Linespacing in multiline fields

Question

I am trying to adjust the linespacing in a multiline pdf form field. These are the things I have already tried:

Using a rich text field and adjust the linespacing trough the "Form Field Text Properties" toolbar: This worked, but the changes get lost when you reset the form.

Using JavaScript: I added a keystroke event to the multiline text fields.

var spans = event.richValue;
if (spans !== undefined) {
    for ( var i = 0; i < spans.length; i++ ) {
        spans[i].linespacing = 14; // linespacing
    }
    event.richValue = spans;
}

With this script the linespacing works just fine, but it is not possible anymore to manually insert line breaks. They get removed as soon as event.richValue = spans is executed.

Last thing I tried was a slightly modified version of the script:

var spans = event.richValue;
if (spans !== undefined) {
    for ( var i = 0; i < spans.length; i++ ) {
        spans[i].linespacing = 14; // linespacing
        if (i < spans.length - 1) spans[i].text += "\r";
    }
    event.richValue = spans;
}

I tried to fix the disappearing line breaks by adding a "\r" at the end of every span. Turns out that Acrobat also treats double-spaces as a single span, so this script adds a line break after two spaces.

Is there a way to permanently set the linespacing in a multiline text field without messing up everything?

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 19 '14 at 16:18

I think I found a solution by myself. After taking a closer look at the SPAN properties, I stumbled upon endParagraph.

This is my final custom keystroke script:

var spans = event.richValue;
if (spans !== undefined && event.willCommit) {
    for ( var i = 0; i < spans.length; i++ ) {
        spans[i].textSize = 9; // font size
        spans[i].linespacing = 14; // linespacing

        // restore line breaks
        if (spans[i].endParagraph) spans[i].text += "\r";

        // reset styles to default
        spans[i].fontStyle = "normal";
        spans[i].fontWeight = 400;
        spans[i].strikethrough = false;
        spans[i].underline = false;
        spans[i].textColor = color.black;
        spans[i].alignment = "left";
        spans[i].fontFamily = ["Arial"];
    }

    event.richValue = spans;
}

I did not do much testing, but it looks like this solution works properly.

Thank you for your solution! – Kris Hunt Oct 13 '20 at 17:20 — Kris Hunt, Oct 13 '20 at 17:20

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 19 '14 at 16:05

0

Linespacing can only be controlled in a multiline field with richText enabled.

The problem with fields with richText enabled is that they are not reset-proof, because there is no defaultRichValue property (getting it introduced would need active participation with the ISO 32000 procedure).

The workaround would be saving the state of the spans array, and recreate it after a reset. You would have to write your own reset function, and add some precautions when the user uses the reset this form action.

answered Aug 19 '14 at 16:05

Max Wyss

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Thansk for your input. I *am* using richText fields. What I'm trying to do is to continuously alter the user input and add the linespacing property to it. That way resetting the form will not mess up anything. I already tried the own reset function thing, sadly that did not really work. – Alex Aug 19 '14 at 16:16

Linespacing in multiline fields

2 Answers2