Form fields are one of the integral components when dealing with customer data and it becomes easy to distribute the PDF Acro forms with users so that they can fill the forms with data of their choice and send it back. We are familiar that a variety of form fields can be used but among all these, TextBox, CheckBox, RadioButton, and ComboBoxes are very common. So, once the data has been filled in Acro forms, we parse the form fields at the back office to extract data from them and save them into FDF, XML, or directly into databases.
Though all the operations including PDF forms creation, form fields addition, form fields update activity can be performed manually, when dealing with a huge set of documents, the manual operation does not seem to be feasible because its time consuming and error-prone due to manual handling of data. So automatic routines through programming language can be a viable solution. Therefore, when creating a program, we get an option to either to use an on-premises solution/API which can help us to accomplish all the requirements or, use cloud-hosted REST APIs to parse the form fields.
REST API Benefits
The RESTful APIs get a leap here because you do not need to manually keep track of all API versions. Also, you do not need to keep your system updated with API versions and do not need to worry about compatibility issues of the APIs with a certain programming language, etc. Therefore, we present Aspose.PDF Cloud SDK for Java which provides the capabilities to create, manipulate as well as transform PDF documents to other supported file formats. The Java SDK is developed on top of Aspose.PDF Cloud REST APIs which can easily be accessed using cURL commands and the SDKs are developed to facilitate our customers using a particular programming language. In this blog, we are going to shed some light on how to parse different form fields
- Read, Add or update TextBox fields
- Parse CheckBox form fields
- Add or update RadioButton fields
- Manipulate ComboBox form fields
Read, Add or update TextBox fields
The API offers three ways to read information associated with TextBox fields.
| API | Type | Description | Swagger Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| /pdf/{name}/fields/textbox | GET | Read document TextBox fields | GetDocumentTextBoxFields |
| /pdf/{name}/page/{pageNumber}/fields/textbox | GET | Read document TextBox fields for a give page | GetPageTextBoxFields |
| /pdf/{name}/fields/textbox/{fieldName} | GET | Read document TextBox fields by a field name | GetTextBoxField |
cURL command to read TextBox fields
Since the files are stored in your personal cloud storage, so you need to first generate a JWT authentication token which requires your personalized Client ID and Client Secret.
curl -v "https://api.aspose.cloud/connect/token" \
-X POST \
-d "grant_type=client_credentials&client_id=xxxx&client_secret=xxxx" \
-H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
-H "Accept: application/json"
curl -X GET "https://api.aspose.cloud/v3.0/pdf/FormDataTextBox.pdf/fields/textbox" \
-H "accept: application/json" \
-H "authorization: Bearer <JWT Token>"
Sample FormDataTextBox.pdf used in above example.
Java
Parse CheckBox form fields
When dealing with CheckBoxes, the API also provides the capabilities to read CheckBox values, add a new checkbox or update the properties associated with an existing checkbox on PDF form.
- GetDocumentCheckBoxFields - Read document checkbox fields
- GetPageCheckBoxFields - Read specific page checkbox fields
- GetCheckBoxField - Read document checkbox field by name
cURL command to read CheckBox on page 1
curl -X GET "https://api.aspose.cloud/v3.0/pdf/FormDataTextBox.pdf/page/1/fields/checkbox" \
-H "accept: application/json" \
-H "authorization: Bearer <JWT Token>"
CURL command to update CheckBox on Page 1
curl -X PUT "https://api.aspose.cloud/v3.0/pdf/FormDataTextBox.pdf/fields/checkbox/Check%20Box1" \
-H "accept: application/json" \
-H "authorization: Bearer <JWT Token>" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d "{ \"Links\": [ { \"Href\": \"string\", \"Rel\": \"string\", \"Type\": \"string\", \"Title\": \"string\" } ], \"PartialName\": \"Aspose CheckBox\", \"FullName\": \"Aspose CheckBox\", \"Rect\": { \"LLX\": 88.3573, \"LLY\": 687.617, \"URX\": 97.0198, \"URY\": 695.413 }, \"Value\": \"null\", \"PageIndex\": 1, \"Height\": 12, \"Width\": 12, \"ZIndex\": 0, \"IsGroup\": false, \"IsSharedField\": true, \"Flags\": [ \"Default\" ], \"Color\": { \"A\": 0, \"R\": 150, \"G\": 120, \"B\": 0 }, \"Contents\": \"Field Updated\", \"Margin\": { \"Left\": 0, \"Right\": 0, \"Top\": 0, \"Bottom\": 0 }, \"Highlighting\": \"None\", \"HorizontalAlignment\": \"Left\", \"VerticalAlignment\": \"Center\", \"Border\": { \"Width\": 1, \"EffectIntensity\": 1, \"Style\": \"Solid\", \"Effect\": \"None\", \"Dash\": { \"On\": 1, \"Off\": 2 }, \"Color\": { \"A\": 255, \"R\": 120, \"G\": 120, \"B\": 0 } }, \"AllowedStates\": [ \"Yes\",\"Off\" ], \"Style\": \"Circle\", \"ActiveState\": \"On\", \"Checked\": true, \"ExportValue\": \"Yes\"}"
Request URL
https://api.aspose.cloud/v3.0/pdf/FormDataTextBox.pdf/fields/checkbox/Check%20Box1
Java
Once the command/code is executed, the properties associated with checkbox 1 field are updated as shown in image below.
Image 1:- Preview of updated checkbox 1 using cURL command
Add or update RadioButton fields
Similar to TextBox and CheckBox fields, the Cloud SDK also provides the capabilities to read and update RadioButton fields on PDF documents.
cURL command to read RadioButton fields on PDF document
curl -X GET "https://api.aspose.cloud/v3.0/pdf/FormDataTextBox.pdf/fields/radiobutton" \
-H "accept: application/json" \
-H "authorization: Bearer <JWT Token>"
Request URL
https://api.aspose.cloud/v3.0/pdf/FormDataTextBox.pdf/fields/radiobutton
Manipulate ComboBox form fields
Notice that the ComboBox manipulation becomes very handy with the help of Aspose.PDF Cloud SDK for Java. You get the option to read existing ComboBox fields on the document, add a new ComboBox field or update an existing ComboBox.
- GetDocumentComboBoxFields - Read document combobox fields
- GetPageComboBoxFields - Read particular page combobox fields
- GetComboBoxField - Read document combobox field by name
- PostComboBoxFields - Add ComboBox field to document
- PutComboBoxField - Replace document combobox field
cURL command to read all ComboBox fields
curl -X GET "https://api.aspose.cloud/v3.0/pdf/FormDataTextBox.pdf/fields/combobox" \
-H "accept: application/json" \
-H "authorization: Bearer <JWT Token>"
Request URL
https://api.aspose.cloud/v3.0/pdf/FormDataTextBox.pdf/fields/combobox
Conclusion
As explained in the article above, the Form fields processing has become quite easy with the help of Cloud APIs. You may consider going through a related blog Form Parser | Form Recognizer | PDF Filling | Automate form processing with REST Web API