iText Summit 2014: Talk: How to use PDF Templates with iText

Copyright © 2013 Roots nv, Belgium - All rights reserved
iText @ Car-Pass
How to use PDF Templates with iText.

Koen Dehaen
Managing Partner
@ Roots Software since 1997
Car-Pass and Johnson & Johnson
Enterprise Services Architect
!
koen.dehaen@roots.be

Roots Software
Deliver business driven, sustainable and customised solutions
Based on Service Oriented Architecture
Projects managed with an Agile approach
!
Founded in 1994
Antwerp, Belgium
35 associates
Works for Car-Pass, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Johnson & Johnson,
DHL, Achmea, Sanoma Media Belgium, Sapa, Syngenia (GDF
Suez), …
!
www.roots.be

What brings us here?
Our experience with iText (since version 2), iText used to
create simple & complex PDF’s from scratch
re-organise & watermark existing PDF’s
embed QR codes, images, …
complete PDF Templates
directly from the java code, no need for extra tooling
The Car-Pass IS v2 project

how it all started
create a PDF from code

Code - Hello World!
!
Document document = new Document();
PdfWriter.getInstance(document, new
FileOutputStream(“/tmp/hello-world.pdf”));
document.open();
document.add(new Paragraph("Hello World!"));
...
document.close();
!
http://itextpdf.com/book/examples.php

Some real-life examples

Our findings
Advantages
100% java, 100% cross-platform
No external tools/plug-ins required
Full control on the PDF structure in code
Disadvantages
Document layout managed by Developer
Use iText when
your document ﬂow is straight forward
your document structure/layout is stable
a PDF Template is hard to build

topic of today
PDF templates & QR codes

before we start
introduce Car-Pass

The starting point
Average annual registrations of second hand vehicles in
Belgium: 750.000 cars
Odometer Reading fraud was a serious problem in Belgium
> 60.000 new cases a year (estimates based on data Technical Inspection)
Estimated value of the fraud: € 150 – 200 million per year
Consequences
Poses ﬁnancial risk and subsequent losses, for consumers
Bad image for second hand car salesmen
Distorted competition in the market & unfair practices
Authorities and automotive professional associations joined
eﬀorts to create a legal framework

Car-Pass
A Car-Pass is a legally
required document that a
seller of a used car has to
handover to the buyer.
It shows the history of
odometer readings since its
ﬁrst registration.
A Car-Pass is delivered to
the seller by the technical
car inspection; who
requests it to Car-Pass vzw

Car-Pass vzw
A non-proﬁt organization authorized by Royal Decree
Founded in 2006
To manage the central database with the odometer readings
To deal eﬀectively with odometer fraud

Statistics
Since 2006
140.226.468 Odometers
readings
19.483.281 cars
In 2013
777.790 Car-Pass certiﬁcates
created (+- 500 / hour)
14.676.983 Odometer readings
6.143.554 vehicles are active.
source: http://www.car-pass.be/nl/docs/
2013_Jaarverslag_NL_ﬁnal.pdf

Car-Pass IS v2 project
Complete rebuild of the Car-Pass IS v1 platform
Keeping into account
performance
maintainability
scalability
traceability
security
Everything in 1 year

Document (PDF tool) requirements
Fast & reliable tool to generate Car-Pass certiﬁcates & other PDF
documents
Based on Templates adjustable by the End-User
Ensure a small footprint
Improve customers experience
Transparant & aﬀordable license

iText: a perfect fit
Java has no support for PDF’s
Compared tools/suites/platforms vs API’s
iText, due to
Lightweight
Full control on PDF structure (helps to manage footprint)
Ability to manage PDF Templates with Acrobat Pro
Scalable, as it easily integrates in a SOA (even OSGI friendly)
Support for QR codes
Speed (under 90 ms / Car-Pass Certiﬁcate instead of 900 ms)
Our track record

time for action

Car-Pass Template

Code - Complete Fields with data
try (
FileInputStream is = new FileInputStream(pdfTemplate);
FileOutputStream os = new FileOutputStream(completedCarPassPDF)
) {
PdfReader pdfReader = new PdfReader(is);
PdfStamper stamper = new PdfStamper(pdfReader, os);
AcroFields acroFields = stamper.getAcroFields();
for ( Map.Entry<String, String> entry : model.entrySet() ) {
acroFields.setField ( entry.getKey(), entry.getValue() );
}
stamper.setFormFlattening(true);
stamper.close();
pdfReader.close();
}

Code - From Object to Key-Value pairs
Map<String, String> model = BeanUtils.recursiveDescribe ( carPass, "car-pass" );
http://stackoverﬂow.com/questions/6133660/recursive-beanutils-describe
model = car-pass.certificateNumber = 0782-7851-9342
car-pass.vin = VF154PB5VXA1138BB
car-pass.make = Renault Megane
car-pass.price = 7,00 EUR
car-pass.firstUse = 22/12/1981
car-pass.firstRegistrationBe = 22/12/1981
car-pass.validUntil = 01/02/2007
car-pass.odometerReadings[0].date = 01/12/2006
car-pass.odometerReadings[0].value = 185643
car-pass.odometerReadings[1].date = 16/04/2006
car-pass.odometerReadings[1].value = 173459
…

Code - QR Code
BarcodeQRCode qrcode = new BarcodeQRCode("https://ws.car-pass.be/verify/" +
carPass.getCertificateNumber(), 160, 160, null);
!
Image image = qrcode.getImage();
image.setAbsolutePosition(430f, 650f);
PdfContentByte content = stamper.getOverContent(pdfReader.getNumberOfPages());
content.addImage(image);
!
!

Code - Keeping it small
PdfDictionary drdict =
reader.getCatalog().getAsDict(PdfName.ACROFORM).getAsDict(PdfName.DR);
PdfDictionary drfontdict = drdict.getAsDict(PdfName.FONT);
for (PdfName key : new HashSet<PdfName>(drfontdict.getKeys())) {
drfontdict.remove(key);
}
PdfArray pages =
reader.getCatalog().getAsDict(PdfName.PAGES).getAsArray(PdfName.KIDS);
for (int i = 0; i < pages.size(); i++) {
PdfDictionary page = pages.getAsDict(i);
PdfArray annots = page.getAsArray(PdfName.ANNOTS);
for (int j = 0; j < annots.size(); j++) {
PdfDictionary annot = annots.getAsDict(j);
PdfName itvalue = annot.getAsName(new PdfName("IT"));
if (new PdfName("FreeTextTypewriter").equals(itvalue)) {
annot.put(new PdfName("IT"), new PdfName("FreeTextTypeWriter"));
}
}
}

iText RUPS
http://itextpdf.com/product/itext_rups

seeing, is believing

www.roots.be
!
koen.dehaen@roots.be
!
github.com/koendehaen/
itext_summit_pdf_templates
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iText Summit 2014: Talk: How to use PDF Templates with iText

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