AlambicEdit Library

Revision 4 - v7.5

Design overview

The AlambicEdit library allows the Workflow module to access, create or modify PDF files. It does so by wrapping Adobe PDF Library API calls in an object-oriented COM API. The use of COM as the underlying technology allows Workflow's scripting environment to create an instance of that COM object through the Watch.GetPDFEditObject method.

The object's hierarchy is modeled on the PDF document structure:

The PDF object implements the IPDF interface. This interface defines methods to open, close and save files, as well as to access meta information such as the XMP attachment. The interface also implements a Pages collection object to access the list of pages in the PDF.
The Pages collection implements the IPages interface. This interface defines methods to add, import, move or delete pages as well to access individual Page items.
The Page object implements the IPage interface. This interface defines methods to retrieve information from a page or modify it. A page may also be drawn on a Windows Device Context (DC), but note that access to DCs may not be available in all scripting languages.

Syntax Conventions

This document contains definitions for methods, properties and structures . The syntax for each is as follows.

Syntax

RETURN_VALUE_TYPE methodName( [ARGUMENT_TYPE arg1[, ARGUMENT_TYPE arg2[,...]]] )

Examples

API documentation

VOID Open( STRING fileName, BOOLEAN doRepair )

        STRING GetXYML()

Javascript implementation

myPDF.Open("C:\\PDFs\\SomeDocument.pdf", false);

        var myXYML = myPDF.GetXYML();

VBScript implementation

myPDF.Open "C:\\PDFs\\SomeDocument.pdf", false

        myXYML = myPDF.GetXYML

In case of failure, methods raise an exception. Methods with a RETURN_VALUE_TYPE of VOID do not have a return value.

Note : in JavaScript, all method calls must include parentheses, even for methods that do not require arguments (e.g. Watch.GetPDFEditObject(), myPDF.Pages() ).

Syntax

PROPERTY_TYPE propName

Examples

API syntax
INTEGER Orientation

Javascript implementation

var currentOrientation = myPDF.Pages(0).Orientation;

        myPDF.Pages(0).Orientation = 180;

VBScript implementation

currentOrientation = myPDF.Pages(0).Orientation

        myPDF.Pages(0).Orientation = 180;

Syntax

STRUCT_NAME { 

            FIELD_TYPE fieldName1[,

            FIELD_TYPE fieldName2[,

            ...]]

        }

Examples

API documentation

IPDFRect {

           LONG left,

           LONG top,

           LONG right,

           LONG bottom

        }

Javascript implementation

var pdfRect = myPDF.Pages(0).Size();

        var pageWidth = pdfRect.right - pdfRect.left ;

VBScript implementation

set pdfRect = myPDF.Pages(0).Size

        pageWidth = pdfRect.right - pdfRect.left

(612,792)
Left	0
Top	792
Right	612
Bottom	0
(0,0)

	filename	Name of the file to open.
	doRepair	If true, the software automatically attempts to repair the file if it is found to be damaged or corrupt. Otherwise, the operation fails if the file is damaged.

VOID OpenEx	(	STRING	filename,
		STRING	password
		BOOL	doRepair
	)

	filename	Name of the file to open.
	password	Password to open the file.
	doRepair	If true, the software automatically attempts to repair the file if it is found to be damaged or corrupt. Otherwise, the operation fails if the file is damaged.

VOID Print	(	STRING	printerName,
		LONG	fromPage,
		LONG	toPage
	)

AlambicEdit Library

Design overview

Syntax Conventions

Methods

Syntax

Examples

Properties

Syntax

Examples

Structures

Syntax

Examples

The PDF object

Methods and Properties

IPDF Methods

IPages Methods

IPage Properties

IPage Methods

Structures

IPdfInfos

IPdfPrintParams

IPdfRect

IPDF Object

IPages Collection

IPage Method and Property Documentation

	printerName	(optional) Name of the printer to print to. The default options of the printer will be used. If `NULL`, the default printer is used.
	fromPage	0-based index of the first page to print.
	toPage	0-based index of the last page to print. To print all pages from `fromPage` to the end, use `-1`.

VOID PrintEx	(	STRING	printerName,
		IPdfPrintParams *	PdfPrintParams
	)

	major	Pointer to a LONG that receives the major version number.
	minor	Pointer to a LONG that receives the minor version number.

VOID setTolerances	(	FLOAT	tolerableDeltaWidth,
		FLOAT	tolerableDeltaHeight,
		FLOAT	tolerableDeltaFontHeight,
		FLOAT	tolerableGap
	)

	tolerableDeltaWidth	Tolerable delta width factor value.
	tolerableDeltaHeight	Tolerable delta height factor value.
	tolerableDeltaFontHeight	Tolerable delta font height factor value.
	tolerableGap	Tolerable delta gap between words factor value.

VOID MergeWith2	(	STRING	pdfFilename,
		LONG	xnum,
		LONG	ynum,
		LONG	xoffset,
		LONG	yoffset,
		FLOAT	scaleFactor
	)

	pdfFilename	Name of the source PDF from which pages are taken.
	xnum	Number of columns.
	ynum	Number of rows.
	xoffset	Horizontal space to put between the top left corner of each source page, in points.
	yoffset	Vertical space to put between the top left corner of each source page, in points.
	scaleFactor	Scale at which to draw on source pages on the destination. Use `1.0` to draw the page at its nominal size.

	pdfFilename	Name of the file to convert.
	ppmlFilename	Name of the PPML file to embed.

	index	0-based index at which to insert the page. The page is inserted before the page at index "`index` ". To insert a page at the end, use `IPages.Count()`.
	mediaSize	IPdfRect structure containing the rectangular dimensions of the new page, in points. Cannot be `NULL`.

VOID InsertFrom	(	STRING	srcFilename,
		LONG	srcIndex,
		LONG	srcCount,
		LONG	destIndex
	)

	srcFilename	Name of the PDF from which pages are retrieved.
	srcIndex	0-based index of the first page to copy.
	srcCount	Number of contiguous pages starting from `srcIndex` to insert. If `srcCount` is -1, all pages from `srcIndex` up to the end are inserted.
	destIndex	0-based index of the position where to insert the pages. They will be inserted before the page at index `destIndex` . To insert the pages at the end, use `IPages.Count()`.

VOID InsertFrom2	(	IPages	srcPages,
		LONG	srcIndex,
		LONG	srcCount,
		LONG	destIndex
	)

	srcPages	IPages collection from which the pages are retrieved.
	srcIndex	0-based index of the first page to copy.
	srcCount	Number of contiguous pages starting from `srcIndex` to insert. If `srcCount` is -1, all pages from `srcIndex` up to the end are inserted.
	destIndex	0-based index of the position where to insert the pages. They will be inserted before the page at index `destIndex` . To insert the pages at the end, use `IPages.Count()`.

VOID ExtractTo	(	STRING	destFilename,
		LONG	srcIndex,
		LONG	srcCount,
		BOOL	optimize
	)

	destFilename	Name of the PDF to create with the specified pages.
	srcIndex	0-based index of the first page to copy.
	srcCount	Number of contiguous pages starting from `srcIndex` to extract.
	optimize	If true, optimize (linearize and garbage-collect) the output file.

	index	0-based index of the first page of the range.
	count	Number of contiguous pages to move.
	offset	Number of hops to move the pages. If negative, the pages are moved towards the beginning of the file. If positive, towards the end.

VOID Draw	(	HDC	context,
		FLOAT	scale,
		LONG	offsetX,
		LONG	offsetY
	)

	context	Device context on which to draw the page.
	scale	Scale at which to draw. To draw at the 100% size, use a scale of device_dpi / 72. Do not use the DC to do the scaling; this will result in scaling artifacts being drawn.
	offsetX	Horizontal offset from the left edge of the DC surface, in device units, at which to start the drawing.
	offsetY	Vertical offset from the top edge of the DC surface, in device units, at which to start the drawing.

STRING ExtractText	(	FLOAT	left,
		FLOAT	bottom,
		FLOAT	right,
		FLOAT	top,
	)

	left	Distance in inches of the left limit of the region from the left edge of the `/CropBox`.
	bottom	Distance in inches of the bottom limit of the region from the bottom edge of the `/CropBox`.
	right	Distance in inches of the right limit of the region from the left edge of the `/CropBox`.
	top	Distance in inches of the top limit of the region from the bottom edge of the `/CropBox`.

STRING ExtractText2	(	FLOAT	left,
		FLOAT	top,
		FLOAT	right,
		FLOAT	bottom,
	)

VOID Merge	(	STRING	imageFile,
		FLOAT	left,
		FLOAT	top,
		FLOAT	rotateAngle,
		FLOAT	scaleFactor
	)

	imageFile	Full name of the image to insert on the current page.
	left	Coordinate at which to place the left edge of the image from the left edge of the page, in points.
	top	Coordinate at which to place the top edge of the image from the top of the page, in points.
	rotateAngle	Angle at which to rotate counter-clockwise the inserted image, in degrees. The rotation is done after the image is placed at (left, top) and centered around that point.
	scaleFactor	Scale at which to display the image. For bitmaps, this is based on a 72 dpi resolution. Use 1.0 for the nominal size.

VOID Merge2	(	IPage	srcPage,
		FLOAT	left,
		FLOAT	top,
		FLOAT	rotateAngle,
		FLOAT	scaleFactor
	)

	sourcePage	IPage object to overlay on the current page.
	left	Coordinate at which to place the left edge of the image from the left edge of the page, in points.
	top	Coordinate at which to place the top edge of the image from the top of the page, in points.
	rotateAngle	Angle at which to rotate counter-clockwise the inserted image, in degrees. The rotation is done after the image is placed at (left, top) and centered around that point.
	scaleFactor	Scale at which to display the image. For bitmaps, this is based on a 72 dpi resolution. Use 1.0 for the nominal size.

VOID MergeToLayer	(	STRING	imageFile,
		FLOAT	left,
		FLOAT	top,
		FLOAT	rotateAngle,
		FLOAT	scaleFactor
		STRING	layerName
	)

	sourcePage	IPage pointer to the page to overlay on the current page.
	left	Coordinate at which to place the left edge of the image from the left edge of the page, in points.
	top	Coordinate at which to place the top edge of the image from the top of the page, in points.
	rotateAngle	Angle at which to rotate counter-clockwise the inserted image, in degrees. The rotation is done after the image is placed at (left, top) and centered around that point.
	scaleFactor	Scale at which to display the image. For bitmaps, this is based on a 72 dpi resolution. Use 1.0 for the nominal size.
	layerName	Name of an Optional Content Group in which to put the layer containing the image. The string cannot be empty but can be NULL if no layer is required.

VOID MergeToLayer2	(	IPage	srcPage,
		float	left,
		float	top,
		float	rotateAngle,
		float	scaleFactor
		BSTR	layerName
	)