PHP Extension

Add File Attachments to a PDF

See more PDF Signatures Examples

Demonstrates how to attach files to a PDF. This is also known as embedding a file within a PDF.

Note: This example requires Chilkat v9.5.0.97 or greater.

PHP Extension

<?php

include("chilkat.php");

$success = false;

// This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
// See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

$pdf = new CkPdf();

// We'll be adding attachments to this PDF file..
// Note: We are loading the PDF file into memory.  The PDF file is not kept open at this point.
$success = $pdf->LoadFile('qa_data/pdf/helloWorld.pdf');
if ($success == false) {
    print $pdf->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

// Note: The ability to attach files to a PDF was added in Chilkat v9.5.0.97

// Build JSON to provide information about the files to be embedded in the PDF.
$json = new CkJsonObject();
$json->put_EmitCompact(false);

$i = 0;

// We can attach multiple files in one operation.

// Here we specify the local relative file path of the 1st file to be embedded.
$json->put_I($i);
$json->UpdateString('files[i].description','Hello World');
$json->UpdateString('files[i].localFilePath','qa_data/xml/helloWorld.xml');
$i = $i + 1;

// Specify the 2nd file to be attached.
$json->put_I($i);
$json->UpdateString('files[i].description','Image of starfish');
$json->UpdateString('files[i].localFilePath','qa_data/jpg/starfish.jpg');
// You can explicitly specify the subType (i.e. MIME type) of the file.
// Otherwise Chilkat will use the default MIME type based on the filename extension.
// If no default MIME type exists, then "application/octet-stream" is used.
$json->UpdateString('files[i].subType','image/jpeg');
$i = $i + 1;

// You can alternatively provide the file data from base64 encoded data rather than from a local file.
$json->put_I($i);
$json->UpdateString('files[i].description','Hello World from Data');
$json->UpdateString('files[i].fileData','SGVsbG8gV29ybGQsIEhlbGxvIFdvcmxkLCBIZWxsbyBXb3JsZCwgSGVsbG8gV29ybGQsIEhlbGxvIFdvcmxk');
$json->UpdateString('files[i].embeddedFilename','abc.txt');
$i = $i + 1;

// By default, the filename used within the PDF is the filename part of the local file path.
// You can change it by specifying the embeddedFilename.
$json->put_I($i);
$json->UpdateString('files[i].description','Invoice');
$json->UpdateString('files[i].localFilePath','qa_data/xml/invoice.xml');
$json->UpdateString('files[i].embeddedFilename','invoice_1234.xml');
$json->UpdateString('files[i].subType','application/xml');

// The above JSON provides instructions for attaching 4 files to the PDF.
// Let's attach the files..
// It is perfectly acceptable to write over the PDF file that was loaded,
// but in this example we'll write the PDF with attachments to a new PDF file.
$success = $pdf->AddEmbeddedFiles($json,'qa_output/helloWorld_withAttachments.pdf');
if ($success == false) {
    print $pdf->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

// You can alternatively write the PDF file with attachments to a Chilkat BinData object..
$bd = new CkBinData();
$success = $pdf->AddEmbeddedFilesBd($json,$bd);
if ($success == false) {
    print $pdf->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

// Then you can do what you want with the BinData, which contains the binary image of the PDF with attachments.

print 'Success.' . "\n";

?>