itext AcroFields form onto second page, needs to keep same template - itext

Question

i have a form that i have created in MS Word then converted to a PDF (Form) then i load this in using a PDF Reader, i then have a stamper created that fills in the fields, if i want to add a second page with the same template (Form) how do i do this and populate some of the fields with the same information
i have managed to get a new page with another reader but how do i stamp information onto this page as the AcroFields will have the same name.#
this is how i achieved that:
stamper.insertPage(1,PageSize.A4);
PdfReader reader = new PdfReader("/soaprintjobs/templates/STOTemplate.pdf"); //reads the original pdf
PdfImportedPage page; //writes the new pdf to file
page = stamper.getImportedPage(reader,1); //retrieve the second page of the original pdf
PdfContentByte newPageContent = stamper.getUnderContent(1); //get the over content of the first page of the new pdf
newPageContent.addTemplate(page, 0,0);
Thanks

Answer 1

Acroform fields have the property that fields with the same name are considered the same field. They have the same value. So if you have a field with the same name on page 1 and page 2, they will always display the same value. If you change the value on page 1, it will also change on page 2.
In some cases this is desirable. You may have a multi-page form with a reference number and want to repeat that reference number on each page. In that case you can use fields with the same name.
However, if you want to have multiple copies of the same form with different data in 1 document, you'll run into problems. You'll have to rename the form fields so they are unique.
In iText, you should not use getImportedPage() to copy Acroforms. Starting with iText 5.4.4 you can use the PdfCopy class. In earlier versions the PdfCopyFields class should be used.
Here's some sample code to copy Acroforms and rename fields. Code for iText 5.4.4 and up is in comments.
public static void main(String[] args) throws FileNotFoundException, DocumentException, IOException {
String[] inputs = { "form1.pdf", "form2.pdf" };
PdfCopyFields pcf = new PdfCopyFields(new FileOutputStream("out.pdf"));
// iText 5.4.4+
// Document document = new Document();
// PdfCopy pcf = new PdfCopy(document, new FileOutputStream("out.pdf"));
// pcf.setMergeFields();
// document.open();
int documentnumber = 0;
for (String input : inputs) {
PdfReader reader = new PdfReader(input);
documentnumber++;
// add suffix to each field name, in order to make them unique.
renameFields(reader, documentnumber);
pcf.addDocument(reader);
}
pcf.close();
// iText 5.4.4+
// document.close();
}
public static void renameFields(PdfReader reader, int documentnumber) {
Set<String> keys = new HashSet<String>(reader.getAcroFields()
.getFields().keySet());
for (String key : keys) {
reader.getAcroFields().renameField(key, key + "_" + documentnumber);
}
}