Java Requires Chilkat v11.7.0+

Why a PDF Text Replacement Is Refused: the Font Rule

See more PDF Text Replacement Examples

A PDF stores glyphs drawn with particular fonts, so new text can only be drawn when the original font can draw it. This example shows the two common refusals. A font embedded as a subset carries only the glyphs the document used: a value made of other characters is refused with the reason missingGlyph, and the report names the font and the characters it lacks. A font that is neither one of the standard 14 nor embedded (here Verdana) is refused with nonStandardUnembeddedFont, because Chilkat cannot know what a viewer will draw for it. A non-embedded Arial, Times New Roman or Courier New is treated as the standard font every viewer substitutes for it. Java

import com.chilkatsoft.*;

public class ChilkatExample {

  static {
    try {
        System.loadLibrary("chilkat");
    } catch (UnsatisfiedLinkError e) {
      System.err.println("Native code library failed to load.\n" + e);
      System.exit(1);
    }
  }

  public static void main(String argv[])
  {
    boolean success = 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 quote_subset_font.pdf
    //  and letter_verdana.pdf

    //  1. An embedded subset font: only the glyphs the document uses are in the PDF.
    CkPdf pdf = new CkPdf();
    success = pdf.LoadFile("qa_data/pdf/quote_subset_font.pdf");
    if (success == false) {
        System.out.println(pdf.lastErrorText());
        return;
        }

    CkJsonObject json = new CkJsonObject();
    CkJsonObject jsonOut = new CkJsonObject();

    //  The regular face's subset carries the characters of the quotation's text, among them the digits of
    //  "58341".  A new number made of those digits can be drawn...
    json.UpdateString("labels[0].label","Quote #:");
    json.UpdateString("labels[0].value","58314");
    success = pdf.TextReplace("check",json,jsonOut);
    if (success == false) {
        System.out.println(pdf.lastErrorText());
        return;
        }

    System.out.println("58314: ok = " + jsonOut.BoolOf("ok"));

    //  ...but "Q" and "-" are not in the subset (nothing in the quotation's regular text uses them).
    json.UpdateString("labels[0].value","Q-58341");
    success = pdf.TextReplace("check",json,jsonOut);
    if (success == false) {
        System.out.println(pdf.lastErrorText());
        return;
        }

    System.out.println("Q-58341: ok = " + jsonOut.BoolOf("ok"));
    if (jsonOut.BoolOf("ok") == false) {
        //  The problem names the font and the characters it cannot draw.
        System.out.println("    reason: " + jsonOut.stringOf("problems[0].reason"));
        System.out.println("    font: " + jsonOut.stringOf("problems[0].font"));
        System.out.println("    missing: " + jsonOut.stringOf("problems[0].chars"));
        }

    //  "apply" with a problem returns false and changes nothing.
    success = pdf.TextReplace("apply",json,jsonOut);
    System.out.println("apply returned " + success + ", applied = " + jsonOut.BoolOf("applied"));

    //  2. A font that is not embedded and not one of the standard 14.
    CkPdf pdf2 = new CkPdf();
    success = pdf2.LoadFile("qa_data/pdf/letter_verdana.pdf");
    if (success == false) {
        System.out.println(pdf2.lastErrorText());
        return;
        }

    CkJsonObject json2 = new CkJsonObject();
    json2.UpdateString("labels[0].label","Account Number:");
    json2.UpdateString("labels[0].value","0000099999");
    success = pdf2.TextReplace("check",json2,jsonOut);
    if (success == false) {
        System.out.println(pdf2.lastErrorText());
        return;
        }

    System.out.println("Verdana, not embedded: ok = " + jsonOut.BoolOf("ok") + ", reason: " + jsonOut.stringOf("problems[0].reason") + ", font: " + jsonOut.stringOf("problems[0].font"));

    //  Sample output:

    //  58314: ok = true
    //  Q-58341: ok = false
    //      reason: missingGlyph
    //      font: AAAAAA+DejaVuSans
    //      missing: Q-
    //  apply returned false, applied = false
    //  Verdana, not embedded: ok = false, reason: nonStandardUnembeddedFont, font: Verdana
  }
}