Appending filled form multiple times

[rsk2]

Hello,

I am using pypdf version 6.0.0. I fill a form in a pdf and then write it to a different location using PdfWriter. I do this twice, so now I have two pdfs with same form but different data. Now, I append one to another. But what happens is that the same first filled pdf is present twice in the final file.

For example, I have customer details pdf called details.pdf. I fill this once for customer John and save it as file1.pdf. Then, I fill it for customer Dave and save it as file2.pdf. Now, I append them using below code:

merger = PdfWriter()

for pdf in ["file1.pdf", "file2.pdf"]:
    merger.append(pdf)

merger.write("merged-pdf.pdf")
merger.close()

But in merged-pdf.pdf, I get file1.pdf appended to same file1.pdf.

Is this a known issue? Is there any work around to it?

[stefan6419846]

Forms usually have fixed field names. Thus merging them together multiple times will most likely yield broken results as discovered. I have no direct solution for fixing this.

[rsk2]

@stefan6419846 , is it possible to rename form fields using pypdf?

[stefan6419846]

In theory yes, although I am not aware of an easy and/or existing implementation, thus requiring you to manually to the corresponding work (and possibly providing a PR or at least the code for inspiration).