PHP 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. Chilkat2 PHP

<?php

use Chilkat2\JsonObject;
use Chilkat2\Pdf;

$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 invoice_template.pdf

$pdf = new Pdf();
try {
    $pdf->LoadFile('qa_data/pdf/invoice_template.pdf');
} catch (\Chilkat2\Exception $e) {
    echo $e->getMessage(), "\n";
    exit;
}

// 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}}.
$json = new JsonObject();
$json->UpdateString('placeholders.customer', 'Acme Corp');
$json->UpdateString('placeholders.date', '2026-10-18');
$json->UpdateString('placeholders.po', 'PO-88213');
$json->UpdateString('placeholders.qty1', '2');
$json->UpdateString('placeholders.desc1', 'Cordless drill, 18 V');
$json->UpdateString('placeholders.price1', '$460.00');
$json->UpdateString('placeholders.amount1', '$920.00');
$json->UpdateString('placeholders.qty2', '6');
$json->UpdateString('placeholders.desc2', 'Galvanized hinge, 4 inch');
$json->UpdateString('placeholders.price2', '$12.50');
$json->UpdateString('placeholders.amount2', '$75.00');
$json->UpdateString('placeholders.subtotal', '$995.00');
$json->UpdateString('placeholders.taxRate', '7.35%');
$json->UpdateString('placeholders.tax', '$73.13');
$json->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.
$jsonOut = new JsonObject();
try {
    $pdf->TextReplace('apply', $json, $jsonOut);
    $success = true;
} catch (\Chilkat2\Exception $e) {
    $success = false;
}
if (!$success) {
    echo 'Not applied: ', $jsonOut->Emit(), "\n";
    if (!$success) {
        echo $pdf->LastErrorText, "\n";
        exit;
    }
}

// One entry per placeholder: the pages it was found on and how many times it was replaced.
$i = 0;
$count_i = $jsonOut->SizeOfArray('replacements');
while ($i < $count_i) {
    $jsonOut->I = $i;
    echo $jsonOut->StringOf('replacements[i].field'), ': ', $jsonOut->IntOf('replacements[i].count'), ' on page(s) ', $jsonOut->StringOf('replacements[i].pages'), "\n";
    $i = $i + 1;
}

// The replacements stay in memory until the PDF is written.
try {
    $pdf->WriteFile('qa_output/invoice_filled.pdf');
} catch (\Chilkat2\Exception $e) {
    echo $e->getMessage(), "\n";
    exit;
}

echo "Wrote qa_output/invoice_filled.pdf\n";

// 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