How Can I open This pdf File

[anonprivate]

I would like to read this pdf file (contains XFA forms), but I received the following message:

'Please wait...
If this message is not eventually replaced by the proper contents of the document, your PDF
viewer may not be able to display this type of document.
You can upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Reader for Windows®, Mac, or Linux® by
visiting http://www.adobe.com/go/reader_download.
For more assistance with Adobe Reader visit http://www.adobe.com/go/acrreader.
Windows is either a registered trademark or a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Mac is a trademark
of Apple Inc., registered in the United States and other countries. Linux is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other
countries.'

Advice please

[Shabakthanai]

The articulate Linus Torvalds may not meet your requirements for tact and charm, however, those thousands who would rather support someone who tells the truth, though sometimes colorful, than a tricky SOB like the OS or DOS thief and his overpriced co-conspirators who re-charge you annually to keep their applications on the cutting edge. Bob Hope said it best to Marilyn Monroe I believe, when she said, "Oh Bob, I feel silly when getting your keys from your pocket". And Bob replied, "dig a little deeper and you'll feel nuts."

I just try to remember that one person continues to help me for free, while the other, unlike Marilyn has a grip on and is squeezing my nuts always trying to get more money. As I once heard from Telly Sevallis, " who loves you baby?"

Personally I only use alternate applications from Linux, when there is no other alternative.

I would like to read this pdf file (contains XFA forms), but I received the following message:

'Please wait...
If this message is not eventually replaced by the proper contents of the document, your PDF
viewer may not be able to display this type of document.
You can upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Reader for Windows®, Mac, or Linux® by
visiting http://www.adobe.com/go/reader_download.
For more assistance with Adobe Reader visit http://www.adobe.com/go/acrreader.
Windows is either a registered trademark or a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Mac is a trademark
of Apple Inc., registered in the United States and other countries. Linux is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other
countries.'

Advice please

[Qqmike]

@ anonprivate: What a coincidence. I got this same experience two days ago. The document coming up totally blank. Usually, this has not been a problem as you can (1) Refresh the page, (2) Make sure blocking programs like NoScript are Off, (3) Right-click, Open with ... your Linux package for pdf's, and so on. Not this time -- nothing I tried would work. (Using 14.04, btw)

[Teunis]

I'd love to see a link to such a document.

Shabakthanai, an astute observation

[Qqmike]

Teunis: I'd love to see a link to such a document.

Me, too! I can't recall where I found that issue but will continue to try.

[anonprivate]

I have posted a link for a job that contains a problematic pdf file (XFA support needed).

Have a look at the Role Profile at the bottom of the page.

Let me know if, and how, you can read it under Okular?

Best wishes

Link:
https://www.civilservicejobs.service...ource=csalerts

[LinkBot]

Proprietary damaged format

Downloading the https://files.civilservicejobs.servi...dlOWQ5ZGQzMg==

It is:

$ pdfinfo 459753.pdf
Title: MSF 5234 MCA Role Profile Form
Subject: MCA Role Profile Form
Author: Mrs Kate Coutts
Creator: Adobe LiveCycle Designer 11.0
Producer: Adobe LiveCycle Designer 11.0
CreationDate: Thu Jul 2 17:40:24 2015
ModDate: Mon Jan 4 10:26:47 2016
Tagged: yes
UserProperties: no
Suspects: no
Form: XFA
JavaScript: yes
Pages: 1
Encrypted: no
Page size: 612 x 792 pts (letter)
Page rot: 0
File size: 100303 bytes
Optimized: no
PDF version: 1.6

XFA is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XFA

Most PDF processors do not handle XFA content. When generating a shell PDF it is recommended to include in the PDF markup a simple one-page PDF image displaying a warning message (e.g. "To view the full contents of this document, you need a later version of the PDF viewer.", "The full content of this file cannot be displayed with your current PDF viewer.", "Please wait... If this message is not eventually replaced by the proper contents of the document, your PDF viewer may not be able to display this type of document.", etc.). PDF processors that can render XFA content should either not display the supplied warning page image or replace it quickly with the dynamic form content...

Tested, at here, with the Okular, Evince and PDF Studio.

All are showing the 'not supported warning'.

The PDF Studio is showing more information:


The 'Knowledge base': https://kbpdfstudio.qoppa.com/?p=705

LiveCycle XFA forms – also called dynamic XFA forms – are not supported in PDF Studio.

These are complex and uncommon PDF forms that are designed to be rendered dynamically from the drawing and layout information present in the XFA definition. This kind of forms are not widely supported and only a couple of vendors are able to render them.


Adobe themselves have moved away from dynamic XFA forms and they did not add support for them on mobile (Android, IOS).


We will not be adding support for LiveCycle XFA forms in PDF Studio...

More

Okular: https://okular.kde.org
Evince: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Evince
PDF Studio: https://www.qoppa.com/pdfstudio/


Slashdot - PDF & Goverments: http://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/0...f-personal-woe

[anonprivate]

Downloading the https://files.civilservicejobs.servi...dlOWQ5ZGQzMg==

It is:


XFA is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XFA


Tested, at here, with the Okular, Evince and PDF Studio.

All are showing the 'not supported warning'.

The PDF Studio is showing more information:


The 'Knowledge base': https://kbpdfstudio.qoppa.com/?p=705



More

Okular: https://okular.kde.org
Evince: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Evince
PDF Studio: https://www.qoppa.com/pdfstudio/


Slashdot - PDF & Goverments: http://linux.slashdot.org/story/16/0...f-personal-woe

Thank you for all the work, very much appreciated.

It looks like I will not be able to open files containing XFA technologies.

Best wishes

Ps. I wonder why some people use them

[Snowhog]

Ps. I wonder why some people use them

Because of the prevalence of Windows.

[Teunis]

Yes this was a surprise because I regularly fill in pdf's using Okular.

There is one pdf viewer that opens it successfully, Master pdf editor.
Oh and it allows editing and saving.

Here you find the 32 and 64-bit deb's:
https://code-industry.net/free-pdf-editor/

[anonprivate]

Hi,

I have downlnoaded the deb file.

Is this the type of file where all I need to do is click on it for installation?

Could I use sudo install programme name, (from the directory where master is located)?

If I decided to uninstall the programme, how would this be achieved?

Could I use sudo uninstall master-pdf-editor-3.5.8.1 i386.deb, (from anywhere)?

Have you replaced okular for master-pdf-editor as your default pdf program?

Have you discovered any problems with programme?

Does it remind the user when updates are available?

I see on their website that they have published an email address for questions, and an online manual. I do not think they have a forum!

Best wishes.

Ps. I have downloaded the hash (SHA1) and saved it as txt. Maybe I should have used the sha extension? Are there any other checks I can make to ensure that the programme is harmless?

[Teunis]

Yes download the .deb, find it in Dolphin, right click and select Open with, then QApt.
The rest is just follow the instructions.

Some .deb files won't install with QApt, in that case it's handy to have GDebi installed as well as I've never seen it fail.
Btw, this one installs with the KDE standard QApt.

After installation it will show up in Muon and can be uninstalled from there.
Or if you're OK with the terminal you can use the appropriate apt command and that works from anywhere.

I did not replace Okular because it works for my documents.

I did a quick test on the army document,
saved it to disk,
opened it with Master-pdf-editor,
edited a few entries, saved it again and
reopened it to see if the edits had stayed.

All was good.

I must say it crashed on first time opening, the next times no further problems.

I have not checked if it phones home (!!) for updates but it's not in a repository so you're best off to occasionally check their site.

With a somewhat professional site like this one I'm willing to try as long as it downloads from their servers.
But without inspecting the source you'll only know by setting op a strict network monitor...

Remember my (!!)
Virus scanners on a Linux computer are a total waste of space and electricity unless you are running a (mail)server that has Microsoft encumbered clients.

[anonprivate]

Thank you for the information.

It looks safe to install. You have obviously not noticed any problems.

You mentioned viruses are their irrelevance in Linux. I do use Yahoo Mail, and Hotmail on occasions, but I do not run a mail server.

I was surprised that you use both ocular and master pdf. Do you need both?

Best wishes

[Teunis]

I don't need both but they are not in each other's or my way.
Okular is the KDE standard and is fine.

Master pdf was only installed as an exercise to check it would open this particular document

Using those mail services is not a reason to run a virus scanner, it's pretty sure they are not running on a Microsoft platform!

Most virus scanners run by means of recognising fingerprints of known viruses.
Until now there are no such Linux viruses, only a few concepts that don't really work.

But there are certainly other threads that we have to be aware of and they are not covered by the scanners.

[mparillo]

Yes this was a surprise because I regularly fill in pdf's using Okular.

There is one pdf viewer that opens it successfully, Master pdf editor.
Oh and it allows editing and saving.

Here you find the 32 and 64-bit deb's:
https://code-industry.net/free-pdf-editor/

Thank you for the tip. For USA folks, one fill-in document relying on XFA: