AutoIt Requires Chilkat v11.7.0+

Fill a PDF Template: Replace {{placeholders}} with Values

See more PDF Text Replacement Examples

Demonstrates the TextReplace method on an invoice template whose values are written as placeholders such as {{customer}} and {{total}}. The "placeholders" object names each placeholder and the text to put in; every occurrence on the page is replaced, including a placeholder inside a sentence or inside a label such as "Tax ({{taxRate}}):". The text is redrawn with the font the template used, so the result looks like the template, and a value that is right-aligned in the template stays right-aligned. The changes are written by WriteFile. AutoIt

Local $bSuccess = False

;  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

$oPdf = ObjCreate("Chilkat.Pdf")
$bSuccess = $oPdf.LoadFile("qa_data/pdf/invoice_template.pdf")
If ($bSuccess = False) Then
    ConsoleWrite($oPdf.LastErrorText & @CRLF)
    Exit
EndIf

;  The template has these placeholders in its page text:
;    {{customer}} (twice: "Bill To:" and the closing sentence), {{date}}, {{po}},
;    two item rows: {{qty1}} {{desc1}} {{price1}} {{amount1}} and {{qty2}} {{desc2}} {{price2}} {{amount2}},
;    {{subtotal}}, "Tax ({{taxRate}}):" with {{tax}}, and {{total}}.
$oJson = ObjCreate("Chilkat.JsonObject")
$oJson.UpdateString("placeholders.customer","Acme Corp")
$oJson.UpdateString("placeholders.date","2026-10-18")
$oJson.UpdateString("placeholders.po","PO-88213")
$oJson.UpdateString("placeholders.qty1","2")
$oJson.UpdateString("placeholders.desc1","Cordless drill, 18 V")
$oJson.UpdateString("placeholders.price1","$460.00")
$oJson.UpdateString("placeholders.amount1","$920.00")
$oJson.UpdateString("placeholders.qty2","6")
$oJson.UpdateString("placeholders.desc2","Galvanized hinge, 4 inch")
$oJson.UpdateString("placeholders.price2","$12.50")
$oJson.UpdateString("placeholders.amount2","$75.00")
$oJson.UpdateString("placeholders.subtotal","$995.00")
$oJson.UpdateString("placeholders.taxRate","7.35%")
$oJson.UpdateString("placeholders.tax","$73.13")
$oJson.UpdateString("placeholders.total","$1,068.13")

;  "apply" makes every replacement, or none: if any value cannot be drawn with the
;  template's font, the method returns false, the PDF is unchanged, and jsonOut says why.
$oJsonOut = ObjCreate("Chilkat.JsonObject")
$bSuccess = $oPdf.TextReplace("apply",$oJson,$oJsonOut)
If ($bSuccess = False) Then
    ConsoleWrite("Not applied: " & $oJsonOut.Emit() & @CRLF)
    If ($bSuccess = False) Then
        ConsoleWrite($oPdf.LastErrorText & @CRLF)
        Exit
    EndIf

EndIf

;  One entry per placeholder: the pages it was found on and how many times it was replaced.
Local $i = 0
Local $iCount_i = $oJsonOut.SizeOfArray("replacements")
While $i < $iCount_i
    $oJsonOut.I = $i
    ConsoleWrite($oJsonOut.StringOf("replacements[i].field") & ": " & $oJsonOut.IntOf("replacements[i].count") & " on page(s) " & $oJsonOut.StringOf("replacements[i].pages") & @CRLF)
    $i = $i + 1
Wend

;  The replacements stay in memory until the PDF is written.
$bSuccess = $oPdf.WriteFile("qa_output/invoice_filled.pdf")
If ($bSuccess = False) Then
    ConsoleWrite($oPdf.LastErrorText & @CRLF)
    Exit
EndIf

ConsoleWrite("Wrote qa_output/invoice_filled.pdf" & @CRLF)

;  Sample output:

;  customer: 2 on page(s) 1
;  date: 1 on page(s) 1
;  po: 1 on page(s) 1
;  qty1: 1 on page(s) 1
;  desc1: 1 on page(s) 1
;  price1: 1 on page(s) 1
;  amount1: 1 on page(s) 1
;  qty2: 1 on page(s) 1
;  desc2: 1 on page(s) 1
;  price2: 1 on page(s) 1
;  amount2: 1 on page(s) 1
;  subtotal: 1 on page(s) 1
;  taxRate: 1 on page(s) 1
;  tax: 1 on page(s) 1
;  total: 1 on page(s) 1
;  Wrote qa_output/invoice_filled.pdf