a PDF document with other types of Annotation inserted dynamically at run-time.

The code below adds a sticky note, a file attachment and some rubber stamps.

[C#]
theDoc.Page = theDoc.AddPage();
theDoc.FontSize = 36;
theDoc.Pos.X = 40;
theDoc.Pos.Y = theDoc.MediaBox.Top - 40;
theDoc.AddText("Other types of annotations");

//Sticky note annotation
theDoc.FontSize = 24;
theDoc.Pos.String = "40 680";
theDoc.AddText("Text annotation");
TextAnnotation textAnnotation = new TextAnnotation(theDoc, "340 660 340 675", "550 650 600 750", "6 sets of 13 pages. Trim to 5X7.");

//File attachment annotation
theDoc.Pos.String = "40 640";
theDoc.AddText("File Attachment annotation");
FileAttachmentAnnotation fileAttachMent = new FileAttachmentAnnotation(theDoc, "340 625 340 640", Server.MapPath("video.WMV") );

//StampAnnotations
theDoc.Pos.String = "40 600";
theDoc.AddText("Stamp annotations");
StampAnnotation stamp1 = new StampAnnotation(theDoc, "340 560 540 600", "DRAFT", "0 0 128");
StampAnnotation stamp2 = new StampAnnotation(theDoc, "340 505 540 545", "FINAL", " 0 128 0");
StampAnnotation stamp3 = new StampAnnotation(theDoc, "340 450 540 490", "NOT APPROVED", "128 0 0");