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PdfExportOptions.ExportEditingFieldsToAcroForms Property

Specifies whether to convert editable fields to AcroForms fields on PDF export.

Namespace: DevExpress.XtraPrinting

Assembly: DevExpress.Printing.v24.2.Core.dll

NuGet Package: DevExpress.Printing.Core

#Declaration

[DefaultValue(false)]
public bool ExportEditingFieldsToAcroForms { get; set; }

#Property Value

Type Default Description
Boolean false

true, to export editable fields to PDF AcroForms fields; otherwise, false.

#Property Paths

You can access this nested property as listed below:

Library Object Type Path to ExportEditingFieldsToAcroForms
Cross-Platform Class Library ExportOptions
.Pdf .ExportEditingFieldsToAcroForms
WinForms Controls DiagramOptionsExport
.PdfExportOptions .ExportEditingFieldsToAcroForms
WPF Controls DiagramControl
.PdfExportOptions .ExportEditingFieldsToAcroForms

#Remarks

When you export a document to PDF, enable the ExportEditingFieldsToAcroForms property to generate a fillable PDF form (AcroForms). The fields that you make editable in Print Preview remain fillable in the resulting PDF document.

#Limitations

The following limitations apply when you export editable fields to PDF AcroForms:

  • Text Fields

    PDF AcroForms do not support field content’s vertical alignment.

    Single-line field text becomes center-aligned. Multi-line text is top-aligned.

    Text is multi-line if it contains new line characters or if word wrap is specified in the field’s format string.

  • Character Comb Fields

    The XRCharacterComb control’s interactive content cannot be multi-line in the resulting PDF file.

    When this control displays text on multiple lines, it is converted to individual lines in PDF export.

  • Check Boxes

    A radio group is maintained in a PDF file only if it is contained on one page.

    To make a radio group read-only, enable the radio group’s first control’s ReadOnly property. An individual check box cannot be read-only within a radio group.

  • Image Fields

    PDF image fields do not support the Tile size mode. Image controls that are set to this mode are exported to PDF in the Normal mode.

  • Drop-Down Lists

    Print Preview supports custom drop-down lists but these fields are not exported to PDF.

Editable fields are not exported to PDF in the PDF/A-1b compatibility mode.

When you export editable text fields to PDF, fonts that are used to populate these fields are selected according to PDF export settings. However, non-embedded fonts are always used to populate these fields in a PDF viewer.

#AcroForms Field Names

Form field names are generated in the following way:

  • For regular fields, the name pattern is EditingField.ID_#. It consists of three parts: the EditingField.ID property value, an underscore sign, and an automatically incremented zero-based counter. If the EditingField.ID value is not provided, the “AcroFormField“ literal is used instead.

    For instance, AcroFormField_0 (if EditingField.ID is empty) or label1_3 (if EditingField.ID is set to label1).

  • For group fields, the name pattern is RadioGroupAcroFormField_groupName, where RadioGroupAcroFormField is a hard-coded literal and groupName is the CheckEditingField.GroupID property value. For instance, RadioGroupAcroFormField_myGroup.
  • Multi-line Character Comb editors are split into distinct editors that follow the same name conversion.
See Also