Need ability to set PDF document metadata when exporting Section Reports to PDF

Need ability to set PDF document metadata when exporting Section Reports to PDF

Posted by: jlu on 5 January 2026, 10:59 am EST

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  jlu

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  Posted 5 January 2026, 10:59 am EST

  Description: We are using ActiveReports 19 (MESCIUS ActiveReports) to generate 508-compliant PDF documents from Section Reports in our ASP.NET Core application. We need to set PDF document metadata properties such as Title, Author, Subject, and Keywords to meet accessibility and document management requirements.

  Current Limitation: According to the ActiveReports documentation, the PdfExport.Options property of type PdfDocumentOptions is read-only and only allows getting the options object, not setting it with custom values. The Options property provides access to various PDF export settings like:

  PrintPresets
  
  Security
  
  Watermark

  However, there appears to be no property or method available to set PDF document metadata such as:

  Title - Document title displayed in PDF viewers
  
  Author - Document author information
  
  Use Case: We are generating government purchase order PDFs that require proper document metadata for:

  Accessibility compliance (508/WCAG standards often require proper document titles)
  
  Document management systems that index and search based on metadata
  
  Professional document presentation when users view properties in PDF readers
  
  Organizational requirements for document tracking and categorization
  
  Expected Behavior: We would like one of the following solutions:

  A read-write Options property that allows setting a custom PdfDocumentOptions instance with metadata properties
  
  Additional properties on PdfDocumentOptions class for Title, Author, Subject, Keywords
  
  A method like SetDocumentMetadata() on the PdfExport class
  
  Documentation on an alternative approach to set PDF metadata when exporting Section Reports
  
  Current Workaround Attempts: We have tried accessing the Options property but it only provides a getter, making it impossible to set custom metadata values during the export process. Code Example:

  var pdfExport = new PdfExport();

  pdfExport.Options.PDFUA1 = true; // This works - existing property

  // Need something like:

  // pdfExport.Options.Title = "Purchase Order #12345 ";

  Environment:

  ActiveReports Version: 19
  
  Report Type: Section Reports (SectionReport class)
  
  Export Format: PDF (using PdfExport class)
  
  Framework: .NET 9 (ASP.NET Core Web API)
  
  Question:

  Is there a way to set PDF document metadata using the current Section Report API that we may have overlooked?

• 

  akshay.rajput

  

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  Posted 6 January 2026, 1:50 am EST

  Hi Jimmy,

  Please refer to the following sections of our documentation for details on all PDF Export options.

  • Options, Security, and Watermark
  • Metadata in PDFs

  SampleCode:

  GrapeCity.ActiveReports.SectionReport sectionReport = new GrapeCity.ActiveReports.SectionReport();
  XmlReader xtr = XmlReader.Create(Application.StartupPath + "\\SectionReport1.rpx");
  sectionReport.LoadLayout(xtr);
  sectionReport.Run();
  GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Export.Pdf.Section.PdfExport pdfExport = new GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Export.Pdf.Section.PdfExport();
  // Add meta data
  var metadata1 = new AdditionalMetadataInfo
  {
      Namespace = AdditionalMetadataNamespace.PurlOrg, //Dublin Core Properties
      Key = "title",
      Value = "Invoice"
   };          
              
  pdfExport.Options.AdditionalMetadata.Add(metadata1);
  pdfExport.Export(sectionReport.Document, Application.StartupPath + "\\MyPDF.pdf");
  
  

  Regards,

  Akshay

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  jlu

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  Posted 12 January 2026, 5:52 pm EST

  Hi Akshay,

  Thank you for your response.

  We are using ActiveReports 19 Professional in our ASP.NET Core application to generate PDF purchase orders. The license is properly configured and working in our development environment with no issues.

  However, after deploying to our QA server, the generated PDFs display the evaluation text on every page:

  “This document was created using an EVALUATION version of ActiveReports 19. Only a licensed user may legally create reports for use in production…”

  Questions:

  What is the correct way to apply the ActiveReports 19 Professional license to our QA server environment?

  Regards,

  Jimmy

• 

  akshay.rajput

  

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  Posted 13 January 2026, 12:44 am EST

  Hi Jimmy,

  Since the original issue has been resolved, please create a separate case for the license-related matter. We recommend raising a support case instead of posting on the public forum, so we can discuss the license details privately.

  Regards,
  
  Akshay

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  jlu

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  Posted 13 January 2026, 10:32 am EST

  Thank you Akshay.

  A support case was created as instructed.

  Regards,

  Jimmy