PHP ActiveX 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. PHP ActiveX

<?php

$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 quote_subset_font.pdf
//  and letter_verdana.pdf

//  1. An embedded subset font: only the glyphs the document uses are in the PDF.
$pdf = new COM("Chilkat.Pdf");
$success = $pdf->LoadFile('qa_data/pdf/quote_subset_font.pdf');
if ($success == 0) {
    print $pdf->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

$json = new COM("Chilkat.JsonObject");
$jsonOut = new COM("Chilkat.JsonObject");

//  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 == 0) {
    print $pdf->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

print '58314: ok = ' . $jsonOut->BoolOf('ok') . "\n";

//  ...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 == 0) {
    print $pdf->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

print 'Q-58341: ok = ' . $jsonOut->BoolOf('ok') . "\n";
if ($jsonOut->BoolOf('ok') == 0) {
    //  The problem names the font and the characters it cannot draw.
    print '    reason: ' . $jsonOut->stringOf('problems[0].reason') . "\n";
    print '    font: ' . $jsonOut->stringOf('problems[0].font') . "\n";
    print '    missing: ' . $jsonOut->stringOf('problems[0].chars') . "\n";
}

//  "apply" with a problem returns false and changes nothing.
$success = $pdf->TextReplace('apply',$json,$jsonOut);
print 'apply returned ' . $success . ', applied = ' . $jsonOut->BoolOf('applied') . "\n";

//  2. A font that is not embedded and not one of the standard 14.
$pdf2 = new COM("Chilkat.Pdf");
$success = $pdf2->LoadFile('qa_data/pdf/letter_verdana.pdf');
if ($success == 0) {
    print $pdf2->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

$json2 = new COM("Chilkat.JsonObject");
$json2->UpdateString('labels[0].label','Account Number:');
$json2->UpdateString('labels[0].value','0000099999');
$success = $pdf2->TextReplace('check',$json2,$jsonOut);
if ($success == 0) {
    print $pdf2->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

print 'Verdana, not embedded: ok = ' . $jsonOut->BoolOf('ok') . ', reason: ' . $jsonOut->stringOf('problems[0].reason') . ', font: ' . $jsonOut->stringOf('problems[0].font') . "\n";

//  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

?>