CFPDF merge loses adobe comments

[didierd1999397]

Hello,

CFPDF apparently removes all adobe comments, post-it, highlighting when merging for the second time. For example merge "merge1.pdf" with another file. Then everything is ok. Merge again the result with "merge1.pdf" and you'll see that all adobe comments, post-it, highlighting on the first time disappear, and that they are only visible on the newly add file.

Is this a BUG in CF 2018? Please help.

Kind regards,

Didier

[Charlie Arehart]

I'll throw in that I'm not myself aware of any such bug. That seems a rather unique use case, so the number of other folks encountering it could be quite small.

But let's start first with your confirming that you are in fact on update 10, the latest for CF2018. See the CF admin "settings summary" page. Sometimes, a bug has been addressed in an update you may not yet have applied. 

Next, let's make sure there are 0 fatalerrors reported in the cf update install log, found in the folder for your latest update, under the hf-updates folder within cf. Sometimes seeming bugs are simply due to errors during the update process.

If those check out OK (please confirm), and if no one else chimes in, you may want to file a bug report at tracker.adobe.com. It would also be wise to offer there a working example pdf file and standalone cfml code to demo the problem. Then share the link to the bug report here, as others seeing this may want to vote or test/confirm things. 

[didierd1999397]

Hello Charlie, thx for the answer.

I am on CF 2018 Update 10

Installation: Successful.

3263 Successes
0 Warnings
0 NonFatalErrors
0 FatalErrors

I'll log a bug on tracker.adobe.com

Didier

[Charlie Arehart]

OK, thanks for that update. BTW, I am seeing now BKBK's answer below, and his reference to "your merge1.pdf". Sorry, I was seeing your first post as an email sent to me, and it did not indicate that there was an attached file, like I see now in the web UI. I will leave you two to sort things out since he is running tests (and I saw your last question to him). If somehow I can help by jumping in again, I will.

But yep, if he confirms the problem then a bug report would be best (and I'd propose you throw in a few-line template to demonstrate the problem, to avoid any further confusion). And if you do that, share the link here as others may see this and would want to add a vote (or comment) to the bug.

[BKBK]

Hi Didier,

I merged your file, Merge1.pdf, with one of mine. But I don't see any difference.

What happens when you merge 2 copies of Merge1.pdf? This is to rule out any effect brought in by a second PDF.

[didierd1999397]

Hi BKBK,

Thw for the answer.

You don't see a difference the first time.

So file1+file2 = fileMerged is ok,

but when you do the fileMerged  + file1 = file3,

it is here that's the problem occurs.  and the comments on the first page is gone.

[BKBK]

Hi Didier,

It still seems to work for me. To use your naming system, fileMerged has 3 comments, which came from file1 (your original Merge1.pdf). I then did file1 + fileMerged. The result has 6 comments, as expected.

I too am on Update 10 of ColdFusion 2018.

 

[didierd1999397]

Hi BKBK,

humm interesting. Can you please show the code you've got to run this?

[BKBK · Accepted solution]

I created the directory x on my desktop, and placed the PDFs in it. 

Then I ran the following code:

<cfpdf action = "merge"
    directory = "C:\Users\BKBK\Desktop\x"
    destination = "C:\Users\BKBK\Desktop\x\mergedAgainPDFs.pdf"
    ascending = "yes"
    keepBookmark = "yes"
    overwrite = "yes" >
    done merging

[didierd1999397]

Thx BKBK,

playing with "keepBookmark" yes or no gave me the solution

Regards,

Didier

[James Moberg]

Have you compared CFPDF's merge function to any other solutions?

Please try using the PDFtk executable with the "join" command to see whether it retains the extra data or not. (This is what we've been using so we no longer have to worry about changes or failures in PDF compatibility. CFPDF claimed that one of my PDFs wasn't "valid" even though the isPDF function verified that it was valid.)

https://www.pdflabs.com/tools/pdftk-server/

[Charlie Arehart]

Great tip, James/jamo. Sad indeed that CF would have any struggles with PDFs, compared to other tools. I wonder sometimes if the CF team is forced to work with some cobbled subset of PDF functionality, because someone higher up or on other teams at Adobe is holding on to "the gold" and not wanting to "give it away in CF". 

I realize those paying for CF would retort that Adobe doesn't "give away" CF, but the truth is that traditionally there have been very expensive enterprise PDF solutions that Adobe has offered which have been FAR more expensive than CF, so it's all relative.

I don't know if any of this is still true. I just wanted to share it in the face of the tip James shared, like others he has where he found something didn't work in CFHTMLtoPDF but then it worked in his direct use of wkhtmltopdf. Since the former is based on the latter, it's again lamentable that that can even happen, but it does.

We can only hope that as CF updates or new versions come out, such issues are addressed. Of course, it often starts with someone filing a bug report. I know that's a sensitive point for many, who feel that they have and "nothing was done about it". But it's not true that "the CF team pays no attention to bug reports", because the CF updates we see (a few a year) do show them fixing literally hundreds of bugs over multiple updates. So it's not "pointless". Anyway, off the soapbox.

Again, thanks, James.

[didierd1999397]

Jamo, thx for the aswer.

I'll first look for standard CF and if not you're option will come in sight 🙂