Introduction

This chapter describes what you can do if you do not get the results you expect when you run APGetInfo:

  • Review the troubleshooting checklist
  • Clean suspect PDF files. If you cannot solve the problem, refer to Support to find out how to contact customer support.

Reviewing the Troubleshooting Checklist

This troubleshooting checklist describes common problems. It is the first place to look for a possible solution to your problem.

All platforms

Are you trying to retrieve information from one or more encrypted files?

You must specify the -d option, followed by a User password, as in the following example. (An Owner password will not work.)

You can only specify one User password. Therefore, all of the encrypted files you include on the command line must have the same User password. If you want to retrieve information from encrypted files that have different User passwords, run a separate command for each User password.

Are you using any options that require a file name (-o, -l)?

The file name must immediately follow the option, as in the following examples:

-o C:\Appligent\APGetInfo\samples\myoutput.txt
-l /Appligent/APGetInfo/mylogfile.txt

If a text string other than a file name follows the option, APGetInfo will recognize that text string as the file name.

Did you receive an error “this file cannot be found”?

You may not have provided the correct path for all files or you may have misspelled a file or directory name.

Is each input file a PDF document?

APGetInfo can only open PDF files. If you are using wildcards, include the .pdf suffix (for example, *.pdf) to help prevent you from accidentally attempting to open a non-PDF file.

Are you using APGetInfo in a script?

Use full path names for all files and applications accessed from within the script. If you cannot get your script to work, make sure that you can run APGetInfo from a command line.

Are you getting unexpected results from one or more PDF files?

There might be something wrong with the file. See Cleaning up PDF Documents below.

UNIX only

Did you get a “command not found” error?

If you get a command not found error when running APGetInfo in its own directory, enter the command with the dot-slash in front of it, as in the following example:

./apgetinfo /Appligent/APGetInfo/samples/APUtilsSample.pdf

This tells your system that the application is in the current directory.

Do the application files have the execute permissions set?

If they don’t, you must set them.

 

Cleaning Up PDF Documents

Not all PDF files are created equal. The way in which a PDF document is generated makes a difference, and PDFs generated by third party tools in particular can vary in quality. PDF documents can also become corrupted.

To check how the file was created:

  • In Acrobat X, XI and DC select File > Properties… and click Description. Under Advanced, look at PDF Producer.

If the PDF Producer field is blank, consider the file suspect.

Making a Clean PDF

If you are having problems with a specific PDF, try to create “clean” version of your document. There are two ways of doing this using Adobe Acrobat. If you use other PDF manipulation software, check the documentation for functions that may be equivalent to those found in Adobe Acrobat.

Method 1: “Optimize” your PDF

  • In Acrobat X, XI and DC > File Menu > Save As > Optimized PDF

If saving as optimized does not work, distill the document by following the steps below.

Method 2: Distilling PDF Documents

Distilling a document will remove all comments and form-fields from the PDF. If the PDF contains these items and you wish to preserve them, you must save them before Distilling.

To save existing comments

  • In Acrobat X, XI and DC select Comments > Comments List > click the Options icon > Export All to Data File… In the Export Comments dialog box, select a name and location for the Forms Data File (.fdf), and click Save.

See the additional step below for saving form fields (if any):

Delete all comments:

  • In Acrobat X, XI and DC select all the comments in the Comments List pane and press the Delete key.

To save form fields (if any):

  • Save a copy of the original file. You will copy and paste the form fields from the original file into the new file after the distilling procedure.

Distilling the document

To distill a PDF document do the following:

  • In Acrobat X and XI select File > Save As > More Options > PostScript. Choose a name and location for the file and click Save.
  • In Acrobat DC select File > Export to > PostScript. Choose a name and location for the file and click Save
  • Open Acrobat Distiller > select File > Open… In the Open PostScript File dialog, locate the PostScript file created in the previous step and click Open.

The distiller will create a new PDF file with the same name and location as the PostScript file.

Restoring comments

To restore the comments:

  • In Acrobat X and XI, select Comments > Comments List > click the Options icon > Import Data File… In the Import Comments dialog box, locate the Forms Data File (.fdf) previously saved and click Select. In the next pop-up box, click Yes. The comments are restored.
  • In Acrobat DC, select Tools > Comments > Comments List > click the Options icon > Import Data File…In the Import Comments dialog box, locate the Forms Data File (.fdf) previously saved and click Select. In the next pop-up box, click yes. The comments are restored

Restoring form fields

To restore form fields:

  • Open the original PDF file that includes form fields.
  • In Acrobat X and XI select Tools > Forms > Edit Form)
  • In Acrobat DC > select Tools > Prepare Form > Form fields will automatically appear
  • The form fields will appear, do a Control-A to select all the form fields.
  • Open the new distilled PDF file which has no form fields.
  • Do a Control-V to paste all the form fields onto the page.

You may need to reposition the fields by selecting them again with the Select Object Tool and moving them to the correct position. For multi-page forms you must do this for each page separately.