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[gentoo-user] acrobat reader

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the...@sys-concept.com

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Sep 22, 2021, 3:10:03 PM9/22/21
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I have a pdf fillable form which I can only open in acrobat reader on Windows.

Which package do I use to read these form on Gentoo?

Jack

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Sep 22, 2021, 3:20:04 PM9/22/21
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You should be able to read them with any PDF reader. Not all readers
will allow you to fill in the forms and save with the inserted data. I
use Okular for that, but the dependencies may be a lot if you don't
already run KDE. I wouldn't be surprised if the Gnome PDF reader
(evince?) can also do it.

Jack

Franz Trischberger

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Sep 22, 2021, 3:30:02 PM9/22/21
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Jack: okular (and poppler apps in general) won't open some (all?) files with filled in forms.
I had many such files in the past where I had to use acrobat...

the...@sys-concept.com

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Sep 22, 2021, 3:30:03 PM9/22/21
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I have evince, it will not open it.

This is the form I'm trying to open:

https://cfr.forms.gov.ab.ca/Form/AHC0102.pdf

the...@sys-concept.com

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Sep 22, 2021, 3:40:04 PM9/22/21
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I can open this file on Windows Acrobat Reader but when I try to save/print it as a PDF file via PDFcreator I'm getting some Ghoastscript error.

tastytea

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Sep 22, 2021, 3:50:03 PM9/22/21
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Okular 21.04.3 won't work either, I got a message box claiming I need
a newer version of Acrobat Reader and the content of the PDF is a
placeholder that reads “[…] your PDF viewer may not be able to display
this type of document […]”.

A warning above the document says that the document contains XFA forms
that are not supported.

Kind regards, tastytea

--
Get my PGP key with `gpg --locate-keys tast...@tastytea.de` or at
<https://tastytea.de/tastytea.asc>.

Jack

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Sep 22, 2021, 4:00:03 PM9/22/21
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Yes, I see that okular (21.04.3) won't open it. Actually, okular does
say "This document has XFA forms, which are currently unsupported.
It's also odd that the message which is displayed implies that Acrobat
Reader is available for Linux, even though it's not available.

How is Ghostscript involved on Windows?

Is there any hope of complaining to the Alberta government that there
is no access to the form without being forced to use proprietary
software? (Probably not, but it's a thought.)

Finally, if you search for "acrobat xfa forms linux" you will find some
suggestions.

the...@sys-concept.com

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Sep 22, 2021, 4:10:03 PM9/22/21
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On 9/22/21 1:41 PM, Charlotte Delenk wrote:
> The javascript code embedded inside explicitely checks for acrobat reader version 9.0 or newer, as well as "XFA" (whatever that is) version 2.0 or newer. Maybe try installing app-emulation/wine and then running acrobat reader using wine?

On gentoo "app-text/master-pdf-editor-5.7.90" WORKS
I can read and edit that file.

Grant Edwards

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Sep 22, 2021, 4:20:03 PM9/22/21
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On 2021-09-22, the...@sys-concept.com <the...@sys-concept.com> wrote:

> This is the form I'm trying to open:
>
> https://cfr.forms.gov.ab.ca/Form/AHC0102.pdf

That's an abomination that use Javascript and dynamic XFA content:

https://kbpdfstudio.qoppa.com/livecycle-dynamic-xfa-forms/

Whoever designed something like that for use by the general public
needs to have thier career terminated before they cause any more
damage.

--
Grant

Grant Edwards

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Sep 22, 2021, 4:20:03 PM9/22/21
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On 2021-09-22, Jack <ostr...@users.sourceforge.net> wrote:
> On 2021.09.22 15:06, the...@sys-concept.com wrote:
>> I have a pdf fillable form which I can only open in acrobat reader on
>> Windows.
>>
>> Which package do I use to read these form on Gentoo?
>
> You should be able to read them with any PDF reader.

Nope. It uses Javascript and dynamic XFA content. None of the
third-party PDF readers support that.


> Not all readers
> will allow you to fill in the forms and save with the inserted data. I
> use Okular for that, but the dependencies may be a lot if you don't
> already run KDE. I wouldn't be surprised if the Gnome PDF reader
> (evince?) can also do it.

none of evince, atril or pdfstudio support dynamic XFA.

--
Grant

Matt Connell (Gmail)

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Oct 5, 2021, 12:30:03 PM10/5/21
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Firefox 93 brags[1] of support for XFA PDFs... maybe this is a possible
solution?

1: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/93.0/releasenotes/

Nikos Chantziaras

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Oct 8, 2021, 5:30:03 AM10/8/21
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On 22/09/2021 22:29, the...@sys-concept.com wrote:
> I have evince, it will not open it.
>
> This is the form I'm trying to open:
>
> https://cfr.forms.gov.ab.ca/Form/AHC0102.pdf

I just opened this URL in firefox-bin-93.0, which claims support for
"XFA-based forms", and indeed I can fill it out just fine.

So finally solved, I suppose?

Matt Connell (Gmail)

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Oct 8, 2021, 10:50:04 AM10/8/21
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Good to know. Credit is due to Mozilla for their work on pdf.js I
suppose.

the...@sys-concept.com

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Oct 9, 2021, 1:50:03 PM10/9/21
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Thanks for pointing it out. So this is another solution; nice!
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