What's New in GrapeCity Documents v4
It's official! The GrapeCity v4 release of our various .NET, C#, and JavaScript Document APIs and libraries are ready to go! Creating Excel .xlsx, PDF, Word, and imaging files and documents has never been easier. With more features to automate common document processes across industries and applications, we are sure you will find some interesting new features to cover your business use cases while working with documents. Check out the highlights below.
Build Automated Document Workflows for Business Users
1. Generate online PDF forms with input types and validation! Items like legal forms, reservation documents, lease agreements, HR, logistics, and more.
GrapeCity Documents is excited to announce support for HTML5 input types added to PDF forms. These new input types provide fields that can be easily formatted for date, time, and other types not supported in the current PDF specifications. Tie that together with the ability to validate data input in these forms; time, effort, and money is bound to be saved. An increase in accuracy in data collection will be the result, making analysis a snap! The forms are created in a single PDF viewer using the new GcPdf and GcExcel .NET Excel API library to generate new PDF forms or customize any third party PDF form with special input types and validations. Then view/fill/submit them online in the Javascript GrapeCity Documents PDF Viewer on any platform, mobile, tablet, PC, Mac, or Linux.
2. Share and edit PDF documents in collaboration mode.
Now it's possible to collaborate in real-time, so you can save your clients time and effort while they work with THEIR clients to get forms filled out correctly the first time! You can control who sees and edits the document and have multiple users collaborating simultaneously. This process is accomplished by implementing the new options in GcPdfViewer API.
3. Extract table content from a batch of PDF documents.
Combine GcPdf and GcExcel .NET Excel Library to get the power to extract table data from PDF files and save to Excel for analysis!
4. Automate data-bound Word (.docx) reports like Contract Agreements from GcWord Report Templates.
Unleash the power of automation by using GcWord .NET Word API to create Report Templates with the ability to define comprehensive syntax. Use the GcWord API to bind Word documents with data and generate Word.docx reports containing advanced layouts.
5. Use any device to fill in PDF forms for Mac, PC, Linux, phone, or tablet.
Using responsive web design and HTML5, harness the new PDF form filler's strength to provide accuracy and consistency to all your PDF forms across all platforms. Customize field labels, fine-tune the behavior of the input controls, and add additional input validation. Even fill values for the fields that reflect in your underlying PDF.
Check out more features of the v4 release below!
GrapeCity Documents for PDF (GcPdf)
Extract Table Content from PDF Documents
You have over 500 PDF invoices to extract table data into a different format for analysis. Where do you begin? The office suites like Microsoft Office, LibreOffice, and OpenOffice have limited functionality to extract data efficiently from PDF documents. Though each can export to a PDF, they lack the functionality to pull data from PDFs in an organized fashion.
The first thought is, this is easy; it's just a copy and paste from each of the documents. But what if you have thousands of tables to copy data from? In cases like this, it is much easier, more efficient, and cost-effective to use an automated tool to do the whole job. GrapeCity Documents for PDF (GcPdf) adds the support required to extract table data from PDF documents through the GetTable(..) method. The method accepts several parameters to help ease the process of garnering data from these files.
With this tool you can create applications automating the task of scanning PDF documents with different data but similar layouts and extracting the table data out of them with ease.
View this blog that extracts invoice table data from a PDF using GcPdf, and copies it to a CSV file. Further, you can use GcExcel .NET Excel API to import the CSV and modify the table formatting.
GrapeCity Documents PDF Viewer (GcPdfViewer)
Collaboration Mode
Now that many paper documents have been converted to a digital format, the idea of collaboration and sharing takes on new meaning. Documents need to be shared and, at times, edited online by multiple users, ultimately saving time and effort for the users. However, most organizations that share documents use the PDF format as their preferred sharing format. GcPdfViewer easily provides this functionality online, allowing multiple people from multiple geographic locations the opportunity to edit, comment, change, and add data as necessary. Providing this functionality increases many companies' ability to easily collaborate on multiple documents across many domains, increasing productivity, accuracy and saving time and money.
GcPdfViewer has the following features ready to go for sharing documents with a team:
(Note that this feature will require configuring the SupportApi project that runs GcPdf on the server to save the changes and send it back to the client. This process will require a GcPdf license to run and a GcPdfViewer Professional license.)
1. Share documents from the viewer through a simple button on the toolbar.
2. Select the user with whom you want to share the document.
3. Set the permissions on the document like 'view' or 'view and change'.
4. Simultaneously view which user is modifying the document.
5. Change the permission of the users by the person who assigned it.
6. Edit the document, add annotations, form fields, comments, and share it with other users.
7. Allow/Deny unknown users to the server
To enable the feature of sharing documents in GcPdfViewer, developers set the 'sharing' option in JavaScript code and dis-allow usernames unknown to the server with 'disallowUnknownUsers' property or set 'knownUserNames' to allow specific users.
var viewer = new GcPdfViewer("#root", { userName: "John", sharing: { disallowUnknownUsers: true }, supportApi: "api/pdf-viewer" } );
var viewer = new GcPdfViewer("#root", {
userName: "John", sharing: { knownUserNames: ["Jaime Smith", "Jane Smith"], disallowUnknownUsers: true, }, supportApi: "api/pdf-viewer" });
Find more details on how to turn on the sharing mode and set sharing options in the Viewer:
New Custom HTML5 Input Types in PDF Forms
Online forms today have become increasingly more complex and collect much more data than ever before. Often these forms require user information like; date of birth, telephone number, URL, email, etc. However, such input types are not part of the standard PDF specification.
- Text
- Date
- Time
- Telephone number
- Email ID
- URL
- Password
- Month
- Week
- Number
- Range
Together with these new input types, you can specify the following settings -
- Autocomplete
- Autofocus
- Required
- Spell check
- Min/max length
- String/number patterns
- Default Values
- And more
Following is an example of a Lease Agreement PDF form created using GcExcel API and viewed/filled in GcPdfViewer -
Adding Custom Input Types in PDF Documents
GcPdf allows custom properties for text fields using the GcProps dictionary. The GcPdfViewer uses these properties to provide additional UI and validation for the text fields. The properties and validation settings are the same as those supported in GcExcel (see below topic).
Here is how you add a Date Field to a PDF form -
var doc = new GcPdfDocument();
var page = doc.NewPage();
var g = page.Graphics;
TextFormat tf = new TextFormat();
tf.Font = StandardFonts.Times;
tf.FontSize = 14;
var field = new TextField();
field.Widget.Page = page;
field.Widget.Rect = new RectangleF(40, 40, 72 * 3, 24);
field.Widget.TextFormat.Font = tf.Font;
field.Widget.TextFormat.FontSize = tf.FontSize;
field.Name = "Start Date";
field.GcProps["title"] = "Start Date";
field.GcProps["type"] = "date";
field.GcProps["required"] = true;
field.GcProps["validationmessage"] = "The date cannot be empty.";
doc.AcroForm.Fields.Add(field);
This is how it appears in the PDF form when viewed in PDF Viewer.
Read more about how to add custom input type fields in PDFs with the GcPdf API. View the full list of supported input types and settings.
NOTE: these input types are not supported in the standard PDF specification and can only be viewed/filled in GcPdfViewer.
How to Add Custom Input Types with GcExcel Templates
If you have a GcExcel license, you can also add new custom input types through Excel templates and generate PDF forms. The custom input types supported are the same as GcPdf.
Once a PDF form is generated, you can view the PDF form in our JavaScript-based GrapeCity Documents PDF Viewer GcPdfViewer. Learn how to add custom input type fields in PDFs with GcExcel .NET Excel API and visit the demo.
View Full List of Supported Custom Input Types and Properties
PDF Form Filler
It is often necessary to add extra information to an existing form using fields and/or validation messages. However, the underlying form cannot be modified. How can this be done in such a way to keep the underlying form, add validation to ensure data integrity, and ensure the forms can quickly be filled out on multiple devices (large and small)? With the introduction of the PDF Form Filler dialog, it is possible to customize field labels, fine-tune the input controls' behavior, and add additional input validation, even if the PDF does not have inline validation or field label information. It is also possible to fill in values in the fields to populate data in the underlying PDF.
Note: To save the filled PDF form on the client, it will require configuring the SupportApi project that runs GcPdf on a server to save the changes and send it back to the client. This process will require a GcPdf license and a GcPdfViewer Professional license to run.
The new input types can be added via GcPdf or GcExcel .NET Excel API to a new PDF form or a third-party PDF form. The field properties and validation settings are customized through the Form Filler dialog.
The code below demonstrates how to turn on the option for Form Filler and access Form Fields under the 'mappings' section –
function loadPdfViewer(selector) {
var options = {};
options = setupFormFiller(options);
var viewer = new GcPdfViewer(selector, options);
viewer.addDefaultPanels();
viewer.toolbarLayout.viewer = {
default: ['open', 'form-filler', '$navigation', '$split', 'text-selection', 'pan', '$zoom', '$fullscreen', 'print', 'title', 'about'],
mobile: ['open', 'form-filler', '$navigation', 'title', 'about'],
fullscreen: ['$fullscreen', 'open', 'form-filler', '$navigation', '$split', 'text-selection', 'pan', '$zoom', 'print', 'title', 'about']
};
viewer.open("hotelbooking.pdf");
}
function setupFormFiller(baseOptions) {
var options = baseOptions || {};
// Form Filler options:
options.formFiller = {
mappings: {
'AppDate': {
title: 'Application date',
displayname: 'Date',
type: 'date',
defaultvalue: new Date().toJSON().slice(0, 10)
},
}
};
return options;
}
Key Features:
Customize UI Appearance of Form Fields
Modify Validation Messages for Form Fields
Form Event Handlers and Settings
You can use:
- onInitialize - onInitialize event handler is called after the list of fields is loaded and initialized but not yet rendered.
- beforeApplyChanges - this event handler is called when the Apply button is clicked after a successful fields validation.
- beforeFieldChange - event handler is called right before the field value changed.
- mappings {} - control the appearance, behavior, and validation settings for the input field inside the Form Filler dialog with Form Fields mappings, key - field name, value
- validator? - the common "validator" function is called for each field before saving changes or on user input when field mapping settings contain a validateOnInput flag.
- And more
Define Custom Content
If you want to add formatted information to your PDF form, either as simple HTML content or an HTML table, you can add a field with 'type' as 'custom-content' and add HTML code for the 'content' property.
'CustomContent_Info1': {
type: 'custom-content',
content: `<table>
<tr><td style='vertical-align:top;'>
<i><u>Corporation:</u></i>
</td><td style='vertical-align:top;'>
<i>Articles of Incorporation must be provided and 2 years' Annual Report and corporate tax return.</i>
</td></tr>
<tr><td style='vertical-align:top;'>
<i><u>Partnership:</u></i>
</td><td style='vertical-align:top;'>
<i>Partnership Agreement must be provided plus individual partners' current personal financial statement and 2 years' personal tax returns.</i>
</td></tr>
<tr><td style='vertical-align:top;'>
<i><u>Individual:</u></i>
</td><td style='vertical-align:top;'>
<i>Personal balance sheet and 2 years' personal tax returns must be provided. Must include Drivers' license number.</i>
</td></tr>
</table>
},
This is how the custom content appears in the Form Dialog.
Fill Forms on Small Devices
Small screen size is more problematic as the size of forms or the information collected increases. The PDF form filler uses various formats and allows a responsive design to gather the form's information without displaying the full PDF. The data is collected in a list-like format, then applied to the underlying PDF file and saved appropriately.
Read more about PDF Form Filler support:
Convert Annotation and Form Fields to Content Elements
Annotation and form fields used in PDF documents/forms can now be converted to content elements when the PDF document is saved. When you save the PDF document, all components (annotations and fields) marked for content conversion will be converted to page content. Original elements will be removed from the PDF document.
Use the "Convert" button to apply the conversion to content.
Once you have marked an element for conversion, you cannot edit it.
Use the "Revert" button to undo the content conversion.
Change Default Values of Annotations and Form Fields
Changes can be made programmatically through code to the default values of annotations and form fields added from the toolbar. The following code changes the border width and interior color of the square annotation.
var viewer = new GcPdfViewer("#root", {
editorDefaults: {
squareAnnotation: {
borderStyle: { width: 5, style: 1 },
color: '#000000',
interiorColor: '#ff0000',
}
},
supportApi: "api/pdf-viewer"
});
View Demo
Introducing GcPdfViewer Professional Version
With the Professional Version of GcPdfViewer (additional licensing for Professional Version required, read more details here), v4 now supports editing PDF documents. The viewer needs to be connected to GrapeCity Documents for PDF (GcPdf) on the server to enable GcPdfViewer's editing features via the SupportApi property. Check out more details on configuring the viewer for editing tools.
GrapeCity Documents for Excel (GcExcel .NET Excel and Java Library)
There are more reasons to choose GrapeCity's .NET and Java Excel APIs, including functionality to help convert Excel templates to PDF forms with HTML5 input controls, generate Excel documents with pivot charts, and more.
The above snapshot shows an Excel Template with new input types defined within the 'form' mustache syntax and converted to PDF, which is viewed in GcPdfViewer.
Learn more about GcExcel v4 features here - What's New in GcExcel v4
GrapeCity Documents for Word (GcWord Word API)
Generate Data-bound Word.docx Documents from GcWord Data Templates
Although organizations of all types use complex reporting, and many utilize Word as the file of choice, it is unnecessary to recreate complex reports from scratch each time. Rather, it's better to use a template approach, many of which are standardized in various industries and organizations. Once a templated approach has been established, it is easy with GcWord Word API to bind data to the template, creating dynamic, complex, and flexible Word .docx format reports. GcWord also supports Word mail-merge templates to make the automation of reporting requirements even simpler. The GcWord API saves the Word reports as .docx files, PDF files, or images. Developers can create a Word template using the mustache syntax to define the database fields, variables, bullets, lists, multi-level lists, and tables. This formatting makes it easy to replace the templated fields (those notated in mustache format). A data source is added by using the Word document object through the GcWordDocument.DataTemplate.DataSources collection and binding the data with the template using the GcWordDocument.DataTemplate.Process() method. This template API will detect the fields, matching them with the appropriate data in the database and replace with the actual data. There is also an option for batch processing through the DataTemplate.BatchProcess() method to generate a data-bound copy of the document for each iterated data object without changing the current document.
Generate the following reports:
- Legal
- Employee Contracts
- House Lease Agreements
- Invoices
- Flight ticket
- Itinerary
- Price catalogs
- And more
By using the GcWord Word API, you can do some of the following:
- No need to create complex Word documents from scratch manually.
- Changes to data in a database reflect automatically in the generated document by calling the GcWordDocument.DataTemplate.Process() method.
- Make use of Microsoft Word formatting features to generate professional-looking documents.
- Easily define Word templates with simple syntax in Microsoft Word.
Lease Agreement Example
Most states require tenants and landlords to have a lease agreement in place, and these documents tend to be standardized. Thus, this is a perfect example and use for the GcWord Word API for creating individual or multiple leases based on data in any database or spreadsheet.
Because these Lease Agreements are standard in format and involve replacing essential information in a template, it is easy to create Word templates in Microsoft Word and define data fields with mustache syntax. These fields should be replaced with the data from the database. With GcWord, you can add the data source using the GcWordDocument.DataTemplate.DataSources collection and bind the data with the template using the GcWordDocument.DataTemplate.Process() method.
Using the following code, the data fields will bind automatically to generate the final Lease Agreement .docx report, as you see below.
var doc = new GcWordDocument();
// Load the template DOCX:
doc.Load(Path.Combine("Resources", "LeaseAgreementTpl.docx"));
using (var ds = new DataSet())
{
// Load the data set:
ds.ReadXml(Path.Combine("Resources", "data", "GcWordTplDataSet.xml"));
// Add the data source to the report template data sources:
doc.DataTemplate.DataSources.Add("ds", ds);
// The document already has all the necessary bindings,
// so we only need to process the report template:
doc.DataTemplate.Process();
doc.Save("Lease Agreement.docx");
}
Key Features
- Bind with any data source.
- Batch process multiple rows of data into separate documents
- Add bullets, numbered, multi-level lists
- Supports hyperlinks
- Support for tables
- Repeat multiple table rows
- Support for loops and nesting data
- Conditionally hide blocks of data
- Support for various formatting styles on data including:
- Value Formats
- Range Formats
- String Formats
- Date time Formats with DateTime and DateTimeOffset data types
- Array and Collection Formats
- Support variables from another data level in a single block
Help | Demo | Use Case samples
Enhanced Word (.docx) Files to PDF and New Images Export
Included with the v4 release of the GcWordLayout package is enhanced exporting of Word (.docx) files to PDF and new functionality for exporting Word (.docx) files to images.
Note a new, rewritten GcWordLayout package has replaced the old GcLayout package used in previous versions. It provides updates to the existing package, improving the export functionality of Word to several image formats (JPEG, PNG, and multi-frame TIFF) while introducing new PdfOutPutSettings to set additional properties while exporting to PDF.
Follow these simple steps to convert Word documents to PDF:
using GrapeCity.Documents.Word;
using GrapeCity.Documents.Word.Layout;
using GrapeCity.Documents.Pdf;
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] _)
{
var wordDoc = new GcWordDocument();
wordDoc.Load(@"..\..\..\WordDocs\SimpleText.docx");
using (var layout = new GcWordLayout(wordDoc))
{
// save the whole document as PDF
layout.SaveAsPdf(@"..\..\..\Output\SimpleText.pdf", null, new PdfOutputSettings() { CompressionLevel = CompressionLevel.Fastest });
}
}
}
New Word (.docx) Files to Images Export
Exporting Word (.docx) documents to JPEG, PNG, and multi-frame TIFF files are easy using the ImageOutputSettings method. These settings help you set specific environment variables related to the images like; zoom factor, resolution, or background color. Additionally, you can either export the whole document to a Tiff or specific pages only for Tiff images. You can also specify TiffFrameSettings to encode a Tiff Frame and save it to a stream.
The following example exports a Word document to a JPEG image with a background color.
using GrapeCity.Documents.Word;
using GrapeCity.Documents.Word.Layout;
using GrapeCity.Documents.Imaging;
using System.Drawing;
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] _)
{
var wordDoc = new GcWordDocument();
wordDoc.Load(@"SalesInvoice.docx");
using (var layout = new GcWordLayout(wordDoc))
{
// save the first document as Jpeg
layout.Pages[0].SaveAsJpeg(@"SalesInvoice.jpg", new ImageOutputSettings() { BackColor = Color.LightGray });
}
}
}
GrapeCity Documents for Imaging (GcImaging)
ICO Image Format Support
With this release of GrapeCity Documents for Imaging (GcImaging), Icon images (those images used on Windows OS for small-sized images) can now be loaded, modified, and saved with GcImaging through the new GcIco class. The image can be generated with multiple frames by setting values for IcoFrame class with different encodings specified through the IcoFrameEncoding enum.
Shilpa Sharma