1720179 - [XFA] PDFs with no dataset entry can't be saved

Status: VERIFIED FIXED

(Firefox :: PDF Viewer, defect, P1)

Description

[Daniel Bodea [:danibodea]]

Attachment: evince-1157-0-GOOD.pdf

Note

• When the user loads a specific PDF file in the browser and focuses a field, he will notice that the browser will not show the corresponding message as Adobe Reader does.

Affected versions

• Nightly v91.0a1

Affected platforms

• all

Steps to reproduce

1. Launch browser.
2. Flip "pdfjs.enableXfa" to true.
3. Load the attached PDF file.
4. Focus a field.

Expected result

• A message is displayed.

Actual result

• No message is displayed.

Regression range

• Not a regression.

Additional information

• When interacting with any control from the PDF form, Adobe Reader shows a message saying "Please Note: You cannot save a completed copy of this for your computer. If you would like a copy for your records, please fill it in and print it."

Comment 1

[Marco Castelluccio [:marco]]

We need to get some input from UX for this bug. A workaround exists as the user can print the form.

Comment 2

[Calixte Denizet (:calixte)]

The pdf doesn't contain a datasets entry in the /XFA array so it's likely why we can't save anything.
In the current state, it's impossible to workaround this because when saving we're doing an incremental update which means that we can overwrite objects that are used through a reference and here the /XFA array is not a reference so we cannot overwrite it to add a datasets entry.
So the only way to save it is to print it, it's even possible to print it using a pdf printer but in this case the resulting pdf will lose the form stuff.

:RT what do you think about adding a bar similar to the Acrobat one as described in comment 0 ?

Comment 3

[Brendan Dahl [:bdahl]]

(In reply to Calixte Denizet (:calixte) from comment #2)

The pdf doesn't contain a datasets entry in the /XFA array so it's likely why we can't save anything.
In the current state, it's impossible to workaround this because when saving we're doing an incremental update which means that we can overwrite objects that are used through a reference and here the /XFA array is not a reference so we cannot overwrite it to add a datasets entry.

Couldn't we overwrite the parent AcroForm[48 0 R] and replace XFA with our own new object?

Comment 4

[Calixte Denizet (:calixte)]

:bdahl, that's correct I'll do that.
:RT, for now we've a workaround so please forget my question.

Comment 5

[GitHub Bugzilla PR Linker]

Attachment: Link to GitHub pull-request: https://github.com/mozilla/pdf.js/pull/13967

Comment 6

[GitHub Bugzilla PR Linker]

Attachment: Link to GitHub master push: https://github.com/mozilla/pdf.js/commit/d9d3115a7bdd99bac697376a3864a6387baa86ac

Commit merged into master by GitHub
Authored by Brendan Dahl (brendandahl)

Comment 7

[Daniel Bodea [:danibodea]]

Considering the change of title, I assume that the fix for this issue will be to allow saving instead of showing the warning messages that Adobe does show. This being said, I have verified that saving works fine. Let me know if you need another bug for the notification/warning messages that still aren't shown. Thanks!

Comment 8

[Calixte Denizet (:calixte)]

:danibodea, we already have a bug for the forms which cannot be saved.