Work with PDF Actions in Java

Aspose.PDF for Java lets you assign actions to buttons, documents, and pages to make PDF files interactive.

Add a named print action

Use this example when a button on the page should trigger the print command.

  1. Open the source PDF Document and select the target page.
  2. Create a ButtonField and assign a NamedAction for printing.
  3. Add the button to the form and save the document.
public static void addNamedActionPrint(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        Page page = document.getPages().get_Item(1);

        Rectangle rect = new Rectangle(10, 10, 100, 40, true);
        ButtonField printButton = new ButtonField(page, rect);
        printButton.setPartialName("printButton");
        printButton.setValue("Print");
        printButton.getAnnotationActions().setOnReleaseMouseBtn(
                new NamedAction(PredefinedAction.File_Print));

        Border border = new Border(printButton);
        border.setWidth(1);
        printButton.setBorder(border);

        document.getForm().add(printButton, 1);
        document.save(outputFile.toString());
    }
}

Add a hide action

Use this example when a button should show or hide a set of form fields, such as checkboxes.

  1. Open the source PDF Document and collect the target form widgets.
  2. Create a button and assign a HideAction to it.
  3. Add the button to the form and save the updated document.
public static void addNamedActionHide(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        List<WidgetAnnotation> checkboxes = new ArrayList<>();
        for (WidgetAnnotation field : document.getForm()) {
            if (field instanceof CheckboxField) {
                checkboxes.add(field);
            }
        }

        Rectangle rect = new Rectangle(10, 410, 140, 440, true);
        ButtonField hideButton = new ButtonField(document.getPages().get_Item(1), rect);
        hideButton.setPartialName("HideButton");
        hideButton.setValue("Hide Checkboxes");
        hideButton.getAnnotationActions().setOnReleaseMouseBtn(
                new HideAction(checkboxes.toArray(new WidgetAnnotation[0]), true));

        document.getForm().add(hideButton, 1);
        document.save(outputFile.toString());
    }
}

Add page navigation buttons

This example creates first, previous, next, and last page buttons across the document.

  1. Open the source PDF Document.
  2. Create navigation buttons for each page and assign the matching predefined action.
  3. Add the buttons to the form and save the document.
public static void addNavigationButtons(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        int totalPages = document.getPages().size();

        for (Page page : document.getPages()) {
            ButtonField firstPageButton = new ButtonField(page, new Rectangle(10, 10, 110, 40, true));
            firstPageButton.setPartialName("First Page");
            firstPageButton.setValue("First Page");
            firstPageButton.getCharacteristics().setBorder(com.aspose.pdf.Color.getRed());
            firstPageButton.getCharacteristics().setBackground(com.aspose.pdf.Color.getOrange().toRgb());
            firstPageButton.setReadOnly(document.getPages().indexOf(page) == 1);
            firstPageButton.getAnnotationActions().setOnReleaseMouseBtn(
                    new NamedAction(PredefinedAction.FirstPage));
            document.getForm().add(firstPageButton);

            ButtonField previousPageButton = new ButtonField(page, new Rectangle(120, 10, 220, 40, true));
            previousPageButton.setPartialName("Previous Page");
            previousPageButton.setValue("Previous Page");
            previousPageButton.getCharacteristics().setBorder(com.aspose.pdf.Color.getRed());
            previousPageButton.getCharacteristics().setBackground(com.aspose.pdf.Color.getOrange().toRgb());
            previousPageButton.setReadOnly(document.getPages().indexOf(page) == 1);
            previousPageButton.getAnnotationActions().setOnReleaseMouseBtn(
                    new NamedAction(PredefinedAction.PrevPage));
            document.getForm().add(previousPageButton);

            ButtonField nextPageButton = new ButtonField(page, new Rectangle(230, 10, 330, 40, true));
            nextPageButton.setPartialName("Next Page");
            nextPageButton.setValue("Next Page");
            nextPageButton.getCharacteristics().setBorder(com.aspose.pdf.Color.getRed());
            nextPageButton.getCharacteristics().setBackground(com.aspose.pdf.Color.getOrange().toRgb());
            nextPageButton.setReadOnly(document.getPages().indexOf(page) == totalPages);
            nextPageButton.getAnnotationActions().setOnReleaseMouseBtn(
                    new NamedAction(PredefinedAction.NextPage));
            document.getForm().add(nextPageButton);

            ButtonField lastPageButton = new ButtonField(page, new Rectangle(340, 10, 440, 40, true));
            lastPageButton.setPartialName("Last Page");
            lastPageButton.setValue("Last Page");
            lastPageButton.getCharacteristics().setBorder(com.aspose.pdf.Color.getRed());
            lastPageButton.getCharacteristics().setBackground(com.aspose.pdf.Color.getOrange().toRgb());
            lastPageButton.setReadOnly(document.getPages().indexOf(page) == totalPages);
            lastPageButton.getAnnotationActions().setOnReleaseMouseBtn(
                    new NamedAction(PredefinedAction.LastPage));
            document.getForm().add(lastPageButton);
        }

        document.save(outputFile.toString());
    }
}

Add a submit action

Use this example when a button should submit form data to a URL.

  1. Open the source PDF Document.
  2. Create a SubmitFormAction with the target URL and flags.
  3. Assign the action to a button field and save the document.
public static void addSubmitAction(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        SubmitFormAction submitAction = new SubmitFormAction();
        FileSpecification submitUrl = new FileSpecification();
        submitUrl.setFileSystem("URL");
        submitUrl.setName("http://localhost:3000/submit");
        submitAction.setUrl(submitUrl);
        submitAction.setFlags(SubmitFormAction.EXPORT_FORMAT | SubmitFormAction.SUBMIT_COORDINATES);

        Rectangle rect = new Rectangle(10, 10, 100, 40, true);
        ButtonField submitButton = new ButtonField(document.getPages().get_Item(1), rect);
        submitButton.setPartialName("SubmitButton");
        submitButton.setValue("Submit");
        submitButton.getAnnotationActions().setOnReleaseMouseBtn(submitAction);

        document.getForm().add(submitButton, 1);
        document.save(outputFile.toString());
    }
}

Add document-level launch actions

This example assigns JavaScript actions that run when the document is opened, saved, or printed.

  1. Open the source PDF Document.
  2. Create the required JavascriptAction objects for the document events.
  3. Assign the actions and save the document.
public static void addLaunchActions(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        document.setOpenAction(new JavascriptAction("app.launchURL('http://localhost:3000/open');"));
        document.getActions().setBeforeSaving(
                new JavascriptAction("app.launchURL('http://localhost:3000/save');"));
        document.getActions().setBeforePrinting(
                new JavascriptAction("app.launchURL('http://localhost:3000/print');"));

        document.save(outputFile.toString());
    }
}

Add page open and close actions

Use this example when a specific page should trigger actions on open and close.

  1. Open the source PDF Document and ensure the target page exists.
  2. Create the page navigation and JavaScript actions.
  3. Assign the page actions and save the document.
public static void addPageActions(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        if (document.getPages().size() < 3) {
            System.out.println("Error: The document does not have at least 3 pages.");
            return;
        }

        Page page = document.getPages().get_Item(3);
        GoToAction action = new GoToAction(page);
        action.setDestination(new XYZExplicitDestination(page, 0, page.getPageInfo().getHeight(), 1));
        page.getActions().setOnOpen(action);
        page.getActions().setOnClose(
                new JavascriptAction("app.launchURL('http://localhost:3000/page/3');"));

        document.save(outputFile.toString());
    }
}

Remove page actions

Use this approach when previously assigned open and close actions should be cleared from a page.

  1. Open the source PDF Document and ensure the target page exists.
  2. Remove all actions from that page.
  3. Save the updated document.
public static void removePageActions(Path inputFile, Path outputFile) {
    try (Document document = new Document(inputFile.toString())) {
        if (document.getPages().size() < 3) {
            System.out.println("Error: The document does not have at least 3 pages.");
            return;
        }

        Page page = document.getPages().get_Item(3);
        page.getActions().removeActions();

        document.save(outputFile.toString());
    }
}
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