PDF-LIB

PDFField

pdf-lib › PDFField

Represents a field of a PDFForm.

This class is effectively abstract. All fields in a PDFForm will actually be an instance of a subclass of this class.

Note that each field in a PDF is represented by a single field object. However, a given field object may be rendered at multiple locations within the document (across one or more pages). The rendering of a field is controlled by its widgets. Each widget causes its field to be displayed at a particular location in the document.

Most of the time each field in a PDF has only a single widget, and thus is only rendered once. However, if a field is rendered multiple times, it will have multiple widgets - one for each location it is rendered.

This abstraction of field objects and widgets is defined in the PDF specification and dictates how PDF files store fields and where they are to be rendered.

Hierarchy

Index

Properties

Methods

Properties

acroField

• acroField: PDFAcroTerminal

Defined in api/form/PDFField.ts:86

The low-level PDFAcroTerminal wrapped by this field.

doc

• doc: PDFDocument

Defined in api/form/PDFField.ts:92

The document to which this field belongs.

ref

• ref: PDFRef

Defined in api/form/PDFField.ts:89

The unique reference assigned to this field within the document.

Methods

disableExporting

▸ disableExporting(): void

Defined in api/form/PDFField.ts:247

Indicate that this field's value should not be exported when the form is submitted in a PDF reader. For example:

const field = form.getField('some.field')
field.disableExporting()

Returns: void

disableReadOnly

▸ disableReadOnly(): void

Defined in api/form/PDFField.ts:170

Allow users to interact with this field and change its value in PDF readers via mouse and keyboard input. For example:

const field = form.getField('some.field')
field.disableReadOnly()

Returns: void

disableRequired

▸ disableRequired(): void

Defined in api/form/PDFField.ts:208

Do not require this field to have a value when the form is submitted. For example:

const field = form.getField('some.field')
field.disableRequired()

Returns: void

enableExporting

▸ enableExporting(): void

Defined in api/form/PDFField.ts:235

Indicate that this field's value should be exported when the form is submitted in a PDF reader. For example:

const field = form.getField('some.field')
field.enableExporting()

Returns: void

enableReadOnly

▸ enableReadOnly(): void

Defined in api/form/PDFField.ts:158

Prevent PDF readers from allowing users to interact with this field or change its value. The field will not respond to mouse or keyboard input. For example:

const field = form.getField('some.field')
field.enableReadOnly()

Useful for fields whose values are computed, imported from a database, or prefilled by software before being displayed to the user.

Returns: void

enableRequired

▸ enableRequired(): void

Defined in api/form/PDFField.ts:196

Require this field to have a value when the form is submitted. For example:

const field = form.getField('some.field')
field.enableRequired()

Returns: void

getName

▸ getName(): string

Defined in api/form/PDFField.ts:128

Get the fully qualified name of this field. For example:

const fields = form.getFields()
fields.forEach(field => {
  const name = field.getName()
  console.log('Field name:', name)
})

Note that PDF fields are structured as a tree. Each field is the descendent of a series of ancestor nodes all the way up to the form node, which is always the root of the tree. Each node in the tree (except for the form node) has a partial name. Partial names can be composed of any unicode characters except a period (.). The fully qualified name of a field is composed of the partial names of all its ancestors joined with periods. This means that splitting the fully qualified name on periods and taking the last element of the resulting array will give you the partial name of a specific field.

Returns: string

The fully qualified name of this field.

isExported

▸ isExported(): boolean

Defined in api/form/PDFField.ts:223

Returns true if this field's value should be exported when the form is submitted. See PDFField.enableExporting and PDFField.disableExporting. For example:

const field = form.getField('some.field')
if (field.isExported()) console.log('Exporting is enabled')

Returns: boolean

Whether or not this field's value should be exported.

isReadOnly

▸ isReadOnly(): boolean

Defined in api/form/PDFField.ts:143

Returns true if this field is read only. This means that PDF readers will not allow users to interact with the field or change its value. See PDFField.enableReadOnly and PDFField.disableReadOnly. For example:

const field = form.getField('some.field')
if (field.isReadOnly()) console.log('Read only is enabled')

Returns: boolean

Whether or not this is a read only field.

isRequired

▸ isRequired(): boolean

Defined in api/form/PDFField.ts:184

Returns true if this field must have a value when the form is submitted. See PDFField.enableRequired and PDFField.disableRequired. For example:

const field = form.getField('some.field')
if (field.isRequired()) console.log('Field is required')

Returns: boolean

Whether or not this field is required.

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