Create fillable PDF forms using Report generator programatically

I am looking for pointers for creating fillable PDF forms using the MATLAB Report Generator toolbox. Attached is a sample of the kind of fillable PDFs that I would like to generate.

Answer 1

[Saffan]

Hi Karteek,

To create fillable PDF forms, you can utilize the report generator to create a template with designated "holes" for the input values. These "holes" act as placeholders where the data can be inserted. Here is an example code snippet that demonstrates how to create a template with "holes":

import mlreportgen.dom.*;

type = 'pdf';

% Create a template object
t = Template('mytemplate', type);

% Create a paragraph for the name field
p = Paragraph();
append(p, 'Name:');
append(p, TemplateHole('NAME')); 
append(t, p);

% Create a paragraph for the weight field
p = Paragraph();
append(p, 'Weight:');
append(p, TemplateHole('WEIGHT'));
append(t, p);

% Create a paragraph for the height field
p = Paragraph();
append(p, 'Height:');
append(p, TemplateHole('HEIGHT'));
append(t, p);

% Create a paragraph for the BMI field
p = Paragraph();
append(p, 'BMI:');
append(p, TemplateHole('BMI'));
append(t, p);

close(t);

Once you have created the template, you can proceed to fill in the data and generate PDF documents. Here is an example code snippet:

rpt = Document('MyForm', type, 'mytemplate');
open(rpt);

% Create a loop to cycle through the holes
while(~strcmp(rpt.CurrentHoleId, '#end#'))
    switch(rpt.CurrentHoleId)
        case 'NAME'
            append(rpt, 'My Name');
        case 'WEIGHT'
            append(rpt, '63');
        case 'HEIGHT'
            append(rpt,'175');
        case 'BMI'
            append(rpt,'23')'
    end
    
    moveToNextHole(rpt);
end
% Generate and view the report
close(rpt);
rptview(rpt.OutputPath);

Please refer to this for more information:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/rptgen/ug/mlreportgen.dom.template-class.html