Options (JVM Flags)
FormVu offers various options to change the way forms are converted. If you are running FormVu via command line you can use the JVM flags listed below to configure the options. If you are running FormVu via Java code, you can interact with the API methods defined by the Javadoc. An example of command-line usage with JVM flags would be with the following command:
java -Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.encryptTempFiles=true -Xmx512M -jar formvu.jar /inputDirectory/ /outputDirectory/
Available Settings
- addJavaScript
- completeDocument
- compressImages
- compressSVG
- containerId
- convertPDFExternalFileToOutputType
- convertSpacesToNbsp
- decoupleEmptyValues
- decoupleFormData
- disableComments
- disableLinkGeneration
- embedImagesAsBase64Stream
- enableAcroFormJS
- formFieldBackgroundHighlight
- formFieldBorderHighlight
- encryptTempFiles
- fontsToRasterizeInTextMode
- formTag
- generateSearchFile
- imageScale
- includedFonts
- inlineJavaScriptAndCSS
- inlineSVG
- keepGlyfsSeparate
- logicalPageRange
- noCheckboxOrRadioButtonImages
- omitNameDir
- outputContentMode
- outputThumbnails
- password
- realPageRange
- scaling
- separateTextToWords
- submitUrl
- textMode
- useDRFormFonts
- useFormVuAPI
- useLegacyImageFileType
addJavaScript
Include all the JavaScript that is within the PDF file.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.addJavaScript=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setAddJavaScript
completeDocument
Enabling this setting will output HTML, head and body tags.
This mode is recommended if content will be displayed within iframes.
This setting has no behaviour in SVG conversion.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.completeDocument=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setCompleteDocument
compressImages
When enabled, generated PNG images will be compressed to reduce file size.
This setting has an effect only when SVG text modes are used, or when setUseLegacyImageFileType is set to true.
Rather than producing 24-bit RGB or 32-bit RGBA truecolor PNG images, instead the converter will produce 8-bit palette images that have undergone quantization and dithering. This is a lossy compression, but visual quality remains very high.
Enabling compression will make conversion slower. On average, expect conversion time to at least double. File size saving can be significant. On files with large images, it is not unusual to see savings of 70-80% on the image file size.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.compressImages=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setCompressImages
compressSVG
Generates compressed .svgz files rather than .svg (you will need to configure your webserver to correctly serve these).
It is recommended to enable this setting as SVG file sizes can be reduced by as much as 80-90%!
SVGZ files are simply SVG files which have been gzip-compressed. Gzip compressed SVG files are supported by all modern browsers (IE9 onwards, Firefox, Chrome, etc) as long as the webserver is configured correctly.
For more information, please click here.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.compressSVG=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setCompressSVG
containerId
Set the id to use for the page container div.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.containerId=<value>
Expected values:
- A string
Javadoc: setContainerId
convertPDFExternalFileToOutputType
Set whether to convert links pointing to file.pdf into file.html inside GoToR and Launch link annotations.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.convertPDFExternalFileToOutputType=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setConvertPDFExternalFileToOutputType
convertSpacesToNbsp
Convert spaces into Non-breaking Spaces ( ) in the output
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.convertSpacesToNbsp=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setConvertSpacesToNbsp
decoupleEmptyValues
Only active when decoupleFormData is true, this setting allows you to populate formdata.json with all fields present in the PDF, including entries that have empty values
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.decoupleEmptyValues=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setDecoupleEmptyValues
decoupleFormData
Update the conversion so that existing form field values that have been set in the PDF are not output in HTML fields. Instead, output these values into a JSON file (formdata.json). By default, this will only output the fields that do not have empty values. This behaviour can be changed with the decoupleEmptyValues setting. In order to have the desired effect, this setting will also not output the AP images of readonly text fields
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.decoupleFormData=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setDecoupleFormData
disableComments
Disable comments inserted into the HTML output for clarity.
Sections within the generated output are marked up with <!-- HTML comment tags --> to aid understanding of generated output and help parsing if necessary. Enabling this setting will remove those comments.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.disableComments=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setDisableComments
disableLinkGeneration
Disables the generation of clickable links (when present in the PDF) and outputs as plain text instead.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.disableLinkGeneration=<value>
Expected Values
- true
- false
Default false
embedImagesAsBase64Stream
Embed images as Base64 stream.
Inserts the images directly into the file as a base64 stream instead of referencing an external file.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.embedImagesAsBase64Stream=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setEmbedImagesAsBase64Stream
enableAcroFormJS
Enable JavaScript from the AcroForms to be included in the conversion output. JavaScript functionality must already be present in the PDF.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.enableAcroFormJS=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setEnableAcroFormJS
formFieldBackgroundHighlight
Add a background of the specified colour to form fields. The specified colour must be in either long or short hexadecimal format.
This option currently adds a background to:
- Text boxes
- Select Boxes
This option does not add a background to:
- Checkboxes
- Radio Buttons
- Buttons
When a malformed colour value is passed, background highlighting will be skipped and an error will be logged
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.formFieldBackgroundHighlight=<value>
Expected values:
- #F00 - Red background
- #FFF0F5 - “Lavender Blush” background
Javadoc: setFormFieldBackgroundHighlight
formFieldBorderHighlight
Add a border of the specified colour to form fields. The specified colour must be in either long or short hexadecimal format.
This option currently adds a border to:
- Text boxes
- Select Boxes
- Buttons
This option does not* add a border to:
- Checkboxes
- Radio Buttons
*Except in the case that no checkboxOrRadioButtonImages is enabled, where a border will be applied
When a malformed colour value is passed, background highlighting will be skipped and an error will be logged
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.formFieldBorderHighlight=<value>
Expected values:
- #F00 - Red border
- #0000FF - Blue border
Javadoc: setFormFieldBorderHighlight
encryptTempFiles
Enables encryption of all temporary files that may be created during the conversion process.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.encryptTempFiles=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setEncryptTempFiles
fontsToRasterizeInTextMode
In Text Modes, you can override real text on a font by font basis,
In svg_realtext text will appear as part of SVG as Vectors This setting has no effect on other modes,
Needs to start EXCLUDE= or INCLUDE= followed by a list of comma-separated fonts Comparison is case-insensitive so Arial, ARIAL and arial are the same.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.fontsToRasterizeInTextMode=<value>
Expected values:
-
INCLUDE=font1,font2,font3
-
(rasterized JUST these fonts)
-
EXCLUDE=font1,font2,font3
-
(rasterized all fonts EXCEPT these fonts)
Javadoc: setFontsToRasterizeInTextMode
formTag
Replacing <form> with your version.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.formTag=<value>
Expected values:
<form **your code here**>
Javadoc: setFormTag
generateSearchFile
Generates a search.json file containing the text of the document you can process for different uses such as search.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.generateSearchFile=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setGenerateSearchFile
imageScale
Write out larger images to allow higher quality zooming. Images are created to match the display size at 100% this value will scale those dimensions.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.imageScale=<value>
Expected Values
- a float multiplier (e.g. 1.5)
Default 1
includedFonts
Set fonts to convert to and include in HTML and CSS output.
Will accept any comma-separated list of the expected values.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.includedFonts=<value>
Expected values:
- woff
- otf
- cff
- woff_base64
- otf_base64
Javadoc: setIncludedFonts
inlineJavaScriptAndCSS
Inline JavaScript and CSS within HTML. This inlines the JavaScript into <\script> tags and CSS into <\style> within HTML so that there are no separate .js/.css files.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.inlineJavaScriptAndCSS=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setInlineJavaScriptAndCSS
inlineSVG
Inline SVG within HTML (pure SVG text modes only).
This inlines the SVG within HTML so that there is no separate .svg file.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.inlineSVG=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setInlineSVG
keepGlyfsSeparate
Position each glyph individually for more accurate positioning.
Produces a larger file but may suit some use cases
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.keepGlyfsSeparate=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setKeepGlyfsSeparate
logicalPageRange
Set a page range using logical page numbering.
For example, let’s assume a 7 page document with a page range of “2,4,6”.
When using this setting, you will get 1.html, 2.html and 3.html, and navigation bars would assume that only these 3 pages exist.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.logicalPageRange=<value>
Expected values:
- Comma-separated values including ranges. E.g. “1,3,5-8,10”
Javadoc: setLogicalPageRange
noCheckboxOrRadioButtonImages
Form elements inside PDFs can contain an AP dictionary with instructions for how to display the various states:
- hover
- onclick
- checked
- unchecked
By default, these appearances are written as images.
This setting disables these images for checkboxes and radio buttons. Instead, the standard browser appearances for the <input> implementations are used.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.noCheckboxOrRadioButtonImages=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setNoCheckboxOrRadioButtonImages
omitNameDir
Controls the folder structure of the output.
By default, pages are output within a directory with the same name as the PDF file within the output directory specified.
Setting omitNameDir to true will cause pages to be output directly within the output directory specified.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.omitNameDir=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setOmitNameDir
outputContentMode
The output content mode affects what content is included in the generated output. This can be used to reduce unwanted content.
Important: When using NO_FDFXFADUMP or REDUCED_CONTENT you will lose the functionality of submitting data and saving data back to a PDF for AcroForm PDFs. If you intend to use these features do not use these modes.
NO_MENU can be beneficial for users who do not want to use the provided menu for any converted form files.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.outputContentMode=<value>
Expected values:
- DEFAULT - No changes to the output
- NO_FDFXFADUMP - Disable the FDFXFA_DUMP div from the output
- NO_MENU - Disable the FDFXFA_MENU div from the output
- REDUCED_CONTENT - Disable both FDFXFA_DUMP, FDFXFA_MENU from the output
Javadoc: setOutputContentMode
outputThumbnails
Output thumbnails of pages in /thumbnails/
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.outputThumbnails=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setOutputThumbnails
password
Set a password to be used when opening files
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.password=<value>
Expected Values A String
Default null
realPageRange
Set a page range using real page numbering.
For example, let’s assume a 7 page document with a page range of “2,4,6”.
When using this setting, you will get 2.html, 4.html and 6.html, and navigation bars would behave as if pages 1, 3, 5 and 7 exist.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.realPageRange=<value>
Expected values:
- Comma separated values including ranges. E.g. “1,3,5-8,10”
Javadoc: setRealPageRange
scaling
Sets the Scaling value of the converted content.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.scaling=<value>
Expected values:
- 1 (float multiplier)
- 1000x1000 (best fit width/height)
- fitWidth1000 (best fit width)
- fitHeight1000 (best fit height)
Javadoc: setScaling
separateTextToWords
Divide text chunks into words based on spaces This improves accuracy but not as much as keepGlyfsSeparate, It produces a larger file but may suit some use cases.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.separateTextToWords=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setSeparateToWords
submitUrl
Set the default pdf form submission URL. Used for the “Submit Form” button in the converted output
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.submitUrl=<value>
Expected values:
- A string
Javadoc: setSubmitUrl
textMode
The text-mode controls how text is rendered in the HTML output, for example, your text can be made selectable or as an image and made non-selectable.
For an explanation of text modes, please click here.
Important: shapetext modes extract the font metrics from the embedded fonts and includes them as shapes. If there are no embedded fonts then the converter will use Arial to ensure that text is actually displayed, although this may not be an ideal match (and we recommend using embedded fonts).
In the case where there are no embedded fonts, it’s best to use a realtext mode.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.textMode=<value>
Expected values:
- svg_realtext
- svg_shapetext_selectable
- svg_shapetext_nonselectable
- image_realtext
- image_shapetext_selectable
- image_shapetext_nonselectable
Javadoc: setTextMode
useDRFormFonts
Be warned, this setting is experimental and is expected to be changed throughout versions
Allows control over whether embedded form fonts in DR object are used for display in text field
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.useDRFormFonts=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
useFormVuAPI
Output the formvuapi.js file, which handles custom functionality such as submitting forms as JSON.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.useFormVuAPI=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setUseFormVuAPI
useLegacyImageFileType
If enabled, all images output will use the PNG file type.
Flag:
-Dorg.jpedal.pdf2html.useLegacyImageFileType=<value>
Expected values:
- true
- false
Javadoc: setUseLegacyImageFileType