PowerBuilder Requires Chilkat v11.7.0+

Check a PDF Text Replacement Before Applying It

See more PDF Text Replacement Examples

Demonstrates the "check" operation, which finds every placeholder and label and applies the font rule but changes nothing, and how to read its report: "ok" says whether "apply" would succeed, "replacements" lists what would be replaced, and "problems" lists what prevents it, each with a reason. Here the first check fails because a placeholder on the page was given no value; the value is added and the check passes, and only then is "apply" called. PowerBuilder

integer li_rc
long li_Success
oleobject loo_Pdf
oleobject loo_Json
oleobject loo_JsonOut
long i
long li_Count_i

li_Success = 0

//  This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
//  See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

//  The PDF used in this example is available at invoice_template.pdf

loo_Pdf = create oleobject
li_rc = loo_Pdf.ConnectToNewObject("Chilkat.Pdf")
if li_rc < 0 then
    destroy loo_Pdf
    MessageBox("Error","Connecting to COM object failed")
    return
end if
li_Success = loo_Pdf.LoadFile("qa_data/pdf/invoice_template.pdf")
if li_Success = 0 then
    Write-Debug loo_Pdf.LastErrorText
    destroy loo_Pdf
    return
end if

//  Values for most of the template's placeholders -- but not {{po}}, {{qty2}}, {{desc2}}, {{price2}} or {{amount2}}.
loo_Json = create oleobject
li_rc = loo_Json.ConnectToNewObject("Chilkat.JsonObject")

loo_Json.UpdateString("placeholders.customer","Acme Corp")
loo_Json.UpdateString("placeholders.date","2026-10-18")
loo_Json.UpdateString("placeholders.qty1","2")
loo_Json.UpdateString("placeholders.desc1","Cordless drill, 18 V")
loo_Json.UpdateString("placeholders.price1","$460.00")
loo_Json.UpdateString("placeholders.amount1","$920.00")
loo_Json.UpdateString("placeholders.subtotal","$920.00")
loo_Json.UpdateString("placeholders.taxRate","7.35%")
loo_Json.UpdateString("placeholders.tax","$67.62")
loo_Json.UpdateString("placeholders.total","$987.62")

//  "check" reports what "apply" would do, without changing the PDF.
loo_JsonOut = create oleobject
li_rc = loo_JsonOut.ConnectToNewObject("Chilkat.JsonObject")

li_Success = loo_Pdf.TextReplace("check",loo_Json,loo_JsonOut)
if li_Success = 0 then
    Write-Debug loo_Pdf.LastErrorText
    destroy loo_Pdf
    destroy loo_Json
    destroy loo_JsonOut
    return
end if

Write-Debug "ok: " + string(loo_JsonOut.BoolOf("ok"))
Write-Debug "would replace: " + string(loo_JsonOut.SizeOfArray("replacements")) + " placeholders"

//  Each problem names the placeholder (field) or label, and a reason:
//    notFound - the placeholder or label is not on the selected pages
//    unusedPlaceholder - a placeholder on the page was given no value
//    missingGlyph, notInEncoding, nonStandardUnembeddedFont, unsupportedFont - the font rule
//    placeholderSpansFonts - the text is drawn with more than one font or size
i = 0
li_Count_i = loo_JsonOut.SizeOfArray("problems")
do while i < li_Count_i
    loo_JsonOut.I = i
    Write-Debug "problem: " + loo_JsonOut.StringOf("problems[i].field") + loo_JsonOut.StringOf("problems[i].label") + " - " + loo_JsonOut.StringOf("problems[i].reason") + " (page " + string(loo_JsonOut.IntOf("problems[i].page")) + ")"
    i = i + 1
loop

//  Give the missing placeholders their values and check again.
loo_Json.UpdateString("placeholders.po","PO-88213")
loo_Json.UpdateString("placeholders.qty2","0")
loo_Json.UpdateString("placeholders.desc2","(no second item)")
loo_Json.UpdateString("placeholders.price2","")
loo_Json.UpdateString("placeholders.amount2","")
li_Success = loo_Pdf.TextReplace("check",loo_Json,loo_JsonOut)
if li_Success = 0 then
    Write-Debug loo_Pdf.LastErrorText
    destroy loo_Pdf
    destroy loo_Json
    destroy loo_JsonOut
    return
end if

Write-Debug "ok after adding the values: " + string(loo_JsonOut.BoolOf("ok"))

//  Now apply.
if loo_JsonOut.BoolOf("ok") = 1 then
    li_Success = loo_Pdf.TextReplace("apply",loo_Json,loo_JsonOut)
    if li_Success = 0 then
        Write-Debug loo_Pdf.LastErrorText
        destroy loo_Pdf
        destroy loo_Json
        destroy loo_JsonOut
        return
    end if

    Write-Debug "applied: " + string(loo_JsonOut.BoolOf("applied"))
    li_Success = loo_Pdf.WriteFile("qa_output/invoice_checked.pdf")
    if li_Success = 0 then
        Write-Debug loo_Pdf.LastErrorText
        destroy loo_Pdf
        destroy loo_Json
        destroy loo_JsonOut
        return
    end if

end if

//  Sample output:

//  ok: false
//  would replace: 10 placeholders
//  problem: po - unusedPlaceholder (page 1)
//  problem: qty2 - unusedPlaceholder (page 1)
//  problem: desc2 - unusedPlaceholder (page 1)
//  problem: price2 - unusedPlaceholder (page 1)
//  problem: amount2 - unusedPlaceholder (page 1)
//  ok after adding the values: true
//  applied: true


destroy loo_Pdf
destroy loo_Json
destroy loo_JsonOut