Create and edit form fields

There are two options to create and edit form fields. First is using a UI component that can create and edit form fields. Second is an API guide to programmatically create form fields.

UI component

Create & edit form fields in Android

Interactive creation and editing for form fields such as text fields, checkboxes, radio buttons, dropdowns, signatures, etc. is supported by the Apryse Android SDK.

By default, creating and editing form fields in the drop-in components DocumentActivity and PdfViewCtrlTabHostFragment2 are automatically enabled unless disabled using ToolManagerBuilder. You can learn more about configuring ToolManager here.

Supported widget types

Text widget

TextFieldCreate tool is responsible for making TextWidget.

Checkbox widget

CheckboxFieldCreate tool is responsible for making CheckBoxWidget.

Radio button widget

RadioGroupFieldCreate tool is responsible for making RadioButtonWidget.

List box widget

ListBoxFieldCreate tool is responsible for making ListBoxWidget.

Combo box widget

ComboBoxFieldCreate tool is responsible for making ComboBoxWidget.

Signature widget

SignatureFieldCreate tool is responsible for making SignatureWidget.

Disable form field creation

You can disable form field creation using the ToolManagerBuilder class and disabling the relevant ToolMode:

Java

// Create a custom ToolManager with disabled form field creation
ToolManager.ToolMode[] toolModes = {
    ToolManager.ToolMode.FORM_CHECKBOX_CREATE,
    ToolManager.ToolMode.FORM_SIGNATURE_CREATE,
    ToolManager.ToolMode.FORM_TEXT_FIELD_CREATE,
    ToolManager.ToolMode.FORM_RADIO_GROUP_CREATE,
    ToolManager.ToolMode.FORM_COMBO_BOX_CREATE,
    ToolManager.ToolMode.FORM_LIST_BOX_CREATE
};
ToolManagerBuilder tmBuilder = ToolManagerBuilder.from()
    .disableToolModes(toolModes);
    
// Add ToolManagerBuilder to your ViewerConfig
ViewerConfig config = new ViewerConfig.Builder()
    .fullscreenModeEnabled(true)
    .multiTabEnabled(true)
    // ...
    .toolManagerBuilder(tmBuilder)
    .build();

Kotlin

// Create a custom ToolManager with disabled form field creation
val toolModes = arrayOf(
    ToolManager.ToolMode.FORM_CHECKBOX_CREATE,
    ToolManager.ToolMode.FORM_SIGNATURE_CREATE,
    ToolManager.ToolMode.FORM_TEXT_FIELD_CREATE,
    ToolManager.ToolMode.FORM_RADIO_GROUP_CREATE,
    ToolManager.ToolMode.FORM_COMBO_BOX_CREATE,
    ToolManager.ToolMode.FORM_LIST_BOX_CREATE
)
val tmBuilder = ToolManagerBuilder.from()
    .disableToolModes(toolModes)

// Add ToolManagerBuilder to your ViewerConfig
val config = ViewerConfig.Builder()
    .fullscreenModeEnabled(true)
    .multiTabEnabled(true)
    // ...
    .toolManagerBuilder(tmBuilder)
    .build()

API guide

API to programmatically create form fields in Android

To create new form fields and widget annotations within a new document.

Java

// Create a blank page
PDFDoc doc = new PDFDoc();
Page blank_page = doc.pageCreate();

// Create a new text field and text widget/annotation (aka AcroForms).
Field text_field = doc.FieldCreate("employee.name", Field.e_text);
TextWidget text = TextWidget.Create(doc, new Rect(110, 660, 380, 690), text_field);
text.SetFont(Font.Create(doc, Font.StandardType1Font.e_times_bold));
text.RefreshAppearance();
blank_page.AnnotPushBack(text);

// Create a new signature field and signature annotation (aka AcroForms)
DigitalSignatureField sig_field = doc.CreateDigitalSignatureField("employee.signature");
SignatureWidget signature = SignatureWidget.Create(doc, new Rect(0, 100, 200, 150), sig_field);
signature.RefreshAppearance();
blank_page.AnnotPushBack(signature);

// Create a new checkbox field and checkbox widget/annotation (aka AcroForms)
Field checkbox_field = doc.FieldCreate("employee.checkbox", Field.e_check);
CheckBoxWidget checkbox = CheckBoxWidget.Create(doc, new Rect(190, 490, 250, 540), checkbox_field);
checkbox.SetBackgroundColor(new ColorPt(1, 1, 1), 3);
checkbox.SetBorderColor(new ColorPt(0, 0, 0), 3);
checkbox.SetChecked(true); // Check the widget (by default it is unchecked).
checkbox.RefreshAppearance();
blank_page.AnnotPushBack(checkbox);

// Create a radio button group and add three radio button widget/annotation (aka AcroForms) in it.
RadioButtonGroup radio_group = RadioButtonGroup.Create(doc, "employee.radiogroup");
RadioButtonWidget radiobutton1 = radio_group.Add(new Rect(140, 410, 190, 460));
radiobutton1.SetBackgroundColor(new ColorPt(1, 1, 0), 3);
radiobutton1.RefreshAppearance();
RadioButtonWidget radiobutton2 = radio_group.Add(new Rect(310, 410, 360, 460));
radiobutton2.SetBackgroundColor(new ColorPt(0, 1, 0), 3);
radiobutton2.RefreshAppearance();
RadioButtonWidget radiobutton3 = radio_group.Add(new Rect(480, 410, 530, 460));
radiobutton3.EnableButton(); // Enable the third radio button. By default the first one is selected
radiobutton3.SetBackgroundColor(new ColorPt(0, 1, 1), 3);
radiobutton3.RefreshAppearance();
radio_group.AddGroupButtonsToPage(blank_page);

// Add the page as the last page in the document.
doc.pagePushBack(blank_page);

Kotlin

// Create a blank page
val doc = PDFDoc()
val blank_page = doc.pageCreate()

// Create a new text field and text widget/annotation (aka AcroForms).
val text_field = doc.fieldCreate("employee.name", Field.e_text);
val text = TextWidget.Create(doc, Rect(110.0, 660.0, 380.0, 690.0), text_field);
text.font = Font.create(doc, Font.e_times_bold));
text.refreshAppearance();
blank_page.annotPushBack(text);

// Create a new signature field and signature annotation (aka AcroForms)
val sig_field = doc.createDigitalSignatureField("employee.signature");
val signature = SignatureWidget.Create(doc, Rect(0.0, 100.0, 200.0, 150.0), sig_field);
signature.refreshAppearance();
blank_page.annotPushBack(signature);

// Create a new checkbox field and checkbox widget/annotation (aka AcroForms)
val checkbox_field = doc.fieldCreate("employee.checkbox", Field.e_check);
val checkbox = CheckBoxWidget.Create(doc, Rect(190.0, 490.0, 250.0, 540.0), checkbox_field);
checkbox.setBackgroundColor(ColorPt(1.0, 1.0, 1.0), 3);
checkbox.setBorderColor(ColorPt(0.0, 0.0, 0.0), 3);
checkbox.isChecked = true; // Check the widget (by default it is unchecked).
checkbox.refreshAppearance();
blank_page.annotPushBack(checkbox);

// Create a radio button group and add three radio button widget/annotation (aka AcroForms) in it.
val radio_group = RadioButtonGroup.create(doc, "employee.radiogroup")
val radiobutton1 = radio_group.add(Rect(140.0, 410.0, 190.0, 460.0))
radiobutton1.setBackgroundColor(ColorPt(1.0, 1.0, 0.0), 3)
radiobutton1.refreshAppearance()
val radiobutton2 = radio_group.add(Rect(310.0, 410.0, 360.0, 460.0))
radiobutton2.setBackgroundColor(ColorPt(0.0, 1.0, 0.0), 3)
radiobutton2.refreshAppearance()
val radiobutton3 = radio_group.add(Rect(480.0, 410.0, 530.0, 460.0))
radiobutton3.enableButton() // Enable the third radio button. By default the first one is selected
radiobutton3.setBackgroundColor(ColorPt(0.0, 1.0, 1.0), 3)
radiobutton3.refreshAppearance()
radio_group.addGroupButtonsToPage(blank_page)

// Add the page as the last page in the document.
doc.pagePushBack(blank_page)

PDF interactive forms (AcroForms) Full code sample which illustrates some basic PDFNet capabilities related to interactive forms (also known as AcroForms).

About creating form fields

Regardless of which field type you create, you must provide a Field name:

Java

Field my_field = doc.FieldCreate("address", Field.e_text);

Kotlin

val my_field = doc.fieldCreate("address", Field.e_text)

Under most circumstances, field names must be unique. If you have a field you name as "address" and you create a second field you likewise call "address", you cannot supply different data in the two fields.

Field names can use alphanumeric characters to identify a field. All field names are case-sensitive. For example, you can use names such as empFirstName, empSecondName, empNumber, and so on for a group of fileds that are related to the same concept (in our sample employee entity).

Another technique for naming fields is to use a parent and child name. For example, you could name the above fields as follows: employee.name.first, employee.name.second, employee.number.

This naming convention is not only useful for organizing purposes but is well-suited for automatic operations on Fields. In the Apryse SDK, Field.GetName() returns a string representing the fully qualified name of the field (e.g. "employee.name.first"). To get the child name ("first") use the Field.GetPartialName() method.

For more information about adding Fields, see the FDF code sample .

Understand field types

PDF offers six different field types. Each type of form field is used for a different purpose, and they have different properties, appearances, options, and actions that can be associated with the fields. In this section, we will explain how to create all the seven field types and some attributes specific to each one.

Common field types are text-box, checkbox, radio-button, combo-box, and push-button. To find out the type of the Field use Field.GetType() method:

Java

int type = field.GetType();
switch (type)
{
  case Field.e_button:
    System.out.println("Button");
    break;
  case Field.e_check:
    System.out.println("Check");
    break;
  case Field.e_radio:
    System.out.println("Radio");
    break;
  case Field.e_text: {
    System.out.println("Text");
    break;
  case Field.e_choice:
    System.out.println("Choice");
    break;
  case Field.e_signature:
    System.out.println("Signature");
    break;
}

Kotlin

val type = field.getType()
when (type)
{
  Field.e_button -> println("Button")
  Field.e_check -> println("Check")
  Field.e_radio -> println("Radio")
  Field.e_text -> println("Text")
  Field.e_choice -> println("Choice")
  Field.e_signature -> println("Signature")
}