Interactive Forms

An interactive form, sometimes referred to as an AcroForm, is a collection of fields for gathering information interactively from the user. A PDF document may contain any number of fields, appearing on any combination of pages, all of which make up a single, global interactive form spanning the entire document.

FormElement

The FormElement class is parent to the following derived classes: Button, CheckBox, ChoiceField, ComboBox, ListBox, RadioButton, Signature, and TextField.

::important

Do not confuse the FormElement class with the FormField class and its child classes!

Button button = new Button( "Button Name", 50, 50, 100, 50 );
button.Action = new JavaScriptAction( "app.alert('Hello');" );
button.BackgroundColor = RgbColor.AliceBlue;
button.Behavior = Behavior.CreatePush( "downLabel", "rolloverLabel" );
button.BorderColor = RgbColor.BlueViolet;
button.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.Beveled;
button.Label = "Push";
button.TextColor = RgbColor.DarkGreen;
button.ToolTip = "Click";       

Dim MyButton As Button = New Button("Button Name", 50, 50, 100, 50)
MyButton.Action = New JavaScriptAction( "app.alert('Hello');" )
MyButton.BackgroundColor = RgbColor.AliceBlue
MyButton.Behavior = Behavior.CreatePush( "downLabel", "rolloverLabel" )
MyButton.BorderColor = RgbColor.BlueViolet
MyButton.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.Beveled
MyButton.Label = "Push"
MyButton.TextColor = RgbColor.DarkGreen
MyButton.ToolTip = "Click"

CheckBox

The CheckBox element is a child class of the FormField class. The following example illustrates adding a CheckBox to the page.

CheckBox checkBox = new CheckBox( "Check Box Name", 5, 7, 50, 50 );
checkBox.DefaultChecked = true;
checkBox.ToolTip = "Check it";        

Dim MyCheckBox As CheckBox = New CheckBox( "Check Box Name", 5, 7, 50, 50 )
MyCheckBox.DefaultChecked = true
MyCheckBox.ToolTip = "Check it" 

ComboBox

The ComboBox element is child class of ChoiceField, which is a child of FormElement. This example shows how to create a ComboBox and add it to a page.

ComboBox comboBox = new ComboBox( "Combo Box Name", 50, 75, 150, 25 );
comboBox.Items.Add( "One", true );
comboBox.Items.Add( "Two" );
comboBox.Items.Add( "Three" );
comboBox.BackgroundColor = RgbColor.AliceBlue;
comboBox.BorderColor = RgbColor.DarkMagenta;
comboBox.Editable = true;
comboBox.ToolTip = "Select";        

Dim MyComboBox As ComboBox = New ComboBox( "Combo Box Name", 50, 75, 150, 25 )
MyComboBox.Items.Add( "One",true )
MyComboBox.Items.Add( "Two" )
MyComboBox.Items.Add( "Three" )
MyComboBox.BackgroundColor = RgbColor.AliceBlue
MyComboBox.BorderColor = RgbColor.DarkMagenta
MyComboBox.Editable = True
MyComboBox.ToolTip = "Select"  

ListBoxField

The ListBox is a child class of the ChoiceField, which is in turn a child of FormField. This example shows how to create a ListBox and add it to a page.

ListBox listBox = new ListBox( "List Box Name", 5, 2, 100, 150 );
listBox.Items.Add( "One",true );
listBox.Items.Add( "Two",true );
listBox.Items.Add( "Three" );
listBox.BackgroundColor = RgbColor.AliceBlue;
listBox.BorderColor = RgbColor.DarkMagenta;
listBox.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.Dashed;
listBox.Multiselect = true;
listBox.ToolTip = "Select";        

Dim MyListBox As ListBox = New ListBox( "List Box Name", 5, 2, 100, 150 )
MyListBox.Items.Add( "One",true )
MyListBox.Items.Add( "Two",true )
MyListBox.Items.Add( "Three" )
MyListBox.BackgroundColor = RgbColor.AliceBlue
MyListBox.BorderColor = RgbColor.DarkMagenta
MyListBox.BorderStyle = BorderStyle.Dashed
MyListBox.Multiselect = True
MyListBox.ToolTip = "Select"   

RadioButton

The RadioButton class inherits from the FormElement class. This example shows how to create a RadioButton and add it to the page.

RadioButton radio1 = new RadioButton( "Radio Button Name", 50, 25, 100, 75 );
radio1.DefaultChecked = true;
radio1.ExportValue = "abc";
radio1.ToolTip = "first";
RadioButton radio2 = new RadioButton( "Radio Button Name", 50, 140, 100, 75 );
radio2.ExportValue = "def";
radio2.ToolTip = "second";
RadioButton radio3 = new RadioButton( "Radio Button Name", 50, 250, 100, 75 );
radio3.ExportValue = "ghi";
radio3.ToolTip = "third";        

Dim MyRadio1 As RadioButton = New RadioButton( "Radio Button Name", 50, 25, 100, 75 )
MyRadio1.DefaultChecked = true
MyRadio1.ExportValue = "abc"
MyRadio1.ToolTip = "first"
Dim MyRadio2 As RadioButton = New RadioButton( "Radio Button Name", 50, 140, 100, 75 )
MyRadio2.ExportValue = "def"
MyRadio2.ToolTip = "second"
Dim MyRadio3 As RadioButton = New RadioButton( "Radio Button Name", 50, 250, 100, 75 )
MyRadio3.ExportValue = "ghi"
MyRadio3.ToolTip = "third"  

Text Form Field

A TextField is a child class of FormElement. This example shows how to create a TextField and add it to a page.

TextField textField = new TextField( "Text Field Name", 50, 75, 150, 100 );
textField.TextAlign = Align.Center;
textField.BackgroundColor = RgbColor.AliceBlue;
textField.BorderColor = RgbColor.DeepPink;
textField.Font = Font.TimesItalic;
textField.FontSize = 16.0f;
textField.TextColor = RgbColor.Brown;
textField.DefaultValue = "ceTe Software";
textField.MultiLine = true;
textField.ToolTip = "Text";        

Dim MyTextField As TextField = New TextField( "Text Field Name", 50, 75, 150, 100 )
MyTextField.TextAlign = Align.Center
MyTextField.BackgroundColor = RgbColor.AliceBlue
MyTextField.BorderColor = RgbColor.DeepPink
MyTextField.Font = Font.TimesItalic
MyTextField.FontSize = 16.0f
MyTextField.TextColor = RgbColor.Brown
MyTextField.DefaultValue = "ceTe Software"
MyTextField.MultiLine = true
MyTextField.ToolTip = "Text" 

Signature Form Field

The Signature is a child class to the FormElement class. This example shows how to create a Signature and add it to the page.

Signature signature = new Signature("MySigField", 10, 10, 300, 100);
OpenTypeFont font  = new OpenTypeFont("fontname");
signature.Font = font;
signature.FullPanel.SetImage(@"C:\MyImage.gif");
signature.LeftPanel.TextColor = RgbColor.Red;        

Dim MySignature As Signature = New Signature("MySigField", 10, 10, 300, 100)
Dim MyFont As OpenTypeFont = New OpenTypeFont("fontname")
MySignature.Font = MyFont
MySignature.FullPanel.SetImage("C:\MyImage.gif")

MySignature.LeftPanel.TextColor = RgbColor.Red