PL/PDF Toolkit

Automated processing, transformation, protection and inspection of existing PDF documents from Oracle PL/SQL.

PDF post-processing inside Oracle

PL/PDF Toolkit complements the PL/PDF document generators by working with PDF files that already exist. It enables Oracle applications to merge, extract, secure, stamp, inspect, sign, optimize and transform PDF documents directly from PL/SQL.

The Toolkit consists of a Java PDF-processing library installed in Oracle Database and a PL/SQL API used by stored procedures, scheduled jobs, Oracle APEX applications and other database-resident processes.

Existing PDF documents

Process PDF files received from users, external systems, archives, scanners or other document generators.

PL/SQL interface

Call the Toolkit from Oracle packages, procedures, jobs and applications using PDF documents stored as BLOB values.

Automated workflows

Use the same API for individual document operations or high-volume, database-driven batch processing.

Toolkit capabilities by area

The Toolkit API covers the most common enterprise PDF post-processing tasks, from assembling documents and managing pages to securing, signing and extracting their content.

Document assembly and merging

Combine existing PDF files into complete document packages assembled from Oracle data and application logic.

  • Merge two PDF documents
  • Merge multiple PDFs in a defined order
  • Merge documents supplied in PL/SQL collections
  • Merge documents selected from database tables
  • Create combined document packages
  • Add a generated table of contents during merging
  • Merge and encrypt in one processing step
  • Use database-driven batch assembly

Pages and document structure

Inspect and reorganize the page structure of PDF documents without recreating the original content.

  • Read the number of pages
  • Extract individual pages
  • Extract configurable page ranges
  • Create smaller documents from selected pages
  • Rebuild an existing PDF into a new document
  • Process page ranges during merge operations
  • Add configurable page numbering
  • Automate document splitting workflows

Encryption and permissions

Protect PDF documents before distribution and control what recipients are permitted to do with them.

  • 40-bit and 128-bit RC4 encryption
  • 128-bit AES encryption
  • Password-based encryption and decryption
  • Public-key encryption and decryption
  • Printing permission control
  • Content extraction restrictions
  • Modification and annotation permissions
  • Form-filling and document-assembly permissions

Digital signatures and verification

Apply or inspect PDF digital signatures as part of controlled Oracle document workflows.

  • Add a digital signature to an existing PDF
  • Sign and encrypt the same document
  • Configure signer name, location and reason
  • Position the visible signature on a selected page
  • Define permitted changes after signing
  • Embed signer-related signature information
  • Verify signatures contained in a PDF
  • Return signature-verification results as XML

Stamps, branding and watermarks

Add visual information to existing PDFs for branding, identification, approval and document-status workflows.

  • Text stamps
  • TrueType-font text stamps
  • Text watermarks
  • JPG image stamps
  • JPG image watermarks
  • PDF-document watermarks
  • Position, rotation and scaling control
  • Opacity and transparency settings

Metadata and document identification

Read, update and exchange PDF metadata without manually opening the document.

  • Read document metadata into a PL/SQL record
  • Export metadata as XML
  • Set metadata from PL/SQL parameters
  • Import metadata from XML
  • Set title, author and subject
  • Set keywords, creator and producer information
  • Preserve metadata during automated workflows
  • Use metadata for indexing and archiving

Interactive PDF forms

Exchange, populate and lock PDF form data from Oracle applications.

  • Export form values as FDF
  • Export form values as XFDF
  • Import FDF data into PDF fields
  • Import XFDF data into PDF fields
  • Generate field appearance streams
  • Control the NeedAppearances setting
  • Set selected form fields to read-only
  • Lock completed forms for distribution

Content extraction and transformation

Inspect or transform document content for indexing, migration and automated processing.

  • Extract text from PDF pages
  • Extract text from form XObjects
  • Convert extracted content for downstream use
  • Replace URLs embedded in PDF documents
  • Rebuild PDFs into newly generated files
  • Normalize documents received from external systems
  • Prepare extracted text for search and indexing
  • Support database-driven document migration

Optimization and file-size control

Reduce storage and transfer requirements for image-heavy PDF documents.

  • Compress embedded JPG images
  • Configure JPEG compression quality
  • Reduce image-heavy PDF file sizes
  • Optimize documents before distribution
  • Optimize documents before archiving
  • Process large document collections in batches
  • Store optimized results as Oracle BLOBs
  • Combine optimization with other Toolkit operations

PDF/A and document inspection

Inspect document properties required by validation, archiving and controlled processing workflows.

  • Read PDF/A compliance information
  • Identify the reported PDF/A conformance level
  • Inspect document page counts
  • Inspect document metadata
  • Inspect digital signatures
  • Return structured XML verification results
  • Use results in validation workflows
  • Route documents according to inspection results

Typical Toolkit workflows

Secure distribution

Encrypt documents, apply permissions, add digital signatures and prepare protected PDFs for customers or external recipients.

Document packages

Merge primary documents with annexes, terms, evidence files and other attachments selected from Oracle data.

Forms and approvals

Populate PDF forms, import or export field data, add approval stamps and lock completed fields before distribution.

Archiving and indexing

Inspect PDF/A information, extract metadata and text, normalize external documents and prepare files for archival systems.

Branding and document status

Add company branding, confidential markings, draft notices, approval status or personalised watermarks to existing PDFs.

Migration and optimization

Rebuild, inspect, split, compress or transform PDFs received from legacy systems and external document sources.

Toolkit or SDK?

Choose PL/PDF Toolkit when the PDF already exists and needs to be merged, secured, signed, stamped, inspected, optimized or otherwise modified.

Choose PL/PDF SDK when the document must be generated from the beginning using PL/SQL. Choose PL/PDF OffX when Microsoft Word templates are also required.

Evaluate PL/PDF Toolkit

Download the Toolkit package with installation files, documentation and examples, and evaluate PDF processing directly from Oracle PL/SQL.

Download PL/PDF Toolkit