pdf form fields empty after filling them with itext on android

Question

In my android app I fill the formfields from a pdffile, using itextg like this:

PdfReader reader = new PdfReader(this.templateFile);
PdfStamper stamper = new PdfStamper(reader, new FileOutputStream(this.targetFile));
AcroFields form = stamper.getAcroFields();

for (String key : values.keySet()) {
    form.setField(key, values.get(key));
}

stamper.setFormFlattening(true);
stamper.close();

I can see, that the value of the formfields are actually set, when debugging and inspecting the stamper. But as soon I open the targetFile all of my fields are empty.

If I do not flatten my form, the values remain in the fields, which makes me believe the value would also be there in the flattend pdf but simply not displayed.

Btw, using FormFiller form the itext demos (http://itextpdf.com/itext-android-demos) the same pdf works really fine!

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:33

This could be caused by different things.

Not the correct iTextG version

See Appearance issues with pdf interactive forms using iText where you'll find this answer:

This seems to be a bug on some versions of iText. I had the same problem with iTextSharp version 5.5.5 and it was solved after I upgraded to version 5.5.9.

The form doesn't know it has to generate the appearances

See Editable .pdf fields disappear (but visible on field focus) after save with evince where the problem is solved by changing the appearance setting:

form.put(PdfName.NEEDAPPEARANCES, PdfBoolean.PDFTRUE);

Or see iText 5.5 fails to fill form where iText is instructed to create the appearances:

af.setGenerateAppearances(true);

I would start with af.setGenerateAppearances(true); first.

Thank you very much. af.setGenerateAppearances(true) did the trick! — abc, Aug 19 '16 at 08:30

pdf form fields empty after filling them with itext on android

1 Answers1

Not the correct iTextG version

The form doesn't know it has to generate the appearances