[Cialug] pdf thing (again)

[carl-olsen at mchsi.com]

>From what I see, it looks like it would be possible to build the FDF file using PHP and data from a database.  I'm not too familiar with running command line instructions using PHP, but I'm sure that its not difficult.  I'm wondering if I can create the form using Acrobat and then use this tool to fill in the form fields, or whether the PDF has to be created using this tool.  I know how to create a form with fill in fields using Acrobat, but I'd be lost if I had to create one from a command line.

I know how to capture form fields from a PDF and put the data into a database, but I never could figure out how to populate the fields from the database later when I wanted to print out a copy of a form that someone filled out using a web browser.  The options I found at that time were very expensive.  I looked at the IRS website and found the tool they were using was about half the price of the Adobe tools, but it was still several thousand dollars.

Carl Olsen
Web Developer
Drake University

-------------- Original message from "Dave J. Hala Jr." <dave at 58ghz.net>: -------------- 


> I've been experimenting with a trial version of PDF Tools form filling 
> tool. (www.pdf-tools.com) It takes an existing pdf, and allows you to 
> insert data into the form fields in the pdf. 
> 
> It works awesome. However, its priced by CPU. This makes it a little 
> pricey on a dual cpu server or a dual core server. I'm looking for a 
> lower cost alternative. 
> 
> I found something called pdftk or PDF Toolkit 
> http://applications.linux.com/article.pl?sid=06/04/17/1943230&tid=47 
> 
> It seems to be the solution I'm looking for. Has anyone had any 
> experience with it before? 
> 
> 
> :) Dave 
> 
> -- 
> 
> Open Source Information Systems, Inc. (OSIS) 
> Dave J. Hala Jr., President 
> 641.485.1606 www.osis.us 
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