API changes =========== This file documents those API changes which affect existing PDFlib client programs. Although we go to some efforts in maintaining the existing API functions, it is sometimes necessary to incorporate a few non-backward compatible changes in order to streamline the API and introduce new or extended functions. PPS, PPS API, Block plugin and Acrobat versions =============================================== Acrobat Acrobat PPS PPS API Block Plugin Windows OS X/macOS ------------------------------------------------------------------- 8.0.0 8 4.0 7,8,9 8,9 8.0.1 9 4.1 7,8,9 8,9 8.0.2 9 4.2 7,8,9 8,9 8.0.3 9 4.3 8,9,X 8,9,X 8.0.4 9 4.4 8,9,X 8,9,X 8.0.5 9 4.5 8,9,X,XI 8,9,X,XI 8.0.6 9 4.6 8,9,X,XI 8,9,X,XI 9.0.0 10 5.0 8,9,X,XI 8,9,X,XI 9.0.1 10 5.1 8,9,X,XI 8,9,X,XI 9.0.2 10 5.2 8,9,X,XI 8,9,X,XI 9.0.3 10 5.3 8,9,X,XI 8,9,X,XI 9.0.4 10 5.4 8,9,X,XI 8,9,X,XI 9.0.5 10 5.5 8,9,X,XI,DC 8,9,X,XI,DC 9.0.6 10 5.6 8,9,X,XI,DC 8,9,X,XI,DC 9.0.7 10 5.7 8,9,X,XI,DC 8,9,X,XI,DC 9.1.0 10 5.10 8,9,X,XI,DC 8,9,X,XI,DC 9.1.1 10 5.11 8,9,X,XI,DC 8,9,X,XI,DC Identifying deprecated API functions ==================================== API features are never removed between a particular version and its successor. Instead, features are first declared as deprecated. There are several methods for identifying deprecated API calls in user code. These are discussed in the document "PDFlib Migration Guide". PDFlib 9.1.1 ============ The option "transparencygroup" of PDF_open_pdi_page() and PDF_load_graphics() is now forced to "auto" in PDF/A-2/3 and PDF/X-4/5 modes to ensure standard- conforming output with a suitable blend color space and group isolation. PDF_open_pdi_document(): if uselayers=false is supplied no other documents can be imported with layers. Vice versa, as soon as layers have been defined directly with PDF_define_layer() or indirectly with PDF_open_pdi_document() with uselayers=true the option uselayers=false is no longer allowed. This is required to comply with the PDF requirement that all layers must be listed in the OCProperties structure. PDFlib 9.1 ========== New API function ---------------- PDF_create_devicen() Deprecated items ---------------- Removed the following deprecated functions and options from the API Reference (they are still available in the code): PDF_set_parameter() PDF_set_value() PDF_get_parameter() PDF_get_value() PDF_xshow() PDF_begin_glyph() PDF_setdash() PDF_setdashpattern() PDF_setflat() PDF_setlinejoin() PDF_setlinecap() PDF_setmiterlimit() PDF_initgraphics() PDF_begin_pattern() PDF_load_font(): autocidfont PDF_load_image(): downsamplemask PDF_info_font(): checkcolorspace (hasn't been implemented anyway) PDF_makespotcolor(): removed the color libraries "PANTONE Goe coated" and "PANTONE Goe uncoated" as they are no longer supported by Pantone, Inc. Changes in PDF_create_field(): Changed the font encoding handling for form fields to work around display problems in Acrobat: for type=checkbox and radiobutton in PDF_create_field() no font is required. If a font is specified, only ZapfDingbats with encoding=builtin is accepted. Fonts loaded with encoding=unicode will not be loaded automatically with encoding=winansi again. It is recommended to load TrueType/OpenType fonts with an 8-bit encoding and the option "simplefont". Common XObject options for PDF_load_image() and PDF_begin_template_ext(): OPI-1.3, OPI-2.0 PDF_load_graphics(): devicergb PDFlib 9.0.7 ============ - PDF_set_layer_dependency(): removed unsupported type=Variant and corresponding layer variant options from the PDFlib API Reference. - PDF_create_annotation(), option "name": the names must be unique on each page, but PDFlib issued only a warning. If a duplicate name is supplied, the function call now fails to prevent inconsistent PDF output. - PDF_create_pvf(): the default of the "copy" option has been changed from "false" to "true" for all language bindings except C/C++. This temporarily requires more memory, but avoids spurious memory problems in situations where the language's garbage collector no longer has a reference to the memory. - The deprecated function PDF_add_thumbnail() is now a no-op since users didn't create thumbnails, and Acrobat ignores embedded thumbnails anyway. - PDF_fit_table() now supports fitmethod=auto as follows: if the table box is narrower than the fitbox it is enlarged to the fitbox width. This slightly changes the previously undocumented behavior of fitmethod=auto for tables. PDFlib 9.0.6 ============ No changes which affect compatibility. PDFlib 9.0.5 ============ PDF_open_pdi_document() no longer reads Tagged PDF structure by default if called in object scope, i.e. if no output document is open. If the PDI document is intended for use with a Tagged PDF output document, the option usetags=true must be provided. PDFlib 9.0.4 ============ No changes which affect compatibility. PDFlib 9.0.3 ============ No changes which affect compatibility. PDFlib 9.0.2 ============ Modified Parameter Names ------------------------ The following functions used parameter names x_1, y_1 etc. instead of the documented names x1, y1 etc.: PDF_circular_arc(), PDF_curveto(), PDF_rcurveto(), PDF_shading() These have been changed to use the documented names. Objective-C: this change requires corresponding parameter name adjustments in client code. Deprecated Option ----------------- Font options: "autocidfont" is deprecated and no longer functional due to internal changes in the font engine. Deprecated Function ------------------- PDF_begin_pattern(): use PDF_begin_pattern_ext() (now for all bindings) Font handling ------------- Due to feature #1625 and bug #4559 (modified treatment of fonts for form fields) fonts may now be embedded by default. If this is not desired font embedding can be disabled with "embedding=false". Tagged PDF ---------- Artifacts are no longer allowed when the currently active element is a pseudo element or one of Span, Quote, Note, Reference, BibEntry, Code with inline=true. PDFlib 9.0.1 ============ New API function ---------------- PDF_begin_pattern_ext() (only for C and C++) New option ---------- Option "transform" for PDF_begin_template_ext() Deprecated Functions -------------------- PDF_xshow(): use PDF_fit_textline() with "xadvancelist" option (PDF_xshow() is available only in the C and C++ language bindings) XMP metadata ------------ Implemented stricter XMP namespace checks for PDF/A-2 and PDF/A-3 to follow the XMP 2005 spec and match the behavior of Acrobat Preflight: namespace URIs are now required to end in a "/" or "#" character. Otherwise the XMP will be rejected. Tagged PDF ---------- Modified the handling of H7, H8 etc. so that they are no longer treated as standard elements, but require rolemap entries. Since PDF/UA consumers are advised to ignore the rolemapping PDFlib also ignores the rolemaps of H7 etc. in PDF/UA mode (other than writing them to the PDF output). PDFlib 9.0 ========== New API functions ----------------- PDF_begin_glyph_ext() PDF_close_graphics() PDF_fill_graphicsblock() PDF_fit_graphics() PDF_get_option() PDF_get_string() PDF_info_graphics() PDF_load_asset() PDF_load_graphics() PDF_set_graphics_option() PDF_set_text_option() Modified Functionality ---------------------- PDI: The checks for PDF/A, PDF/X and PDF/UA compatibility were moved from PDF_open_pdi_document() to PDF_open_pdi_page(). This may slightly change the behavior of applications since incompatible documents can now be opened, but no pages can be imported from such documents. PDI now imports layer definitions by default. As a result the output contains layer definitions if the input contains layers. Previously all layer definitions were dropped upon import. In order to restore the previous behavior supply the option uselayers=false in PDF_open_pdi_document(). Layers for PDF/X: PDF_set_layer_dependency(): changed the default of "createorderlist" to "true" also in the PDF/X case to improve compatibility with Acrobat X. Standard Output Intents for PDF/X: The "StandardOutputIntent" resource category for UPR files is deprecated. Image clipping paths: If the "clippingpathname" of PDF_load_image() was supplied although the image does not contain any clipping path at all, the option was silently ignored. Now PDF_load_image() correctly emits an error "Couldn't find clipping path". Image orientation for JPEG images: PDF_load_image() now interprets the orientation tag in the Exif marker of JPEG images and automatically rotates the image accordingly. The image output looks different than with PDFlib <= 8 if the orientation tag is different from 1. Workaround: use the option ignoreorientation=true in PDF_load_image() or PDF_fit_image() sRGB treatment of JPEG images with Exif marker: JPEG images with an Exif marker which contains the entry "uncalibrated colorspace" are no longer treated as sRGB, but rather as DeviceRGB to match the Exif specification. Such images are very rare, though. Workaround: you can force sRGB handling by supplying the "iccprofile" option to PDF_load_image(). 16-bit image masks: Acrobat 7/8/9 do not handle 16-bit images with an alpha channel correctly. In order to work around this problem you can use the "downsamplemask" option of PDF_load_image(). By default no downsampling is applied; this differs from PDFlib 8 which always reduced 16-bit masks to 8-bit. Tagged PDF: PDF_begin_item() and the "tag" option of various functions reject the "Alt" or "ActualText" option if some ancestor in the structure hierarchy already has the same attribute. The "taborder" option of PDF_begin/end_page_ext() has the new default "structure" in Tagged PDF mode (previously: "none") in order to work around problems in Tagged PDF validators. Nesting of tags is now checked according to ISO 32000-1. This may result in exceptions for applications which apply tags in wrong nesting order. The checks can be disabled with the document option "checktags=none" to migrate legacy applications. However, it is strongly recommended to adjust the application code to work with checktags=strict to ensure accessible PDF output. Standard CJK fonts: The concept of "Standard CJK fonts" is deprecated. Use externally configured TrueType (TTF, TTC) or OpenType (TTF, OTF) fonts instead (with or without font embedding). Note that PDFlib GmbH offers free Japanese fonts for PDFlib users at www.pdflib.com. PDF 1.3 output: PDF output according to compatibility=1.3 is no longer supported although still functional. However, if encryption is requested the PDF version is automatically bumped to PDF 1.4 to avoid weak RC4 encryption with 40-bit keys. Deprecated Options ------------------ PDF_create_annotation(): options "filename" and "mimetype": use "attachment" PDF_load_font(): options "fontstyle" and "monospace": use suitable fonts instead Deprecated Keywords ------------------- PDF_info_textline(): keywords "scalex" and "scaley": use "fitscalex" and "fitscaley" Deprecated Functions -------------------- PDF_begin_glyph(): use PDF_begin_glyph_ext() PDF_set_parameter(), PDF_set_value(): use PDF_set_option(), PDF_set_text_option() and PDF_set_graphics_option() PDF_get_parameter(), PDF_get_value(): use PDF_get_option() and PDF_get_string() PDF_get_majorversion(), PDF_get_minorversion(): use PDF_get_option() PDF_setdash(), PDF_setdaspattern(), PDF_setflat(), PDF_setlinejoin(), PDF_setlinecap(), PDF_setmiterlimit(), PDF_initgraphics(): use PDF_set_graphics_option() PDF_add_thumbnail(): It is recommended to completely avoid this feature since PDF viewers create thumbnails automatically. Deprecated Parameters --------------------- The parameter/value system with PDF_get_parameter/value() is generally deprecated, and corresponding options of the same name should be used with PDF_set_option() etc. However, no corresponding global options are available for the following keywords for PDF_get/set_parameter(): honoriccprofile: use the "honoriccprofile" option of PDF_load_image() renderingintent: use the "renderingintent" option of PDF_load_image() topdown: use the "topdown" option of PDF_begin_page_ext() setcolor:iccprofilegray/rgb/cmyk: use the "iccprofilegray/rgb/cmyk" graphics appearance option C++ binding ----------- The convert_to_unicode() method incorrectly used type "string" for the "inputformat" and "options" parameters. This was wrong and has been changed to "pstring" (which maps to "wstring" in the default configuration). Java binding ------------ The name of the PDFlib native library has been changed: Windows: pdflib_java.dll Unix: libpdflib_java.so etc. OS X: libpdflib_java.jnilib Incompabitilities to PDFlib 8.1 ------------------------------- Incompatible changes between PDFlib 8.1 and 9.0: - PDF_poca_delete(): additional "optlist" parameter - PDF_poca_insert(): the default of the "index" option changed from 0 to -1. PDFlib 8.1 ========== New API functions ----------------- PDF_info_pvf() PDF_convert_to_unicode() PDF_elliptical_arc() PDF_begin_dpart() PDF_end_dpart() PDF_poca_new() PDF_poca_delete() PDF_poca_insert() PDF_poca_remove() Deprecated Functions -------------------- PDF_utf16_to_utf8(), PDF_utf8_to_utf16(), PDF_utf32_to_utf16(), PDF_utf8_to_utf32(), PDF_utf32_to_utf8(), PDF_utf16_to_utf32(): use PDF_convert_to_unicode() Deprecated Options ------------------ PDF_load_image(), option template: use createtemplate PDF_fit_textflow(), option checkwordsplitting: use avoidwordsplitting Incompatible Behavior --------------------- AES encryption Due to known weaknesses in AES-256 according to PDF 1.7ext3 (Acrobat 9) PDFlib no longer encrypts PDF documents with this algorithm, but falls back to AES-128 encryption according to PDF 1.7 instead, which doesn't support Unicode passwords. This implies an incompatible change: If you used one or more of the "userpassword", "masterpassword", or "attachmentpassword" options with characters outside PDFDocEncoding in an existing PDFlib 8 application, you must do one of the following: - switch to newer Acrobat X encryption, i.e. change your code to use compatibility=1.7ext8 - keep the PDF 1.7 encryption and refrain from using Unicode passwords, i.e. restrict the characters in passwords to PDFDocEncoding Object fitting PDF_fit_image(), PDF_add_table_cell(), PDF_fill_imageblock(), and PDF_fill_pdfblock(): the behavior of "fitmethod=auto" changed as follows: - If the object fits into the box the behavior is identical to "nofit", i.e. no scaling (previous versions upscaled small objects). - If the object is larger than the fitbox the "meet" method is applied, i.e. proportional downscaling (this behavior is identical to previous versions). In order to restore the previous behavior change "fitmethod=auto" to "fitmethod=meet". Removed from Documentation -------------------------- The following functions, parameters, and options were already deprecated in PDFlib 8. They were marked as "deprecated" in the PDFlib 8 manual and are no longer documented in the PDFlib 8.1 manual (although they still work): Functions: PDF_begin_template(): use PDF_begin_template_ext() PDF_end_template(): use PDF_end_template_ext() Options: PDF_begin_document(): compatibility=1.3, pdfx=PDF/X-1a:2001, pdfx=PDF/X-3:2002 Parameters: imagewidth imageheight image:iccprofile orientation resx resy PDFlib 8.0.4 ============ New features: - Objective-C language binding for OS X and iOS - Caching of PDI page handles (even closed ones) - Support for PostScript XObjects - object-oriented interface for Python - emit modification date for file attachments Deprecated Keywords ------------------- PDF_info_image(): targetbox, targetx1/x2/x3/x4, targety1/y2/y3/y4: the size of templates with the "reference" option will be calculated automatically. Deprecated Parameters --------------------- PDF_set_parameter(): "license", "licensefile", "nodemostamp": use "license", "licensefile", "avoiddemostamp" of PDF_set_option() Standard output intent names for PDF/X: Updated PDFlib's internal list of standard output intents to reflect the current state of the Characterization Data collection at www.color.org. - Removed the following printing conditions from the list; if you are using these you must embed the corresponding ICC profile: GRACoL2006_Coated1, SWOP2006_Coated3, SWOP2006_Coated5 - Added the following printing conditions which can now be used without embedding an ICC profile: FOGRA45, FOGRA46, FOGRA47 - Removed the following printing conditions from the documentation (but not from the list in the code) since they are no longer recommended by FOGRA: FOGRA27: use FOGRA39 instead FOGRA28: use FOGRA45 instead FOGRA29: use FOGRA47 instead - Removed old PDFlib 5 and 6 compatibility entries since they would result in non-conforming PDF/X output: "OF COM PO P1 F60", "OF COM PO P2 F60", "OF COM PO-P3 F60", "OF COM PO P4 F60", "OF COM NE P1 F60", "OF COM NE P2 F60", "OF COM NE P3 F60", "OF COM NE P4 F60", "SC GC2 CO F30", "Ifra_NP_40lcm_neg+CTP_05.00" PDFlib 8.0.3 ============ New features: - option "barcode" for PDF_create_field/group() - option "type=prc" for PDF_load_3ddata() - options "forcebox" and "expandbox" for PDF_open_pdi_page() PDFlib 8.0.2 ============ New features: - options "colwidthdefault" and "rowheightdefault" for PDF_fit_textflow() - numeric byte code references for symblic fonts with the "&.#;" syntax - automatic synchronization of marked content for Tagged PDF and layers - option "createorderlist" for PDF_set_layer_dependency() - create and import PDF 1.7 extension level 8 (Acrobat X) documents - option "rolemap" for PDF_begin_document() to support custom tags in PDF_begin_item() PDFlib 8.0.1 ============ Block Plugin 4.1 and PPS 8.0.1 ------------------------------ The Block API number has been increased because the Block Plugin and PPS support the following new features: - Support the keyword "auto" for the "position" property in property group "object fitting" for Textline Blocks (but not other Block types). - Support the keyword "_auto" for the "script" property in property group "text preparation". This means that Block PDFs created with Plugin 4.1 will be rejected by Block Plugin 4.0 and PPS 8.0.0! PDFlib 8.0.0 ============ New API functions ----------------- PDF_add_path_point() PDF_add_portfolio_file() PDF_add_portfolio_folder() PDF_align() PDF_begin_mc() PDF_circular_arc() PDF_close_font() PDF_delete_path() PDF_draw_path() PDF_ellipse() PDF_end_mc() PDF_end_template_ext() PDF_info_image() PDF_info_path() PDF_info_pdi_page() PDF_mc_point() PDF_set_option() PDF_utf8_to_utf32() PDF_utf32_to_utf8() PDF_utf16_to_utf32() Block Plugin and PPS -------------------- The "pdiusebox" Block property never worked, and is no longer available. It will silently be ignored by PDFlib 8. C binding --------- Applications which use the PDFlib binding for C must be linked with a C++ compiler since the PDFlib library includes some parts which are implemented in C++. Using a C linker may result in unresolved externals unless the application is explicitly linked against the required C++ support libraries. C++ binding ----------- The C++ binding now supports a wstring-based interface, but can be configured to use the plain C++ string type as in PDFlib 7. See the PDFlib Tutorial for details regarding full source code compatibility with PDFlib 7 applications. However, the recommended approach is to switch to the new wstring interface. Python binding -------------- The non-Unicode aware compatibility binding for Python is no longer documented (but available in the code nevertheless). RPG binding ----------- The function name prefix for the Unicode-aware version of the RPG binding changed from "RPDF_" to "PDF_" since the Unicode-aware binding is now the default. Deprecated functions -------------------- PDF_end_template(): use PDF_end_template_ext() The following functions, parameters, and options were already deprecated in PDFlib 7. They were marked as "deprecated" in the PDFlib 7 manual and are no longer documented in the PDFlib 8 manual (although they still work): Functions: PDF_open_pdi(): use PDF_open_pdi_document() PDF_close_pdi(): use PDF_close_pdi_document() PDF_get_pdi_value(): use PDF_pcos_get_number() PDF_get_pdi_parameter(): use PDF_pcos_get_string() Deprecated Parameters --------------------- imagewidth, imageheight, image:iccprofile, orientation, resx, resy: use PDF_info_image() warning, iccwarning, fontwarning, glyphwarning, imagewarning, pdiwarning: use errorpolicy ascenderfaked, capheightfaked, descenderfaked, fontencoding, fontname, fontstyle, xheightfaked: use PDF_info_font() autocidfont, autosubsetting, unicodemap: use options in PDF_load_font() fontmaxcode, capheight, ascender, descender, xheight, monospace: use PDF_info_font() subsetlimit, subsetminsize: use options in PDF_load_font() errorpolicy=legacy Deprecated Options ------------------ PDF_load_font(): fontwarning, kerning PDF_fit_textline(): locallink, weblink PDF_info_textline(): unmappedglyphs PDF_add/create_textflow(): textwarning PDF_info_textflow(): remainchars PDF_load_image(): imagewarning PDF_open_pdi_document(): pdiwarning PDF_open_pdi_page(): infomode, pdiwarning PDF_process_pdi(): pdiwarning PDF_fill_*block(): glyphwarning, fontwarning, imagewarning, pdiwarning PDF_create_action(): actionwarning PDF_create_annotation(): annotwarning PDF_create_field() and PDF_create_fieldgroup(): fieldwarning many functions: errorpolicy=legacy Fonts ----- OpenType fonts loaded with encoding "unicode" are no longer force-embedded. If embedding is desired you must supply the "embedding" option when loading the font. Text strings for use with symbol fonts (e.g. ZapfDingbats) loaded with encoding=builtin and textformat=ut8 must actually be provided in UTF-8 format. This is different from PDFlib 7 which ignored the textformat in this situation (the PDFlib 7 behavior was a bug which was leveraged by some applications). Images ------ PDFlib 8 will by default interpret an alpha channel in TIFF and PNG images. If this is not desired it can be disabled with the "ignoremask" option of PDF_load_image(). Text output =========== PDFlib 8 will apply kerning by default; in contrast, PDFlib 7 applied kerning by default only in Textflow, and only if the font had been loaded with kerning=true. In order to avoid kerning for compatibility with older versions, set readkerning=false when loading the font, or kerning=false when generating text output. Performance ----------- PDF_load_font(): unlike earlier versions, PDFlib 8 will read kerning values from all loaded fonts by default. If kerning is not required font loading can be accelerated with the "readkerning=false" option. Form fields ----------- PDF_create_field() with type=checkbox or radiobutton: glyphs from ZapfDingbats font (e.g. checkmark) are displayed with incorrect spacing in Acrobat 9 and X due to a bug in Acrobat. As a workaround the option "unicodemap=false" can be used, but this will result in the omission of the ToUnicode CMap. Stricter checks --------------- The output intent for PDF/A and PDF/X must be set before calling any of the following functions: PDF_begin_page_ext() PDF_open_pdi_page() PDF_setcolor() PDF_load_image() This was recommended in earlier versions, but up to PDFlib 7 this rule was not enforced.