# Filling PDF Forms **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [December 5, 2005, 5:52am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/filling-pdf-forms/49477 "2005-12-05T05:52:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kevin\_OSSS](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Kevin\_OSSS](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Kevin_OSSS)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 5:52am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/filling-pdf-forms/49477/1 "2005-12-05T05:52:28Z")
Are there any Ruby utilities out there for filling out PDF forms? I have PDF form that I would like to populate from a database. ---
**Author:** ![Kevin\_OSSS](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Kevin\_OSSS](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Kevin_OSSS)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/filling-pdf-forms/49477/2 "2005-12-05T17:04:19Z")
Kevin O. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Are there any Ruby utilities out there for filling out PDF forms? > I have PDF form that I would like to populate from a database. [http://rubyforge.org/projects/ruby-pdf/](http://rubyforge.org/projects/ruby-pdf/) ---
**Author:** ![Kevin\_OSSS](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Kevin\_OSSS](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Kevin_OSSS)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/filling-pdf-forms/49477/3 "2005-12-05T18:05:41Z")
pfharlock wrote: > Kevin O. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > > Are there any Ruby utilities out there for filling out PDF forms? > > I have PDF form that I would like to populate from a database. > > [http://rubyforge.org/projects/ruby-pdf/](http://rubyforge.org/projects/ruby-pdf/) While this is helpful, it does not solve my problem. To clarify… I have a pre-existing PDF file which has various form fields defined within it. I would like to automatically fill the defined form fields with data from a database and provide the completed file for download to the end user. As near as I can tell from reading the manual, PDF::Writer does not support forms in this fashion. I really don’t want to regenerate the entire form from scratch. \_Kevin ---
**Author:** ![Kevin\_OSSS](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Kevin\_OSSS](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Kevin_OSSS)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/filling-pdf-forms/49477/4 "2005-12-16T20:07:29Z")
I’m looking for this same functionality myself. Please post if/when you find a way to do it in Ruby. Thanks- Michael ---
**Author:** ![Kevin\_OSSS](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Kevin\_OSSS](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Kevin_OSSS)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/filling-pdf-forms/49477/5 "2005-12-05T18:14:47Z")
On 12/5/05, Kevin O. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > pfharlock wrote: > > > Kevin O. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > > > > Are there any Ruby utilities out there for filling out PDF forms? > > > I have PDF form that I would like to populate from a database. > > > > [http://rubyforge.org/projects/ruby-pdf/](http://rubyforge.org/projects/ruby-pdf/) > > While this is helpful, it does not solve my problem. You are correct. I am not sure when or if this will be possible with PDF::Writer. You may want to look around the Adobe developer website, because there are indications that it may be possible with other means. I just haven’t investigated it so far. -austin ---
**Author:** ![Kevin\_OSSS](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Kevin\_OSSS](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Kevin_OSSS)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 12:06pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/filling-pdf-forms/49477/6 "2005-12-31T12:06:00Z")
Just to follow up on this… I ended up using iText which is a Java library. Filling in the form fields was a piece of cake! > **[Entreprenerd — Page not found](https://entreprenerd.lowagie.com/itext.html)** > > This is the 404 page of the Entreprenerd web site. After writing my own wrapper to iText I then connected it to Ruby using RJB [http://arton.no-ip.info/collabo/backyard/?RubyJavaBridge](http://arton.no-ip.info/collabo/backyard/?RubyJavaBridge) This bridge was also very easy to configure and use.