Documentation for using JavaScript code inside a PDF file

Question

Where can I find documentation on running JavaScript code inside a PDF   I ve never added a JavaScript action inside a PDF document  However  I ve done quite a bit of web development using JavaScript  I have a few questions to whoever has any familiarity with JavaScript inside a PDF document   NitroPDF and Adobe Acrobat definitely support JavaScript in PDF files  Is there a standard on various objects that exist and functions to manipulate a PDF file via JavaScript   Everything I ve found so far has been from Adobe   Anywhere else seems to reference Adobe s documentation   Is there a standard out there  or is Adobe just the  de Facto  standard   Also  Do all PDF viewers support JavaScript actions   The best documentation on using JavaScript inside a PDF document that I could find was from Adobe - Adobe    Acrobat JavaScript Scripting Guide   NitroPDF has this link - NitroPDF    JavaScript in PDF Files  but it basically just says it supports what Adobe has   I also found this link from Scribus - Scribus    How to enhance your PDF forms with JavaScript  but this only includes a few small snippets of code   Nothing super useful   Adobe has documentation on how you can set breakpoints  etc    for JavaScript using their IDE   Is it possible to run JavaScript in a PDF file using another IDE and have breakpoints  etc     It would be awesome to find something as cool as Firebug   Note   Please do not answer how to manipulate a PDF that is loaded in a web browser   The question is about running JavaScript from within a PDF document   I m trying to explore the possibilities available via executing JavaScript in the PDF document   Specifically I may use functions from quickpdflibrary to add JavaScript functionality to existing documents   Another useful link is Developing with Acrobat JavaScript  Apparently JavaScript code in PDFs is frequently called AcroJS or Acrobat JavaScript

User · Accepted Answer

Probably you are looking for JavaScript    for Acrobat   API Reference   This reference should be the most complete  But  as  Orbling said  not all PDF viewers might support all of the API   EDIT   It turns out there are newer versions of the reference in Acrobat SDK  thanks to  jss    Acrobat Developer Center contains links to different versions of documentation  Current version of JavaScript reference from Acrobat DC SDK is available there too

User · Answer

Here you can find  Adobe Acrobat Forms JavaScript Object Specification Version 4 0   Revised  January 27  1999  It   s very old  but it is still useful

User · Answer

The comprehensive place for Acrobat JavaScript documentation is the Acrobat SDK  which can be downloaded from the Adobe website  In the Documentation section  you will find all the material needed to work with Acrobat JavaScript    To complete the documentation you may in addition get the specification of the JavaScript Core  My book of choice for that is  JavaScript  the Definitive Guide  by David Flanagan  published by O Reilly

User · Answer

I m pretty sure it s an Adobe standard  bearing in mind the whole PDF standard is theirs to begin with  despite being open now   My guess would be no for all PDF viewers supporting it  as some definitely will not have a JS engine   I doubt you can rely on full support outside the most recent versions of Acrobat  Reader    So I guess it depends on how you imagine it being used  if mainly via a browser display  then the majority of the market is catered for by Acrobat  Reader  and Chrome s built-in viewer - dare say there is documentation on whether Chrome s PDF viewer supports JS fully

User · Answer

Look for books by Ted Padova  Over the years  he has written a series of books called The Acrobat PDF  5 6 7 8 9     Bible  They contain chapter s  on JavaScript in PDF files  They are not as comprehensive as the reference documentation listed here  but in the books there are some realistic use-cases discussed in context   There was also a talk on hacking PDF files by a computer scientist  given at a conference in 2010  The link on the talk s announcement-page to the slides is dead  but Google is your friend-  The talk is not exclusively on JavaScript  though  YouTube video - JavaScript starts at 06 00

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