Attachments not showing up in pdf document - created using pdfbox - pdf

Question

I m trying to attach an swf file to a pdf document. Below is my code (excerpted from the pdfbox-examples). while i can see that the file is attached based on the size of the file - with & without the attachment, I can't see / locate it in the pdf document. I do see textual content correctly displayed. Can someone tell me what I m doing wrong & help me fix the issue?
doc = new PDDocument();
PDPage page = new PDPage();
doc.addPage( page );
PDFont font = PDType1Font.HELVETICA_BOLD;
String inputFileName = "sample.swf";
InputStream fileInputStream = new FileInputStream(new File(inputFileName));
PDEmbeddedFile ef = new PDEmbeddedFile(doc, fileInputStream );
PDPageContentStream contentStream = new PDPageContentStream(doc, page,true,true);
//embedded files are stored in a named tree
PDEmbeddedFilesNameTreeNode efTree = new PDEmbeddedFilesNameTreeNode();
//first create the file specification, which holds the embedded file
PDComplexFileSpecification fs = new PDComplexFileSpecification();
fs.setEmbeddedFile(ef);
//now lets some of the optional parameters
ef.setSubtype( "swf" );
ef.setCreationDate( new GregorianCalendar() );
//now add the entry to the embedded file tree and set in the document.
Map<String, COSObjectable> efMap = new HashMap<String, COSObjectable>();
efMap.put("My first attachment", fs );
efTree.setNames( efMap );
//attachments are stored as part of the "names" dictionary in the document catalog
PDDocumentNameDictionary names = new PDDocumentNameDictionary( doc.getDocumentCatalog() );
names.setEmbeddedFiles( efTree );
doc.getDocumentCatalog().setNames( names );

Answer 1

After struggling with the same thing, I've discovered this is a known issue. Attachments haven't worked for a while I guess.
Here's a link to the issue on the apache forum.
There is a hack suggested here that you can use.
I tried it and it worked!
the other work around i found is after you call setNames on your PDEmbeddedFilesNameTreeNode remove the limits: ((COSDictionary
)efTree.getCOSObject()).removeItem(COSName.LIMITS); ugly hack, but it
works, without having to recompile pdfbox

Answer 2

Attachment works fine with new version of PDFBox 2.0,
public static boolean addAtachement(final String fileName, final String... attachements) {
if (Objects.isNull(fileName)) {
throw new NullPointerException("fileName shouldn't be null");
}
if (Objects.isNull(attachements)) {
throw new NullPointerException("attachements shouldn't be null");
}
Map<String, PDComplexFileSpecification> efMap = new HashMap<String, PDComplexFileSpecification>();
/*
* Load PDF Document.
*/
try (PDDocument doc = PDDocument.load(new File(fileName))) {
/*
* Attachments are stored as part of the "names" dictionary in the
* document catalog
*/
PDDocumentNameDictionary names = new PDDocumentNameDictionary(doc.getDocumentCatalog());
/*
* First we need to get all the existed attachments, after that we
* can add new attachments
*/
PDEmbeddedFilesNameTreeNode efTree = names.getEmbeddedFiles();
if (Objects.isNull(efTree)) {
efTree = new PDEmbeddedFilesNameTreeNode();
}
Map<String, PDComplexFileSpecification> existedNames = efTree.getNames();
if (existedNames == null || existedNames.isEmpty()) {
existedNames = new HashMap<String, PDComplexFileSpecification>();
}
for (String attachement : attachements) {
/*
* Create the file specification, which holds the embedded file
*/
PDComplexFileSpecification fs = new PDComplexFileSpecification();
fs.setFile(attachement);
try (InputStream is = new FileInputStream(attachement)) {
/*
* This represents an embedded file in a file specification
*/
PDEmbeddedFile ef = new PDEmbeddedFile(doc, is);
/* Set some relevant properties of embedded file */
ef.setCreationDate(new GregorianCalendar());
fs.setEmbeddedFile(ef);
/*
* now add the entry to the embedded file tree and set in
* the document.
*/
efMap.put(attachement, fs);
}
}
efTree.setNames(efMap);
names.setEmbeddedFiles(efTree);
doc.getDocumentCatalog().setNames(names);
doc.save(fileName);
return true;
} catch (IOException e) {
System.out.println(e.getMessage());
return false;
}
}

Answer 3

To 'locate' or see an attached file in the PDF, you can't flip through its pages to find any trace of it there (like, an annotation).
In Acrobat Reader 9.x for example, you have to click on the "View Attachments" icon (looking like a paper-clip) on the left sidebar.