Adobe Acrobat SDK

Common Tasks JavaScript Collection

A collection of JavaScript code snippets organized by function and fully indexed; for more information, click the About link below. The samples are separated into two general functional categories: JavaScript for forms, and JavaScript for documents. The list of samples can be accessed using the links below. This document also contains short introductory sections on creating JavaScript actions associated with events, and on testing JavaScript in PDF documents.

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JavaScript samples for everything except forms, security, or collaboration.

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JavaScript samples to help create and manage Acrobat forms.

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July 15, 2008

Copyright 20042008 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. NOTICE: All information contained herein is the property of Adobe Systems Incorporated. No part of this publication (whether in hardcopy or electronic form) may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the Adobe Systems Incorporated. PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated. All instances of the name PostScript in the text are references to the PostScript language as defined by Adobe Systems Incorporated unless otherwise stated. The name PostScript also is used as a product trademark for Adobe Systems implementation of the PostScript language interpreter. Except as otherwise stated, any reference to a PostScript printing device, PostScript display device, or similar item refers to a printing device, display device or item (respectively) that contains PostScript technology created or licensed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and not to devices or items that purport to be merely compatible with the PostScript language. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, the Acrobat logo, Acrobat Capture, Distiller, PostScript, the PostScript logo and Reader are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Apple, Macintosh, and Power Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the United States and other countries. PowerPC is a registered trademark of IBM Corporation in the United States. ActiveX, Microsoft, Windows, and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. This publication and the information herein is furnished AS IS, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Adobe Systems Incorporated. Adobe Systems Incorporated assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies, makes no warranty of any kind (express, implied, or statutory) with respect to this publication, and expressly disclaims any and all warranties of merchantability, fitness for particular purposes, and noninfringement of third party rights.

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Forms
JavaScript for Forms
Date handling
Date timestamp: first time only 8 Gets todays date as a one-time timestamp so it wont be updated each time the page is opened. Date Parsing 8 Formats the current date using AFParseDateEx(). Displaying a localized date 8 Uses the util.printd method to display a localized date, including for CJK language documents. [Acrobat 7 or higher] Getting todays date 9 Get todays date and display it. Color: defining a custom color 12 Define a custom RGB color for use, for example, as a form field background color. Check a check box field 12 Inspect whether a check box field has been checked. Formatting a number in a form field 12 Shows how to format numbers in decimal, hex, and floating formats as well as formatting the value as a string. Formatting: removing zeros so field is blank Removes zeros (0.00) in auto-calculated fields. 13

Hiding/un-hiding an existing field based on conditions 13 Hide or expose a field based on the state of a check box field. Highlighting a single field 13 Highlight a single field for the On Focus event, and turn off the highlighting for the On Blur event. Highlight fields using a function 14 Create a function to highlight a field, to be called from multiple fields. Highlighting multiple fields using a for loop 14 Defines a Document Level JavaScript function that will highlight any field that calls the function when the mouse cursor enters that field. Code can be added to all fields by running a script from the JavaScript console. Locating fields and listing field names 15 List all form fields including their name, type, and page number. Printing: Set field to print or not print 16 Code to control the print property of a field so the field will either print or not print. Print selected form pages 16 Print a selected range of form pages (for example, to exclude the

Calculations
Calculations: Turn calculations on/off 9 Turn off calculations to optimize performance. Delay redrawing of appearance changes 9 Delays redrawing of all fields until all changes are completed.

Field Operations
Add/Remove a new field programmatically Places a new form field on the specified page. 10

Add/Remove fields on multiple pages 10 Create or remove identical text fields on every page of a document. Changing field properties 11 Change any or all of the properties of a form field.

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Forms
instruction pages in a form document). Rollover help Display help text 16 Display help text for a field for the Mouse Enter event. Search fields Search for all fields with a specified prefix 17 Search/enumerate through all fields that begin with specified string. Set an action for a single field 17 Attaches an action to a single field. Set an action for multiple fields 18 Execute code from the JavaScript console to attach an action to multiple fields. Restricting keystrokes to uppercase characters Restrict keystrokes to Y (for Yes) or N (for No) . 21

Form checking and resetting

Final field checks Check fields before submitting 18 Check that all required fields were completed before the form is submitted. Resetting a form 19 Resets all fields, or specified fields, to their original default value.

Validation
Validate that number is in the correct range 20 Verify that entered value is in one of two ranges. Verify that required entry was made Check required fields for a valid entry. 20

Convert user input to uppercase characters 21 Converts lowercase characters typed by the user into uppercase characters.

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Documents
JavaScript for Documents
Annotations
Add/remove annotations Create an annotation 22 Illustrates how to create an annotation of type Text. Remove an annotation Removes an annotation. 22 Open an existing document 24 Opens the document whose filename is specified as the string argument. Prompt user for a document to open 24 Executes the File Open menu item in Acrobat, which prompts the user for a file to open.

Links
Add navigation links to a page 24 This sample adds navigational links at the bottom of each page in the document. Convert specified word to a weblink Search for a word and create a weblink. 25

Application Version
Version checking 22 Checks the version and type of the Acrobat application, and lists all plug-ins.

Convert URL text to live links 25 Convert all content that appears to be a URL into a web link. Remove all links on a page 25 Removes all links on the current page. Set an action for a link 26 Sets the specified JavaScript action for the Mouse Up trigger for the link object.

Bookmarks
Create a new bookmark 23 Creates a new child bookmark at the specified location. Add a child bookmark 23 Inserts a bookmark as a child of the bookmark in the previous sample.. Remove a bookmark 23 Removes a bookmark and all children bookmarks from the bookmark tree.

Menu operations
Add a new menu item 26 Adds a new menu item and an associated action. Execute menu item 27 Executes the menu item specified by the argument. Hide a menu item 27 Hides a menu item so user wont have access to that item. List menu items 27 Display a list of menu items for the Acrobat application; for use with methods that reference menu items.

Document Operations
Create a new blank PDF document 23 Creates a new document in the Acrobat viewer. Metadata: Get document metadata 24 Allows you to retrieve and display document metadata.

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Documents
Messages/Dialogs
Beep the user 28 Causes the system to play a sound to alert the user. Prompt the user for a response 28 Prompt and get a response from the user. Simple alert 28 Displays a message to the user. Go to another page: create a pop-up menu 30 Creates a pop-up menu which gives the user a choice of pages to which to go. The script can be attached to a button. Add navigational arrows on every page 31 Add navigational symbols to every page of a document for each document in a selected set.

OCG (Optional Content Group)

Beep when OCG state changes 31 Execute a JavaScript after every state change for a give OCG. Show all OCG objects on the currrent page 31 Make visible all OCG objects in a specified name family. Hide all OCG objects on current page 32 Hide all OCG objects in a specified name family. Lock OCG objects 32 Locks the OCG so its state cannot be toggled through the UI. Toggle the state of OCG objects 32 Specifies whether an OCG object is hidden or not.

Navigation
Add a pop-up menu for navigation 29 Creates a pop-up menu that can be triggered by any of a variety of events. Adding page numbers to a document 29 Adds page numbers to a document in the specified location, using the specified font style. Get the number of the current page Gets the current page number. 29

Go to a specified page number 30 Sample code to go to a specific page number. Go to first page 30 Sets the page being viewed to the first page (zero-based numbering) in the document. Go to next page 30 Increments the page being viewed to the next page. Go to previous page 30 Navigates to the previous page of the document. Go to last page 30 Sets the page being viewed to the last page in the document.

Page Operations
Insert new page 32 Inserts a new page based on the selected template and then jumps to the new page. Insert/Delete/Replace/Extract Pages 32 Executes a menu item to insert, delete, replace, or extract pages. The user is prompted to specify the appropriate pages.

Printing
Get a list of printers as a combo box 33 Shows how to get a list of printers and display result as a combo box.

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Documents
Print page using printer selected in combo box 33 Code to print the current page using the printer selected by user from the combo box presented in previous example. Print only the current page 33 Sample code to print only the current page. Print current page (no dialog) 33 Print the current page without the usual dialog. Prompt for a zoom value 36 Ask the user for a zoom value and set the view to that value. Pop-up menus for zooming 37 The following example creates a pop-up menu which might be attached to a Mouse Up or Mouse Down action for a button field.

Watermarks
Adding a watermark from an external file 37 Add a watermark from an external PDF file to a selected range of pages in the current document. Adding a watermark from text 37 Add specified text to current document as a watermark.

Searching
A simple find operation 34 A alternative to the standard Acrobat search function; it can be used to create customized searches.

Spell checking
Creating a menu item to spellcheck a document 34 Spellchecks a document and uses annotations to mark the misspelled words. [Version 6.0 or higher]

Timing
Set countdown timer 35 Prompt the user for a time interval, and alert the user when that time has elapsed.

Viewing
Viewing Mode Go to fullscreen mode and start slide show 36 Switches the viewer to full screen mode and starts a slide show. Setting zoom values Change zoom value 36 Set the zoom to a percentage of full size.

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Forms: Code Samples

JavaScript for Forms
Date handling
Acrobat reports and manipulates dates using the date object data structure, but dates are displayed in form fields as a string. Hence some conversion is required, as shown in the following examples. Date timestamp: first time only Gets todays date as a one-time timestamp so it wont be updated each time the page is opened. The following code can be assigned as the Page Open action for the desired page. It checks to see if the value of the field has changed from its default value (usually it is blank). If it is the default value, then it gets the date and displays it as a string.
var today = new Date(); var td = this.getField("DateStamp"); // test if new value is the same as the // default value, which was set to blank ("") if (td.value == td.defaultValue) { // if so, display formatted string in field this.getField("DateStamp").value = util.printd("dd mmmm, yyyy",today); } // change field to "Read-only" this.getField("DateStamp").readonly = true;

Date Parsing Formats the current date using AFParseDateEx(). The following sample uses AFParseDateEx() to check the validity of the date and to display the resulting date formatted as a string. The user is alerted as to whether the parsing was successful or not. The code should be entered as a custom validation script for the field.
if(event.value) { var DateOK = AFParseDateEx(event.value,"mm/dd/yyyy"); if(DateOK != null) { app.alert("date ok"); event.value = util.printd("mm/dd/yyyy", DateOK); } else { event.value = ""; app.alert("date not ok"); } }

Displaying a localized date Uses the util.printd method to display a localized date, including for CJK language documents. [Acrobat 7 or higher] You can use the bXFAPicture parameter (optional, Acrobat 7 or greater; see Acrobat JavaScript Scripting Reference for more information) of the util.printd method to display a localized version of dates and times.

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Forms: Code Samples

It uses the XFA-Picture Clause format to provide extensive support for localized dates and times for Chinese, Chinese (Taiwan), Japanese, and Korean (CCJK ) times and dates. It is supported for both Acro Form and XFA JavaScript. The following is an example of util.printd being used to display the result in the JavaScript console, but it could also be used as an action for a page or document open event, or just to display the date in any field:
// execute in console console.println( util.printd("EEE, 'the' D 'of' MMMM, YYYY", new Date(), true)); var td = this.getField("DateField"); td.value = util.printd("dd mmmm, yyyy",today);

This code will get and display a new date every time the page is opened. For a date timestamp that doesnt change once it has been set, see Date timestamp: first time only on page 8.

Calculations
Calculations: Turn calculations on/off Turn off calculations to optimize performance. When a large number of fields are being checked or updated, each change of a field value can trigger all fields to be re-calculated, which can affect performance. Setting the calculate property of the doc object to false tells Acrobat not to execute the calculations until they are turned on again. To turn off calculations until ready:
this.calculate = false;

The result displayed in the console would be:

Tue, the 13 of July, 2004

The next example shows its use for localized output. The script can be entered as a custom format script of a text field. It gives the current date formatted for a Japanese locale (the last parameter is the bXFAPicture boolean set to true).
event.value = util.printd("date(ja){ggYY/M/ D}", new Date(), true)

and to allow calculations to resume:

this.calculate = true;

Getting todays date Get todays date and display it. The following code can be attached to the Page Open event for the page on which the date will appear:
var today = new Date();

Delay redrawing of appearance changes Delays redrawing of all fields until all changes are completed.
this.delay = true; // queue changes

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Forms: Code Samples

When set to false, all fields will be redrawn. See also the field.delay property in the Acrobat JavaScript Scripting Reference. Add/Remove fields on multiple pages Create or remove identical text fields on every page of a document. The following code creates a field named myField on every page of a document. It could be entered through the JavaScript console, or in any other JavaScript code in the document.
for (var p = 0; p < this.numPages; p++) { var aRect = [300, 660, 600, 700]; var f = this.addField("myField", "text", p, aRect); f.strokeColor = color.black; f.fillColor = color.yellow; }

Field Operations
Add/Remove a new field programmatically Places a new form field on the specified page. The following code, which can be executed from the JavaScript console, adds a text field named myField to the first page (zero-based) of the document. The field will be filled with yellow, and have a medium weight border.
var aRect = [300, 660, 600, 700]; var f = this.addField("myField", "text", 0, aRect); f.fillColor = color.yellow; f.strokeColor = color.red; f.lineWidth = 2; // medium line width

and to remove the field:

this.removeField("myField");
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With the above script, all added fields will have the same name, which means they will always all have the same value. One way to give them different names is to append the page number by changing the third line in the example above to:
var f = this.addField("myField" + p, "text", p, aRect);

You can add an action to the newly-created field as shown in Set an action for multiple fields on page 18.

The result will be a new field on each page, named, for example, myField0, myField1, etc.
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Also see Add navigational arrows on every page on page 31 for another example of adding an action to all pages in a document.

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Forms: Code Samples

All of the added fields can be removed using the following code (for the sequentially-named fields):
for (var p = 0; p < this.numPages; p++) var f = this.removeField("myField" + p);

Default value:
// Specify default value f.defaultValue = "Enter your name here.";

Font:
f.textFont = font.Helv;

Changing field properties Change any or all of the properties of a form field. The following are examples of how to change the properties for a field, for a variety of commonly used field properties. For a complete list of properties and their values, see the JavaScript for Acrobat API Reference.
I MP O R TA N T:

And for Acrobat 5.0 or higher, the PostScript font name can be used for any font:
f.textFont = "Arial,BoldMT";

All of the following code samples use the variable f for the field object. So the following statement must precede any of the code samples:

var f = this.getField("MyField");

Alignment of a text field:

f.alignment = "center";

The first font name example above shows the use of an alias font name that is defined for a limited number of core fonts as defined in the Acrobat font object. The second example: Arial,BoldMT shows the use of the font family name and style. You can also use the PostScript font name, which you can see under the Fonts tab of the Document Properties window (press Ctrl-d when in Acrobat). For more details, see the JavaScript for Acrobat API Reference, under the properties for the Field object. Font size:
f.textSize = 20;

Background color:
f.fillColor = color.blue;

Hide or display field:

f.display = display.noPrint;

Current value:
// Set a variable to the fields value var v = f.value

Multiline field:
f.multiline = true;

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Forms: Code Samples

Password hiding using asterisks:
f.password = true; var cB1 = this.getField("CheckBox1"); // check if export value is Yes if (cB1.value == "Yes") cB1.value = "No" // if checked, toggle it else cB1.value = "Yes" // toggle back again

Required field:
f.required = true;

Stroke Color:
f.strokeColor = color.yellow;

Or, the code could be written to use the event object:

if (event.target.value == "Yes") {do appropriate task}

Stroke line width:

f.lineWidth = 3; // 3 = wide line

Formatting a number in a form field Shows how to format numbers in decimal, hex, and floating formats as well as formatting the value as a string. You can cut-and-paste the following script into the JavaScript console, select the script, and press Enter. The resulting formatting is shown below under Output. (The Math.PI expression is a JavaScript constant equal to the value of ).
var n = Math.PI * 100; // Decimal format: console.println(util.printf("Decimal format: %d", n)); // Hex format: console.println(util.printf("Hex format: %x", n));

Color: defining a custom color Define a custom RGB color for use, for example, as a form field background color.
color.lightYellow = new Array ("RGB",1,0.99,0.8);

Check a check box field Inspect whether a check box field has been checked. JavaScript can be used to see if a check box field has been checked by the user by inspecting the export value of that field (specified in the Field Properties dialog box). The following example contains code that toggles the state of the check box field. It could be attached as the Mouse Up action for a button field.
// Get named reference

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Forms: Code Samples

// Floating point format: console.println(util.printf("Float format: %.2f", n)); // String format: console.println(util.printf("String format: %s", n));

Hiding/un-hiding an existing field based on conditions Hide or expose a field based on the state of a check box field. A field may need to be hidden or exposed based on whether or not a check box is checked. The following code could be used, for example, as a Mouse Up action for the check box field. When the box is checked the textField1 field is displayed; when the box is unchecked, the field is hidden.
// get name of text field to hide or not var tF1 = this.getField("textField1") // if box is checked, make text field visible if (event.target.value == "Yes") { tF1.hidden = false } else { tF1.hidden = true }

Output:
Decimal format: 314 Hex format: 13A Float format: 314.16 String format: 314.159265358979

Formatting: removing zeros so field is blank Removes zeros (0.00) in auto-calculated fields. Many times when form fields use predefined calculations, the resulting value may be zero. It is usually not desireable to display a value of $0.00. The solution is to use JavaScript to calculate the field values, and to include the following code in your calculations for each field:
if (event.value == 0) event.value = "";

Highlighting a single field Highlight a single field for the On Focus event, and turn off the highlighting for the On Blur event. The following code can be set as the action for a single field (for example, textField1) that you want to highlight for the On Focus event (user tabs into or clicks on the field), and un-highlight at the On Blur event (when user leaves the field.

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Forms: Code Samples

N OTE :

If you want highlighting for multiple fields, see Highlighting multiple fields using a for loop, below.

Highlighting multiple fields using a for loop Defines a Document Level JavaScript function that will highlight any field that calls the function when the mouse cursor enters that field. Code can be added to all fields by running a script from the JavaScript console. The above example, Highlighting a single field, defines the ChangeColor() function which will change the color of a field as the users cursor enters or leaves a field (the On Focus and On Blur events, respectively). Select Tools > JavaScript > Document JavaScripts, and in the resulting dialogue box enter a name and the ChangeColor() function shown in the above section, Highlight fields using a function. Then, the following script can be run from the console to assign the ChangeColor() function (defined in the sample Highlight fields using a functionon on page 14) as the On Focus action for each field in the form. Run the following code from the JavaScript console:
// loop through all fields in document for (var i = 0; i < this.numFields; i++) { // set the ChangeColor function as the // action for the field var f = this.getField(this.getNthFieldName(i)); f.setAction("OnFocus", "ChangeColor();"); f.setAction("OnBlur", "ChangeColor();"); }

var myField = this.getField("textField1"); if(event.name == "Focus") myField.fillColor = color.blue; else if(event.name == "Blur") myField.fillColor = color.transparent;

Highlight fields using a function Create a function to highlight a field, to be called from multiple fields. The following example uses a Document JavaScript function ChangeColor() to handle all highlighting events. Then, you would add a ChangeColor() call to each field you would like highlighting applied, for both the On Focus and On Blur events. This function toggles the color of the field, so it can be called for both events.
function ChangeColor() { var myField = event.target; if(event.name == "Focus") { myField.fillColor = color.blue; myField.borderColor = color.black; } else if (event.name == "Blur") myField.fillColor = color.transparent; }

The code will loop through all fields in the form and add the highlighting code to each field. For fields to which

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Forms: Code Samples

you dont want the actions to apply (such as for a button field), double-click them with the object selection tool to get the Field Properties window; click the Action tab; and then delete the attached script. Locating fields and listing field names List all form fields including their name, type, and page number. Sometimes a complicated form may have many fields that are hard to find, or some fields may obscure other fields, or the field names may be too long to display clearly. The following script will output the names of all fields, the type, and the page number, to the console:
console.clear(); console.show(); console.println("Page, Name, Type"); for (var i=0; i<this.numFields; i++) { fieldName = this.getNthFieldName(i); f = this.getField(fieldName); console.println(f.page+ ", " + f.name + ", " + f.type) }

This following script labels all fields in a form document; the print statement arguments should be adjusted for the pages yoou want to be printed.
// Define an array for field names nameArray = new Array (this.numFields); // Put all field names into an array for (var i = 0; i<this.numFields; i++) nameArray[i] = this.getNthFieldName(i); // loop through name array for (i=0; i<nameArray.length; i++) { // get object for existing field var f = this.getField(nameArray[i]); // make a copy of rectangle coordinates var myRect = f.rect; var name = f.name; // Get length of field name var flength = f.name.length; // myRect[1] = f.rect[3]; myRect[3] = f.rect[3] - 10; myRect[2] = f.rect[0] + (flength * 3); // make a new field just under old one f = this.addField("abyz" + i, "text", this.pageNum, myRect); f.value = name; } this.print(true, this.pageNum, this.pageNum);

Another variation is the following script, which will place the name of each field below the field, and allow you to print the resulting form. The added field label is added in a new field created by the script, so it is intended only as a development tool to help identify fields.

In the above example, the field bounding box coordinates are returned for rotated user space, and are in this order: ulx (upper-left x), uly (upper-left y), lrx (lower-right x), and lry (lower-right y), which is different from bounding boxes for annotation rectangles.

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Forms: Code Samples

Printing: Set field to print or not print Code to control the print property of a field so the field will either print or not print.
var f = this.getField("myField"); f.print = false;
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The first example below shows how to display help text, but it could also be used to display the default value by using the defaultValue property of the field.
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Basic rollover highlighting of a form field is shown in Highlighting a single field on page 13.

Most printing examples are in the JavaScript for Documents section under Printing on page 33.

Display help text Display help text for a field for the Mouse Enter event. For a Mouse Enter event:
var f = this.getField("Text1"); f.value = "Enter full e-mail address"

Print selected form pages Print a selected range of form pages (for example, to exclude the instruction pages in a form document). Some forms consist of one or more pages of instructions which dont need to be printed. The following example might be for a form where the first page contains only instructions, and the second page contains the form and a print button. Hence the page range parameters both point to the second page:
this.print(false,this.pageNum,this.pageNum);

And for the Mouse Exit event:

// Remove help text only if present var f = this.getField("Text1") f.value = "";

Rollover help
Two methods for providing rollover help include: 1) descriptive help text can be displayed; or 2) a default text or value can be displayed. In both cases, the rollover help text should be displayed for the Mouse Enter event, and it can be removed for the Mouse Exit event.

The problem with the above code is that it works fine when the mouse enters and leaves the field, but when the user clicks in the field to enter data, the help text is not removed. Also, if the user did remove the help text manually and then entered data, the next time the mouse passed over the field, the user data would be removed. The following improved script checks field contents before changes are made. It adds an On Focus event (when the user tabs to, or clicks in, the field) to distinguish when the user begins to enter data.

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Forms: Code Samples

For the Mouse Enter event:
//Display help text only if field is blank var f = this.getField("Text1") if (f.value == "") f.value = "Enter full e-mail address"; if (this.getNthFieldName(i).substring(0,3) == "txt") app.alert(this.getNthFieldName(i)); // or to list in console window: // console.println(this.getNthFieldName(i)) }

For the Mouse Exit event:

// Remove field text but only if it is the // text from the Mouse Enter event, otherwise // user input could be deleted var f = this.getField("Text1") if (f.value == "Enter full e-mail address") f.value = "";

For the On Focus event:

// Reset field to blank only if // help text is present var f = this.getField("Text1") if (f.value == "Enter full e-mail address") f.value = ""

The above code uses the JavaScript substring method. It specifies the beginning index of the string (0) and the length of the string it is trying to match (3) . The code can be entered in the JavaScript console as means of locating and potentially altering all fields with a given name (using additional code), or it could be an action associated with a button, or be used in any other script associated with the form. Set an action for a single field Attaches an action to a single field. The following code sets the function ChangeColor() (defined on page 13) as the action for the field named myField, for both the On Focus and On Blur events.
var f = this.getField("myField"); f.setAction("OnFocus", "ChangeColor();"); f.setAction("OnBlur", "ChangeColor();");

Search fields
Search for all fields with a specified prefix Search/enumerate through all fields that begin with specified string. The following code loops through all fields in the form and displays field names that begin with (for example) txt.
for (var i = 0; i < this.numFields; i++) {

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Set an action for multiple fields Execute code from the JavaScript console to attach an action to multiple fields. A script to set an action for multiple fields is shown in Highlighting multiple fields using a for loop on page 14. The function call and the actions can be modified to suit whatever is needed. The script adds the specified actions to all fields in the document. Depending on the form, it might be easier to add the actions to all fields using a for loop, and then deleting by hand the actions for the fields that do not need those actions.
} } // Add your tests here // Build a list of names and pages // to alert user

The following script checks all fields for a prefix of required. (for example, required.username). It then checks if an entry has been made in that field, and alerts the user if no data has been entered.
for (var i=0; i<this.numFields; i++) { if (this.getNthFieldName(i).substring(0,8) == "required"){ var f1 = this.getField(this.getNthFieldName(i)); if (f1.value == "") { app.alert(this.getNthFieldName(i) + " is a required field; please enter data"); f1.setFocus();} } }

Form checking and resetting

Final field checks
Check fields before submitting Check that all required fields were completed before the form is submitted. The following code loops through all fields, allowing you to verify, check, or validate each field before the form is submitted. The code could be used, for example, as part of the action for a Submit button.
for (var i=0; i<this.numFields; i++) { var strFieldName = this.getNthFieldName(i); var field = this.getField(strFieldName); if (field.value == "") {

Another option would be to put the names of all required fields in an array; in this example they are hard-coded in the script. The user clicks a button and is alerted as to which fields are blank. They then enter the data, and click the button again until no error messages are displayed.
// Specify a list of required field names: var requiredField = ["Text10", "Text11", "Text12"]; // Loop through the array of field names: for (var i=0; i<requiredField.length; i++){

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Forms: Code Samples

var f = this.getField(requiredField[i]); if (f.value == ""){ app.alert("The " + requiredField[i] + " field is required; please click OK on this message; enter data; and then click this button again until there are no error messages") break; } else if(i == requiredField.length - 1) { app.alert("Thank you, all required fields have been completed"); } }

two field names and passes the array name as the parameter to the resetForm() method:
var f = new Array(2); f[0] = "textField"; f[1] = "totalField"; this.resetForm(f);

You could use the following alternate syntax for setting up the array:
var f = new Array("textField", "totalField");

Or you could use the Acrobat naming convention; for example, if you want to reset all name fields, and they are named name.first, name.last, etc., then the following will reset all fields that begin with name:
var a = new Array(1); a[0] = "name" this.resetForm(a);

Resetting a form Resets all fields, or specified fields, to their original default value. The doc object method resetForm(), with no arguments, will reset all fields in the form to their default value:
this.resetForm();

If you want to set a field to be blank (Null) even though its default value is something else, you can set it to Null by using the null string, which consists of two double-quote characters:
var f = this.getField("myField"); f.value = "";

It could be set as the action for a Reset Form button. If the default is not set to a specfied value, (which means the value is Null ), the above method has the effect of clearing the fields so they are left blank. If you want to reset a subset of all fields, you need to specify an array that contains the names of all fields to be reset. For example, the following code builds an array of

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Validation
Validate that number is in the correct range Verify that entered value is in one of two ranges. Standard Acrobat validation can be used for simple validations such as whether a number is in a given range, but a custom script can be used for other types of validations. The following script would be defined as a custom validation script to be run after a value is entered.
if ((event.value >= 40 && event.value <=200) || (event.value >= 1000 && event.value <= 2000)) event.rc = true ; else { app.alert("value out of range"); event.rc = false ; }

them a choice in a dialog to leave some fields blank and return later. The following code will check a required field to verify that required information has been entered (it checks to see if the fields value is not Null).
f1 = this.getField("employeeNumber") if (f1.value == "") { app.alert('Please enter your employee number'); }

Another way to check required fields before they are submitted would be by using a field name prefix of required. You could then use the following code which uses the substring() method to identify fields whose names begin with required:
// Enumerate through all fields for (var i = 0; i < this.numFields; i++) { if (this.getNthFieldName(i).substring(0,8) == "required"){ var f1 = this.getField(this.getNthFieldName(i)); if (f1.value == "") { app.alert(this.getNthFieldName(i) + " is a required field!"); f1.setFocus(); } } }

Verify that required entry was made Check required fields for a valid entry. A fields properties can be set through the Acrobat UI to indicate that it is a required field, but that field property is not checked for a data entry value until the form is submitted (this example is similar to the example Check fields before submitting on page 18). There can be situations where you might want to check if specific required entries have been made, before the user can proceed to other pages. Or you might want to give

When a required field has a null value, the Focus is set to that field (f1.setFocus()) so the user can enter

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Forms: Code Samples

required information. You might want to also change the border style or fill color of that field to draw attention to it, and then reset those properties when data entry has been completed. Another method would be to loop through all fields, as above, and check for the required property for each field.
for (var i = 0; i < this.numFields; i++) { var f = this.getNthFieldName(i); var f1 = getField(f); if (f1.required == true){ if (f1.value == "") { app.alert(this.getNthFieldName(i) + "is a required field!") } } }

Restricting keystrokes to uppercase characters Restrict keystrokes to Y (for Yes) or N (for No) . The following custom keystroke script will only allow the user to type Y or N (or y or n).
if (!event.willCommit) { if (event.change.match(/[YN]/)) event.rc = true; } else { app.beep(); event.rc = false; } } {

Convert user input to uppercase characters Converts lowercase characters typed by the user into uppercase characters. The following code could be used as a custom keystroke script which will change all lowercase characters to uppercase (non-lowercase characters typed by the user will not be affected).:
// Custom keystroke for text field if (!event.willCommit) event.change = event.change.toUpperCase();

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JavaScript for Documents
This section contains sample JavaScripts formany PDF document operations. Remove an annotation Removes an annotation. The following code will remove all annotations of the type Text, on the first page of the document (page 0 in a zero-based numbering system):
var annots = this.getAnnots({nPage:0}); for (var i = 0; i < annots.length; i++) if (annots[i].type == "Text") annots[i].destroy();

Annotations
Add/remove annotations
Create an annotation Illustrates how to create an annotation of type Text.
try { // Create a document var myDoc = app.newDoc(); // Create an annot var myAnnot = myDoc.addAnnot ({ page: 0, type: "Text", point: [300,400], name: "myAnnot", }); } catch (e) { app.alert(e); }

Application Version
Version checking Checks the version and type of the Acrobat application, and lists all plug-ins. This script could be run from the console or attached to a button, or included with other JavaScript code in a document.
// Query App version and output results var echo = this.getField("Text_output"); echo.value = "Viewer type is " + app.viewerType; echo.value += "\n" + "Viewer version is " + app.viewerVersion; // Now get array of plug-in names var aPlugins = app.plugIns; //Get number of plug-ins var nPlugins = aPlugins.length; //Enumerate names of all plug-ins

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for (var i = 0; i < nPlugins; i++) console.println("Plug-in \#"+i+" is " + aPlugins[i].name);
N OTE :

Add a child bookmark Inserts a bookmark as a child of the bookmark in the previous sample.. The bookmark generated in this example will be named myBookmarkChild, and the associated action is to display the message Hello child.
var current = myRoot.children[0]; current.createChild("myBookmarkChild", "app.alert('Hello child!');");

This code works for Acrobat 5.0 or newer; for earlier versions, see JavaScript for Acrobat API Reference.

Bookmarks
To create a new bookmark, invoke the Bookmark object createChild method, to which you may submit the following parameters: cName (the name to appear in the navigational panel), cExpr (an optional JavaScript to be executed when the bookmark is clicked), and nIndex (an optional zero-based index into the children array).
N OTE :

Remove a bookmark Removes a bookmark and all children bookmarks from the bookmark tree.
bookmarkRoot.remove();

Bookmarks cannot be created or removed in Acrobat Reader.

You can remove a specific bookmark, or the above command will remove all bookmarks in the tree.

Create a new bookmark Creates a new child bookmark at the specified location. Begin by accessing the bookmarkRoot, which is a property of the current document representing the top node in the bookmark tree, and then creating a child bookmark that displays a greeting when clicked:
var myRoot = this.bookmarkRoot; myRoot.createChild("myBookmark", "app.alert(' Hello!');");

Document Operations
Create a new blank PDF document Creates a new document in the Acrobat viewer. Because of security restrictions, this code can only be executed during batch, console, or menu events. Running it in the console is an easy way to generate a blank PDF document for testing purposes.
app.newDoc();

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Metadata: Get document metadata Allows you to retrieve and display document metadata. Document metadata is stored in a PDF file as XML data. This sample gets the path and filename of the document, and also the XML text for the document metadata. The following code can be set as an action attached to a button:
// Display metadata in the // Text_meta.filename, Text_meta.fpath, // and Text_meta.data fields

Prompt user for a document to open Executes the File Open menu item in Acrobat, which prompts the user for a file to open.
app.execMenuItem("Open");
I MP OR TA N T:

As of Acrobat 8, this method can only be executed in Privileged mode, which means during batch or console events. See Note under Execute menu item on page 27.

Links
this.getField("Text_meta.fpath").value = this.path; this.getField("Text_meta.filename").value= this.documentFileName; this.getField("Text_meta.data").value=this.m etadata;

Add navigation links to a page This sample adds navigational links at the bottom of each page in the document. This sample creates two navigtaion links for each page. For this example, the links direct the user to either page 0 or 2, such as might be used to go to the cover page or the Table of Contents page of a document. The links could also be placed over custom navigation images in the document. This script can also be run from the JavaScript console.
// Define two link rectangles var linkRect1 = [70, 70, 225, 50]; var linkRect2 = [260, 70, 340, 50]; // For pages 0 to n (or range of your choice) for ( var i=0; i < this.numPages; i++ ) { // Add link for current page, "i"

and the following script could be set as the action for a button labelled Clear:
//Clear the fields: var fields = this.getField("Text_meta"); this.resetForm(fields);

Open an existing document Opens the document whose filename is specified as the string argument.
app.openDoc("MyFile.pdf");

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var link1 = this.addLink(i, linkRect1); link1.borderWidth = 3; link1.borderColor = color.blue; var link2 = this.addLink(i, linkRect2); link2.borderWidth = 3; link2.borderColor = color.blue; // For this example, link to pages 0 & 2; // (For example, the Cover page // and Table of Contents pages link1.setAction("this.pageNum = 0"); link2.setAction("this.pageNum = 2"); } l.setAction("this.getURL('http:// www.adobe.com/products/acrobat', false);"); } }

Convert URL text to live links Convert all content that appears to be a URL into a web link. The following sample will convert all URLs in the document into a weblink and display the number of links created. The code can be entered and executed in the console.
var numWeblinks = this.addWeblinks(); console.println("There were " + numWeblinks + " instances of text that looked like a web address,");

Convert specified word to a weblink Search for a word and create a weblink.
var p = this.pageNum; var numWords = this.getPageNumWords(p); for (var i=0; i<numWords; i++) { var ckWord=this.getPageNthWord(p, i, true); if ( ckWord == "Acrobat") { var q = this.getPageNthWordQuads(p, i); // convert quads in Default User Space to // Rotated User Space used by Links. m = (new Matrix2D).fromRotated(this,p); mInv = m.invert() r = mInv.transform(q); r = r.toString(); r = r.split(","); l = addLink(p, [r[4], r[5], r[2], r[3]]); l.borderColor = color.red; l.borderWidth = 1;

Remove all links on a page Removes all links on the current page. The following code can be entered in the JavaScript console, either for the current page, or it could be used in a loop to remove links for multiple pages. It first gets the coordinates of the current page, and then tells the doc object to remove all links within that rectangle.
var b = this.getPageBox("Crop", this.pageNum); this.removeLinks(this.pageNum, b);

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Set an action for a link Sets the specified JavaScript action for the Mouse Up trigger for the link object. Link.setAction specifies the action for the Mouse Up trigger for the link object, which is obtained from doc.addLink or doc.getLinks. For this example, the action (this.pageNum++) causes the viewing application to go to the next page:
link.setAction("this.pageNum++");

The menu changes will then apply to all PDF files that are opened by the application. Example 1 Adds a Hello entry to the File menu; when selected, the menu item title is displayed on the users screen.
app.addMenuItem({ cName: "Hello", cParent: "File", cExec: "app.alert(event.target.info.title, 3);", cEnable: "event.rc = (event.target != null);", nPos: 0 });

Menu operations
N OTE :

This section contains tasks related to application menu items. For an example of how to add your own pop-up menus, see: Pop-up menus for zooming on page 37.

Example 2 [ Acrobat version 6.0 or newer] Places two menu items in the File menu, one before the Close item, and the other after the Close item. The names _myProc1 and _myProc2 are placeholders for the JavaScript procedures you would write to handle the intended task for the menu items you are adding.
// insert after the "Close" item // (the default behavior) app.addMenuItem( { cName: "myItem1", cUser: "My Item 1", cParent:"File", cExec: "_myProc1()", nPos: "Close"}); // insert before the "Close" item, // set bPrepend to true.

Add a new menu item Adds a new menu item and an associated action. This first example adds a menu item to the top of the file submenu and it puts up an alert dialog displaying the active document title. This menu item is only enabled if a document has been opened.
N OTE :

Because of security constraints, code to add or hide menu items can only be used in the JavaScript console or in folder level JavaScript files which execute when the application is opened.

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app.addMenuItem( { cName: "myItem2", cUser: "My Item 2", cParent: "File", cExec: "_myProc2()", nPos: "Close", bPrepend: true });

Hide a menu item Hides a menu item so user wont have access to that item.
N OTE :

Execute menu item Executes the menu item specified by the argument. For example:
app.execMenuItem("Open");

Because of security constraints, code to add or hide menu items can only be used in the JavaScript console or in folder level JavaScript files which execute when the application is opened. The menu changes then apply to all PDF files that are opened by the PDF viewer.

app.hideMenuItem("Edit");
N OTE :

will execute the menu item File > Open, which will prompt the user for the file to be opened.
N OTE : As of Acrobat 8, the execMenuItem method is

See List menu items below to get exact menu names.

List menu items Display a list of menu items for the Acrobat application; for use with methods that reference menu items. In order to hide or execute a menu item, you need to know the exact name of the menu item. Example 1 List all menu item names to the JavaScript console.
var menuItems = app.listMenuItems() for (var i in menuItems) console.println(menuItems[i] + "\n");

restricted to a short list of safe menu entries. It will silently fail if a named menu item is executed that is not on the safe menu list. The JavaScript developer is notified that menu items may be removed in future releases, or their behavior may change. The app.execMenuItem method may be executed, without restriction, in a privileged context, such as in the console or in a batch sequence. For folder JavaScript, app.execMenuItem can be executed, again, without restriction, through a trusted function with raised privilege. See JavaScript for Acrobat API Reference for more information.

Example 2 List all menu items to console, but more nicely formatted.
function FancyMenuList(m, nLevel) {

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var s = ""; for (var i = 0; i < nLevel; i++) s += " "; console.println(s + "+-" + m.cName); if (m.oChildren != null) for (var i = 0; i < m.oChildren.length; i++) FancyMenuList(m.oChildren[i], nLevel + 1); } var m = app.listMenuItems(); for (var i=0; i < m.length; i++) FancyMenuList(m[i], 0);

Simple alert Displays a message to the user. The following code posts a simple alert message:
app.alert("Error! Incorrect entry");

Messages/Dialogs
Beep the user Causes the system to play a sound to alert the user.
app.beep();

The app.alert object also allows you to customize by: 1) using your own title instead of the standard Acrobat title; 2) displaying your choice of icons; 3) choosing the type of buttons shown to the user. The following example uses a few of those options (the optional cTitle parameter is only supported for Acrobat 6 or newer):
app.alert({ cMsg: "Error! Incorrect entry!\n\tYou may want to try again", cTitle: "Acme Corporation" });

Prompt the user for a response Prompt and get a response from the user. The users response is returned as the value of the variable reply. That string can then be tested using an if statement.
var dialogTitle = "Please confirm"; var defaultAnswer = "No."; var reply = app.response("Did you really mean to type that?", dialogTitle, defaultAnswer);

In this example, the default title Adobe Acrobat was replaced by Acme Corporation, and a second line of the message is begun on a new line (\n), and a tab is set (\t) to indent it. For more information, see the JavaScript for Acrobat API Reference.

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Navigation
Add a pop-up menu for navigation Creates a pop-up menu that can be triggered by any of a variety of events. This script could be attached as the action for a Navigation Menu button (for example), which could be placed at strategic locations in a document.
// pops up a menu for going to other pages var cChoice = app.popUpMenuEx ( {cName: "Cover page", bEnabled:false}, {cName: "-"}, {cName: "Page 2", cReturn: "2"}, {cName: "More", oSubMenu: [ {cName: "Page 3", cReturn: "3"}, {cName: "More", oSubMenu: [ {cName:"Page 4", cReturn: "4"}, {cName:"Page 5", cReturn: "5"} ] } ] }, {cName: "Last page" }, {cName: "-"}, {cName: "Beep On", bMarked:global.bFlag} ) //app.alert("You chose the \"" + cChoice + "\" menu item"); if(!isNaN(parseInt(cChoice))) this.pageNum =parseInt(cChoice) - 1; else if(cChoice=="Last page") this.pageNum = this.numPages - 1; else if(cChoice=="Beep On") global.bFlag = ! (global.bFlag); if(global.bFlag) app.beep(0);

Adding page numbers to a document Adds page numbers to a document in the specified location, using the specified font style.
var r =[612 -72, 792 -72, 612, 792]; // 1 inch from top right for( var i = 0; i < numPages; i++) { // Get page number string var fn = String("page"+i+1); var f = this.addField(fn,"text",i,r); f.textSize = 14; f.textColor = color.blue; f.fillColor = color.transparent; f.textfont = font.HelvB; f.borderStyle = border.s; f.strokeColor = color.transparent; f.value = String(i+ 1); }

Get the number of the current page Gets the current page number.
var currentPage = this.pageNum;

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Go to a specified page number Sample code to go to a specific page number.
// Go to page 20 (zero-based page numbers) this.pageNum = 20;

for example, 45, then the zero-based number of that page will be 44. Go to another page: create a pop-up menu Creates a pop-up menu which gives the user a choice of pages to which to go. The script can be attached to a button.
// pops up a menu for going to other pages var cChoice = app.popUpMenuEx ( {cName: "Cover page", bEnabled:false}, {cName: "-"}, {cName: "Page 2", cReturn: "2"}, {cName: "More", oSubMenu: [ {cName: "Page 3", cReturn: "3"}, {cName: "More", oSubMenu: [ {cName:"Page 4", cReturn: "4"}, {cName:"Page 5", cReturn: "5"} ] } ] }, {cName: "Last page" }, {cName: "-"}, {cName: "Beep On", bMarked:global.bFlag} ) //app.alert("You chose the \"" + cChoice + "\" menu item"); if(!isNaN(parseInt(cChoice))) this.pageNum =parseInt(cChoice) - 1;

Go to first page Sets the page being viewed to the first page (zero-based numbering) in the document.
this.pageNum = 0;

Go to next page Increments the page being viewed to the next page.
this.pageNum++;

Go to previous page Navigates to the previous page of the document.

this.pageNum--;

Go to last page Sets the page being viewed to the last page in the document.
this.pageNum = this.numPages - 1;
N OTE :

Because the JavaScript page numbering is zero based, if the number of pages in the document is,

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else if(cChoice=="Last page") this.pageNum = this.numPages - 1; else if(cChoice=="Beep On") global.bFlag = ! (global.bFlag); if(global.bFlag) app.beep(0); f.buttonSetCaption("\341") // a right arrow f.delay = false; }
N OTE :

Add navigational arrows on every page Add navigational symbols to every page of a document for each document in a selected set. The following sample code can be used in a batch sequence or as folder level JavaScript, or you can execute it from the JavaScript console.
var inch = 72; for (var p = 0; p < this.numPages; p++) { // position rectangle (.5 inch, .5 inch) var aRect = this.getPageBox( {nPage: p} ); aRect[0] += .5*inch; // from upper left aRect[2] = aRect[0]+.5*inch; // .5 wide aRect[1] -= .5*inch; aRect[3] = aRect[1] - 24; // 24 points high // now construct button field with a right // arrow from ZapfDingbats var f = this.addField("NextPage", "button", p, aRect ) f.setAction("MouseUp", "this.pageNum++"); f.delay = true; f.borderStyle = border.s; f.highlight = "push"; f.textSize = 0; // auto sized f.textColor = color.blue; f.fillColor = color.ltGray; f.textFont = font.ZapfD

For another method for adding navigational links to document pages, see Add navigation links to a page on page 24.

OCG (Optional Content Group)

OCG objects (images or text) can be selectively viewed or hidden content in a PDF document using JavaScript. Beep when OCG state changes Execute a JavaScript after every state change for a give OCG.
/* Beep when the given OCG is changed */ function BeepOnChange(ocg) { ocg.setAction("app.beep()"); }

Show all OCG objects on the currrent page Make visible all OCG objects in a specified name family. The following code gets a list of all OCG objects on the current page, loads them into an array, and then sets their state to true, which makes them visible. It could be set as the action for a button to display a given set of OCG objects.
var ocgArray = this.getOCGs(this.pageNum); for (var i=0; i < ocgArray.length; i++) ocgArray[i].state = true;

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Documents: Code Samples

Hide all OCG objects on current page Hide all OCG objects in a specified name family. The following code gets a list of all OCG objects on the current page, loads them into an array, and then sets their state to false, which hides them. It could be set as the action for a button to hide a given set of OCG objects.
var ocgArray = this.getOCGs(this.pageNum); for (var i=0; i < ocgArray.length; i++) { ocgArray[i].state = false; } for (var i=0; i < ocgArray.length; i++) { if (ocgArray[i].name == "Watermark") ocgArray[i].state =!ocgArray[i].state; }

Page Operations
Insert new page Inserts a new page based on the selected template and then jumps to the new page. The following code selects the first template in the document, and adds a new page at the end.
// get the template var t = this.getNthTemplate(0); // spawn a new page after last page this.spawnPageFromTemplate(t); // go to new page: this.pageNum = this.numPages-1;

Lock OCG objects Locks the OCG so its state cannot be toggled through the UI. This sample locks all OCG objects on the current page:
var ocgArray = this.getOCGs(this.pageNum); for (var i=0; i<ocgArray.length; i++) ocgArray[i].locked = true;

Toggle the state of OCG objects Specifies whether an OCG object is hidden or not. This code could be associated with a button that toggles whether a watermark graphic or text is hidden or not.
// Get list of OCG objects for current page var ocgArray = this.getOCGs(this.pageNum); // If name begins with "Watermark", // toggle its display state

Insert/Delete/Replace/Extract Pages Executes a menu item to insert, delete, replace, or extract pages. The user is prompted to specify the appropriate pages. For example, to delete pages:
app.execMenuItem("DeletePages");

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Documents: Code Samples

I MP O R TA N T:

See the note about security restrictions under Execute menu item on page 27.

The other page operation menu options include: InsertPages, ExtractPages, and ReplacePages.

// set some properties pp.interactive = pp.constants.interactionLevel.automatic; pp.colorOverride = pp.constants.colorOverrides.auto; // use the printer selected var f = this.getField("ComboBox_printers"); var aPrinter = f.valueAsString; if(aPrinter!=null) pp.printerName = aPrinter; // print this.print(pp);

Printing
Get a list of printers as a combo box Shows how to get a list of printers and display result as a combo box. The following code could be set as the action for a button to get a list of available printers and populate the combo box with that list:
this.getField("ComboBox_printers").setItems( app.printerNames);

Print only the current page Sample code to print only the current page. The following code causes the user to be prompted with the printing dialog box:
this.print(true,this.pageNum,this.pageNum);

Print page using printer selected in combo box Code to print the current page using the printer selected by user from the combo box presented in previous example. This example uses the printer selected from the combo box created in the example above. The current page of the document is printed to that printer.
// get printParams object of default printer var pp = this.getPrintParams(); // print this page pp.firstPage = this.pageNum; pp.lastPage = this.pageNum;

The first parameter, true, specifies that the print UI wil be presented to the user to obtain printing information and confirm the action. Print current page (no dialog) Print the current page without the usual dialog.
// first param = false = no dialog this.print(false,this.pageNum,this.pageNum);

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Documents: Code Samples

Searching
A simple find operation A alternative to the standard Acrobat search function; it can be used to create customized searches. The following sample shows a folder level JavaScript to add a new menu item Find to the Tools menu.
app.addMenuItem({ cName: "Find", cParent: "Tools", cExec: "easyFind()" }); } function easyFind() { var wordToFind = app.response({ cQuestion:"Enter the word you wish to search for", cTitle:"Quick Search" }); if(wordToFind != null) search.query(wordToFind, "ActiveDoc") }; if(wordToFind != null) { // what to search: search.bookmarks = true; search.attachments = true; search.docXMP = true; // how to match: search.matchWholeWord = true; search.matchCase = true; search.matchWholeWord = true; search.ignoreAccents = true; // 6.0 // 7.0 // 6.0

// // // //

6.0 6.0 6.0 7.0

// do search: search.query(wordToFind, "ActiveDoc")

The above example specifies the scope of what will be searched, and the rules for how to match.
N OTE :

The comment next to each search property indicates the version number of Acrobat that supports that feature. See the JavaScript for Acrobat API Reference for more information.

Also, it is easy to specify search parameters to improve the quality of the search. The following code from the easyFind() function shown above illustrates more possibilities:

Spell checking
Creating a menu item to spellcheck a document Spellchecks a document and uses annotations to mark the misspelled words. [Version 6.0 or higher] The spell checking can be done by creating a folder level JavaScript that creates a custom menu item to do the spellchecking. This sample is similar to the spell checker

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Documents: Code Samples

in Acrobat, except that with JavaScript the search parameters can be customized.
app.addMenuItem({ cName: "SpellCheck", cParent: "Tools", cExec: "SpellCheck();" }); function SpellCheck(){ var ckWord, numWords; for (var i = 0; i < this.numPages; i++) { numWords = this.getPageNumWords(i); for (var j = 0; j < numWords; j++) { ckWord = spell.checkWord(this.getPageNthWord(i, j)) if ( ckWord != null ) { this.addAnnot({ page: i, strokeColor: color.red, type: "Squiggly", quads: this.getPageNthWordQuads(i, j), author: "JavaScript SpellChecker", contents: ckWord.toString() }); } } } app.alert ("Acrobat is done spell checking the current document",3) }

Timing
Set countdown timer Prompt the user for a time interval, and alert the user when that time has elapsed. Setting a timer can be used for many purposes, but as a simple example, the following code prompts the user to enter the number of seconds, and when the time has elapsed, a message is displayed.
function TimedOut() { app.alert ("The time has elapsed"); // cancel the timer: app.clearInterval(timeout); } // Prompt for number of seconds var secondCount = app.response("Enter number of seconds", "Number of Seconds", "", "") // Start counter if (secondCount >= 0) // Timer set for thousandths of a second var timeout = app.setInterval("TimedOut()", 1000*secondCount);

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Documents: Code Samples

Viewing
Viewing Mode
Go to fullscreen mode and start slide show Switches the viewer to full screen mode and starts a slide show. The following code could be attached as the action for a Click Me or Start Slideshow button action.
this.pageNum = 0; // full screen app.fs.cursor = cursor.visible; app.fs.defaultTransition = "WipeDown"; // BoxIn, BoxOut app.fs.timeDelay = 2; // delay 2 seconds app.fs.useTimer = true; // activate automatic page turning app.fs.usePageTiming = true; // allow page override app.fs.clickAdvances = true; app.fs.escapeExits = true; app.fs.loop = true; app.fs.backgroundColor = color.ltGray; // go app.fs.isFullScreen = true;

Setting zoom values

Change zoom value Set the zoom to a percentage of full size.
this.zoom = 40; // Set to 40% zoom

Prompt for a zoom value Ask the user for a zoom value and set the view to that value. It may be useful to have a button which, when clicked, prompts the user to change the zoom value. For example, some PDF files may specify that the tool bars be hidden when the document is viewed, so the zoom tools are not readily available. Also, this might be useful for the situation where some OCG (Optional Content Group) objects are only visible at certain zoom values.
// Prompt for a value: var zoomValue = app.response({ cQuestion:"Enter zoom value:", cTitle:"Zoom Percentage", }) // Check if Null; if so, dont change value if(zoomValue == "") app.alert("No value entered"); else this.zoom = zoomValue;

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Pop-up menus for zooming The following example creates a pop-up menu which might be attached to a Mouse Up or Mouse Down action for a button field.
// pops up a menu for various zoom choices var cChoice = app.popUpMenuEx( {cName: "Zoom options:"}, {cName: "-"}, {cName: "Zoom In", cReturn: "zIn"}, {cName: "View @ 100%", cReturn: "z100"}, {cName: "Zoom Out", cReturn: "zOut" }, {cName: "-"} ) // if(cChoice == "zIn") this.zoom = 200; else if (cChoice == "z100") this.zoom = 100; else if(cChoice=="zOut") this.zoom = 40;

Adding a watermark from an external file Add a watermark from an external PDF file to a selected range of pages in the current document. The following code(for Acrobat 7 or higher) adds a watermark image, from an external file, to the first two pages of the document.
this.addWatermarkFromFile({ cDIPath: "/C/watermark.pdf", nSourcePage: 0, // select source doc page 0 nEnd: 1, nHorizAlign: 0, nVertAlign: 0, nHorizValue: 288, nVertValue: -144, });
N OTE :

Because of security restrictions, the above script can only be executed in the JavaScript Console or in batch mode.

Watermarks
Following are two methods for adding watermarks to a PDF documentusing either the watermark from an external file or from text specified in the JavaScript.

Adding a watermark from text Add specified text to current document as a watermark. The following code places the word Confidential on all pages of the document. This code could be run from the JavaScript console.
this.addWatermarkFromText( "Confidential", 0, font.HelvB, 24, color.red );

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About this Document

Who should read this document
This document is a tutorial-level guide for users who need to add scripting intelligence to PDF documents and forms. The types of events which can trigger JavaScripts actions How to use the Acrobat UI to create those actions The hierarchy of scripting objects, properties, and methods (see JavaScript for Acrobat API Reference). The PDF coordinate system used in PDF documents How to use the JavaScript Console and Debugger to enter, execute, and test scripts you are developing. For information on the above topics, see Developing Acrobat Applications Using JavaScript as well as other documents listed in the Resources chapter.

Document contents
This collection of JavaScript snippets provides code samples that address a variety of basic tasks commonly faced when trying to add JavaScript to enhance PDF forms and documents. The samples are organized into two main categories: Forms: Documents: For adding intelligence to Acrobat forms. For all document operations other than those most suited to use in forms.

Setting JavaScript actions

Adding JavaScript to PDF documents often requires setting actions for a variety of field types and events. The chapter Creating actions for events gives a brief summary of how to set those actions.

Within these categories, the samples are organized by their functional use rather than by the JavaScript object name, which makes it easier to find samples for a given task. For more information, see the Developing Acrobat Applications using JavaScript.

Multiple scripting models Prerequisites

This document is intended for users with little or no experience with JavaScript. However, its use will be greatly enhanced if you have a basic knowledge of the following: A PDF file can either Acrobat forms and documents, or Adobe LiveCycle XML forms. The following table shows the relationship

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About this Document

between the various scripting models, the data formats, and what tools can be used to create and edit the document.
Data type FDF File Development / Editing tool format PDF Acrobat (with built-in JavaScript editor & debugger LiveCycle Designer Form type Acrobat Scripting model JavaScript for Acrobat

application, etc. It cannot be used to change field values, get field names, add or remove fields, delete or extract pages, add an action to a link, create a template, or change tabbing order. Those types of operations must be done using JavaScript for LiveCycle. For more information see Converting Acrobat JavaScript for Use in LiveCycle Designer Forms, available at: http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/en/acrobat/sdk/ AcroJS_DesignerJS.pdf

LiveCycle

XML

JavaScript (ECMA script) for LiveCycle JavaScript for Acrobata FormCalc

PDF XDPb

Product Compatibility
Most samples shown in this document are intended for use with Acrobat 6.0 or greater, except where noted.

a. Only a subset of the Acrobat scripting objects can be used in LiveCycle forms; see JavaScript for Acrobat for use in LiveCycle XML forms , below. b. XDP format is used with LiveCycle forms

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You can tell if a form you open in a PDF file is an XML form because the form tools in the Tools Menu will be grayed out.

JavaScript for Acrobat for use in LiveCycle XML forms

JavaScript for Acrobat can also be used in XML forms for LiveCycle, but its use is restricted to those objects that do not affect form fields or the structure of the form. For example, it can be used for tasks such as to open or attach external files, manipulate annotations, check the version of the viewing

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Setting JavaScript Actions

Creating actions for events
This section explains how to set the various types of JavaScript actions mentioned in this document.
N OTE :

Type Control-j

(Macintosh)

To evaluate or execute JavaScript code from the console: Type in the code, highlight it, and press the Enter key on the numeric keypad, or Ctrl+Enter on the regular keyboard. Field actions The following briefly describes how to enter custom Field JavaScripts for triggers such as: Mouse Up/Down Mouse Enter/Exit On Focus/Blur
N OTE :

This section covers only the most basic action types. For complete information, see Developing Acrobat Applications Using JavaScript.

Setting up for JavaScript Before you can use JavaScript, you must enable it as described in Developing Acrobat Applications Using JavaScript. Executing JavaScript in the JavaScript console The JavaScript console provides an interface for testing and debugging your JavaScript code., or you can use the console as a tool to interact with the document or form. You can either add intelligence to a PDF document, or you can execute JavaScript from the console as a processing tool. For example, you could add a new field to selected pages of an existing forms document, or add page numbers to a document without them. From within the Adobe Acrobat application, open the Acrobat JavaScript console window by: Select Advanced > Document Processing > JavaScript Debugger... or... Type Ctrl-j (Windows), or...

The JavaScript for Acrobat API Reference recommends using the Mouse Up action rather than the Mouse Down action, to avoid potential problems.

To create a custom action: 1. Using the object tool, double-click on a field to bring up the Field Properties dialog. 2. Select the Actions tab 3. In the Add an Action pane, under Select Action: select a trigger type such as Mouse Up, etc. 4. Under Select Action, select Run a JavaScript from the popup menu 5. Click the Add button and enter the script in the script editor window that pops up.

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Setting JavaScript Actions Setting JavaScript Actions

Custom Validation scripts The following steps will set a custom validation script for a field. Custom validation scripts allow you, for example, to examine and validate what the user has entered before it is stored. 1. Double click on the field to bring up the Field Properties window. 2. Select the Validate tab. 3. Click the Run custom validation script radio button. 4. Click the Edit button, and enter the script. 5. Click OK when done. Custom keystroke scripts To create a script which can inspect the users keystrokes and either respond with a warning message or change the keystroke, do the following: 1. Bring up the Text Field Properties dialog box. 2. Select the Format tab. 3. Under Select Format Category, select Custom from the pop-up menu. 4. Under Custom Keystroke Script, click on the Edit button. 5. A JavaScript Editor window will pop up, into which you can enter your custom keystroke script. Page Actions Page action scripts allow you to perform actions when a specified page is opened or closed. To create a Page action script: 1. Click on the Pages tab on the left side of the document viewing window in Acrobat. Page thumbnails will appear. 2. Click on the icon of the page to which you want to add the action. 3. Click on the Options pop-up menu at the top of that pane, and from the pop-up list select Page Properties. 4. Select the Actions tab. 5. From the Select Trigger pop-up menu, select either Page Open or Page Close, as appropriate. 6. In the Select Action pop-up menu, select Run a JavaScript. 7. Click the Add button and enter the script. 8. When done, click OK. To define a function or a document open action A document JavaScript executes when the document is opened, and can be used to either define a function which can be used globally in the document, or to execute an action you want performed before the user sees the document displayed. To define a document JavaScript function, choose: Advanced > JavaScript > Document JavaScripts You can then enter a name for the script and the code you want executed, into the resulting dialog box, and then click Close.

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Setting JavaScript Actions Setting JavaScript Actions

To set document actions To set a specific document action, choose: Advanced > Document Processing > Set Document Actions... You will get the Document Actions dialog, wherein you can select events such as Document Will Close, Document Will Print, Document Did Print, etc. Enter the JavaScript action you would like to associate with that event and click OK. To create folder level JavaScript Folder level JavaScripts are executed by Acrobat when the application is first opened. For example, if JavaScript is executed to add a menu item to the application, the resulting menu item will remain in effect for all documents, as long as the application is open. Folder level JavaScripts are placed in separate files that have a .js file extension, and which are stored in either the Acrobat Application JavaScripts folder or in the users JavaScripts folder. These scripts are loaded when the Acrobat application starts execution, and are associated with the Event objects Application Initialization (App/Init) Event. To create folder level JavaScripts, you may use the JavaScript Editor, or any text editor and save the resulting file with the .js file extension. Batch level JavaScripts A batch level JavaScript is a script that can be applied to a collection of documents, and operates at the application level. To create or edit a batch level JavaScript, click on the Advanced menu and choose the Batch Processing... menu item.

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Testing JavaScript
Testing JavaScript code consists of either executing the code in the JavaScript console, or using the code in a PDF document. The section below briefly explains how to enable the built-in Acrobat debugger for JavaScrip; it is followed by some miscellaneous tips for using and debugging JavaScript. For more information on debugging, see Developing Acrobat Applications Using JavaScript. Enabling the debugger In order to make the debugger available for use, you must enable both JavaScript and the debugger. Use the Preferences dialog box (Ctrl+K) to control the behavior of the JavaScript development environment. To enable the debugger, select JavaScript from the list on the left in the Preferences dialog and make sure the Enable JavaScript debugger option is checked. Note that you must restart Acrobat for this option to take effect. Simple debugging Though Acrobat Professional has a full-featured JavaScript debugger, you can do simple debugging without learning the entire debugging process. For simple scripts, you can sometimes locate problems by (each described in following sections): Testing and/or developing script snippets in the console. Inserting console.println()commands to write information to the console. Testing using the console The JavaScript console allows you to evaluate single or multiple lines of code. There are three ways to evaluate JavaScript code while using the interactive console: To evaluate a portion of a line of code, highlight the portion and press either Enter on the numeric keypad or Ctrl+Enter. To evaluate a single line of code, make sure the cursor is positioned on that line and press either the Enter key on the numeric keypad or press Ctrl+Enter. To evaluate multiple lines of code, highlight the lines and press either Enter on the numeric keypad or Ctrl+Enter. In all cases, the result is displayed in the console. Using the console.println() command Another way to debug a script is to insert code to print information to the JavaScript console. For example, if you want to find out how many times execution got through a for loop before failing, you could insert the console.println statement in the loop like this: for (var i=0; i<numPages; i++) console.println("i =" + i) or you can display the value of a variable (in this example, a fictitious variable named pageTotal) as follows:
console.println(Pages processed so far: , pageTotal);

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Testing JavaScript
Miscellaneous debugging tips When you see Undefined displayed after your script executes in the console. When testing a script in the JavaScript console, if the script executes correctly, the message Undefined will often appear. The debug mechanism is designed to output the return value of a function. But if your code is not a function call, there will be no returned value, and hence the message Undefined is displayed after execution. Using breakpoints. When you set breakpoints in the JavaScript Debugger window, you must close that window before you can test the file. It is not necessary to explicitly save the script or the file; Acrobat saves it automatically, and it will be there when you next open the window, or when execution stops at a breakpoint. Common development problems and tips Security restrictions. If youre having problems with an action attached, for example, to a field or for a Document Open event, check the JavaScript for Acrobat API Reference to make sure that security restrictions do not limit that method to use only in batch mode or from the JavaScript console. Which scripting model? When you receive a form document from someone else, if you open it and the forms tools in the menu bars are grayed-out, it means that it is an XML-based form, and form field editing cannot be done using Acrobat. You must open the document using Adobe Designer. Also, only some JavaScript for Acrobat will work in a LiveCycle XML form, see Converting Acrobat JavaScript for Use in LiveCycle Designer Forms, available at: http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/en/acrobat/sdk/ AcroJS_DesignerJS.pdf For all other JavaScript functions, you must use JavaScript for LiveCycle Designer (which is XMLbased). Curly quote characters cause errors. If you have cut-andpasted code from another document, it is possible that the code text has curly quote characters ( for example, instead of "), which will cause an error in execution. Useful object properties and methods. Familiarize yourself with doc object properties and methods such as: numFields numPages pageNum as well as the doc methods such as: getNthFieldName getPageNthWord getPageNumWords Those properties and methods are useful for looping through multiple objects, pages, fields, or words.

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Resources
From Adobe Adobe Acrobat technical notes are available at: http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/acrobat/ sdk/index_doc.html#js Adobe Documents: JavaScript For Acrobat API Reference Developing Acrobat Applications Using JavaScript Acrobat Online Collaboration: Setup and Administration Acrobat 6.0 Online Training (for ASN members)
http://partners.adobe.com/asn/tech/pdf/training.jsp

JavaScript for Acrobat: Deubert, John, Extending Acrobat Forms with Javascript. Peach Pit Press, 2003 (Written for Acrobat 5.0, but still useful for newer versions.). Padova, Ted, Creating Adobe Acrobat Forms, New York: Wiley, 2002. ISBN: 0-7645-3690-7.

Other Resources General JavaScript: Core JavaScript 1.5 specification http://partners.adobe.com/NSjscript/ Flanagan, David, JavaScript, the Definitive Guide (Sebastopol, California: O'Reilly, 2002).

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Index
A
addWatermarkFromFile() 37 addWatermarkFromText() 37 annotations create an annotation 22 remove an annotation 22 application version number 22 prompt user for document to open 24

46

E
event.target.value 12, 13 event.value 13

field operations 10 final field checks 18 validation 20 function 41

G
getNthFieldName(i) 17 getting todays date 9

F
field properties alignment 11 background color 11 default value 11 display 11 font 11 font size 11 multiline 11 password 12 required 12 stroke color 12 stroke line width 12 fields changing field properties 11 check a check box field 12 check before submitting 18 creating new fields programmatically 10 formatting a number 12 hiding existing field based on conditions 13 highlighting a single field 13 highlighting using a function 14 removing zeros from a field 13 set action for multiple fields 18 set an action for a single field 17 folder level JavaScript 42 form submission, checking, and resetting 18 format, custom keystroke script 41 forms calculations 9 date handling 8

B
batch level JavaScript 42 bookmarks 23 create a new bookmark 23 insert child bookmark 23 remove bookmark 23

J
JavaScript console 40 JavaScript function 41

C
calculations 9 delay redrawing 9 Turn calculations on/off 9 color defining a custom color 12 console, JavaScript 40 console.println() 12 custom validation scripts 41

Main Index

K
keystroke, custom script 41

L
links add a link to a page 24 link.setAction() 26 remove all links on a page 25 set an action for a link 26

M
Menu operations 26 menus add a new menu item 26 addMenuItem() 26 app.execMenuItem() 27 app.hideMenuItem() 27 app.listMenuItems() 27 execute menu item 27 hide a menu item 27 list menu items 27 messages/dialogs

D
date parsing 8 date timestamp 8 dates Date() 8 display descriptive help text 16 document actions 42 documents create a new blank document 23 open an existing document 24

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47

app.alert() 28 app.beep 28 app.response() 28 beep the user 28 prompt the user for a response 28 simple alert 28 metadata get document metadata 24 methods addAnnot() 22 addField() 31 addLink() 25 addMenuItem() 35 addWatermarkFromFile() 37 addWatermarkFromText() 37 AFParseDateEx() 8 app.addMenuItem() 26 app.alert() 28 app.beep 28 app.execMenuItem() 24, 27 app.fs.isFullScreen 36 app.listMenuItems() 27 app.newDoc() 23 app.openDoc() 24 app.popUpMenuEx 37 app.popUpMenuEx() 29, 30 app.response() 28 console.println() 23 Date() 8 getAnnots() 22 getNthTemplate() 32 getOCGs() 31 getPageBox() 25 removeLinks() 25 resetForm() 19 search.query() 34 setAction() 14, 25 setItems() 33

spawnPageFromTemplate() 32 spell.checkWord() 35 util.printd 8 mouse down event 17 mouse enter event 16, 17 mouse exit event 16, 17

N
navigation add a pop-up menu 29 add navigational arrows to every page 31 adding page numbers 29 ap.popUpMenuEx() 29 app.popUpMenuEx() 30 get page number of current page 29 go to first page 30 go to last page 30 go to next page 30 go to page number 30 go to previous page 30 pop-up menu for page selection 30

Main Index

printing get list of printers as a combo box 33 print current page (no dialog) 33 print list of available printers 33 print selected form pages 16 set field to not print 16 properties app.plugIns 22 app.viewerVersion 22 ocgArray.state 32 setItems(app.printerNames) 33

R
reset form 19 resetForm() 19 restricting keystrokes 21 rollover help 16

S
search attachments 34 bookmarks 34 ignoreAccents 34 matchCase 34 matchWholeWord 34 metadata (XMP) 34 searching a simple find operation 34 search all fields with specified prefix 17 search fields 17 search.query() 34 setAction() 14 spell checking spell.checkWord() 35 spellcheck a document 34

O
OCG getOCGs() 31 hide all OCG objects on current page 32 show all OCG objects on currrent page 31 toggle state of OCG objects 32 OCG (Optional Content Group) 31

P
page actions, creating 41 pages insert new page 32 insert/delete/replace/extract pages 32 PostScript font name 11

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48

T
timing set countdown timer 35

V
validation 20 validation, custom scripts 41

verify that required entry was made 20 version checking 22 viewing app.fs.isFullScreen 36 app.popUpMenuEx 37 change zoom value 36 go to fullscreen and start slide show 36 pop-up menus for zooming 37

prompting for a zoom value 36

W
watermarks adding from an external file 37 adding from text 37

Main Index

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