Creating PDFs from iOS text fields

Question

I'm working on the requirements & specifications for a new iOS app intended for use by certain professionals working "in the field". All day long for weeks on end, these folks have a sizable reporting burden to their superiors using standardized forms that track all different kinds of information. Traditionally, those forms are in PDF, and are simply printed and filled out in ink and then shared with the dozens to hundreds of others working the same operation. Sometimes they'll use a PDF with form fields so the data can be typed and then printed as part of the form. Either way, given their workflow, time and stress pressures, and other factors, it's not a very productive way to get the standardized reporting forms done.

The app we're spec'ing would offer an iOS (and Android, if possible -- but secondary or even tertiary requirement at this point) user interface for tracking the data they enter in the field, organizing it in a logical manner for each individual user, and with the press of a button, take all that data and automatically create a PDF file of it using the standardized form.

Of course, the forms are STRICTLY and rigidly standardized in this industry, and any deviation in format, structure, or presentation is simply not tolerable.

So I was approaching the project by thinking the app would maintain an internal repository of the original standardized forms from the accrediting organization, with each possible data area defined as a field. The app would:

1. open the necessary PDF form for the task at hand;
2. parse its dictionary to identity the specific data fields;
3. for every single field, identify the relevant data from the iOS app's own user interface and data tables, and assign that data to the corresponding field from the PDF/dictionary
4. export the PDF to a NEW PDF file, which the app would either email or store through iCloud, Dropbox, or some other form of file sharing.

The catch with #4 is that that PDF file must remain editable by standard PDF applications on Windows and Mac (Acrobat, Preview, etc.), so all the fields need to remain. And the PDF should be viewable just the same on either Windows or Mac.

Now, at NO time will the PDF (neither the original nor the exported final document) EVER need to be displayed inside the iOS app, nor would it make much sense to be able to do so.

I don't know if any of this is possible. This is our first iOS project, and we've been leaning towards building the app using Moai or Corona or some other framework to save development time and make porting across platforms easier. That said, if it cannot be done using Lua and one of these frameworks (I remain skeptical...they seem HIGHLY geared towards games), we're not opposed to doing it directly in Objective C and building an Android version some time down the road.

But either way, I'm at a loss in assessing whether this is even a practical undertaking. Our requirements are clear, and frankly if this can't be done, the project won't be pursued any further. But I could definitely use some help from you folks in identifying what my options are, whether I can do it in Lua, and what SDK(s) would be most useful in accomplishing this.

Answer 1

Did you consider just generating a new pdf using an image of the form as the background to the pdf and just writing the user's data into the required areas over the form image. Would reduce the complexity of trying to parse the original form PDFs.

Answer 2

That's a point of worthwhile discussion, but one we don't have an ideal answer on. I tend to think of that as the almost perfect scenario -- it'd be considerably easier to develop. There are two key issues with this approach that have made us table it except as a very last resort:

1. The users of this product would be working in the field. That field could be quite literally anywhere--the streets of Manhattan, a disaster-stricken area with infrastructure that's been severely damaged or even destroyed, or the most war-ravaged third world country. If it were the streets of, say, Manhattan, there's no problem--their iOS or Android device will have 3G or Wi-Fi access just about anywhere they go. In the latter two scenarios (which are arguably more common in this industry), that connectivity may be very limited. The concern is whether the end user's ability to be productive or to see and share data with their colleagues will be too greatly restricted if they don't have a decent signal. To be fair though, even today they often aren't even using mobile devices, forcing them to go back to a headquarters type location or use radios to share information, effectively negating my point here. But if we're not going to significantly increase their productivity in the field, it just gives us pause to think through whether or not we have enough of a value proposition to ask them to fairly significantly change their methods of doing things.

2. To your latter point, no there's no convincing the stakeholders that this new system is the better approach. Even if there were, it would take years to do so. These forms are a part of a well-defined, decades-old standard used by literally thousands of organizations.

Answer 3

Based on what you've said, it seems that there is little reason to do the PDF-based part of the work on the mobile device itself since:

1. you don't need to display it on the ipad
2. you plan to email it or store it in the cloud
3. if you write this for iOS you will have to write again for Android as you've mentioned

Can you simplify the mobile part of your requirement by focusing on the data-collection and validation, then firing off to a server to do the document production? That will give you a lot more flexibility in the tools that you can use to merge the data into PDF docs. If so you could look at creating PDFs or populating the fields from code using something like iText (C# or Java). If you don't want to build your own back end server you could try something like Docmosis Cloud - but that might not allow you to get your precise layouts.

Certainly the catch you mentioned - needing to keep the PDFs editable with their fields is a significant gotcha in all cases. If you could convince the stakeholders that it is better to generate the final documents from your system (generate draft, review, update data, generate again etc) - rather than generating editable documents that you then lose control and tracability over, then you will be miles ahead.

Hope that helps.