Learning Beyond the page

Interactive features

1.4 ch. 81.7 §12

Everything so far has been about what a page looks like. PDF also defines things a reader can click, fill in and follow, all of it in dictionaries outside the content streams: annotations sit on top of a page, actions say what happens when something is triggered, and interactive forms tie annotations to field values.

Objects attached to a page via /Annots: Link, Text (sticky note), Highlight, FreeText, Widget (form fields), FileAttachment… Each has a /Rect and ideally an appearance stream /AP (a form XObject) so it renders identically everywhere.
1.4 §8.41.7 §12.5
GoTo, URI, Launch, JavaScript, SubmitForm, Named… triggered by links, outlines, or events (/OpenAction, /AA additional actions).
1.4 §8.51.7 §12.6
Forms (AcroForm)
/AcroForm /Fields is a tree of fields (/FT = Tx Btn Ch Sig). A terminal field is usually merged with its widget annotation. /NeedAppearances asks the reader to regenerate appearances. XFA (1.5+) is a separate XML form model, deprecated in 2.0.
1.4 §8.61.7 §12.7

Outlines (bookmarks) and destinations are on The document tree page; signature fields are on Encryption and signatures.

Q1. Why should an annotation have an appearance stream (/AP)?
So that it can be clickedSo that it renders the same in every readerSo that text extraction includes itBecause links don't work without one
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Q2. Which of these is not an action type?
GoToURIWidgetJavaScript
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Reset2 questions

Section references such as 1.4 §3.4 1.7 §7.5 are to the Adobe PDF Reference, third edition (PDF 1.4) and ISO 32000-1:2008 (PDF 1.7). Where to get them: PDF specifications.