dump_actions

Dump action info

Usage

pdftl <input> dump_actions [<selector>...] [output <output>]

Details

The dump_actions operation extracts interactive actions and trigger events from a PDF file and outputs them in JSON format.

This includes actions associated with:

  • Document events (e.g., scripts that run when opening, saving, or printing)

  • Document-level JavaScript libraries

  • Page events (e.g., actions triggered when opening or closing a page)

  • Annotations (e.g., links, hover events, focus events)

  • Bookmarks (e.g., actions triggered when clicking a bookmark node)

  • Interactive form fields (e.g., keystroke, formatting, validation, or calculation scripts)

  • Chained action sequences (subsequent actions triggered in a chain)

Filtering

Actions can be filtered using the same selector syntax as dump_annots and modify_annots.

The syntax is selector or selector(Key=Value, ...), where:

  • selector is a page range (e.g., 1-5, odd, see [[page_specs]]) and/or an action type (e.g., /JavaScript, /GoTo, /URI, /Launch).

  • Key=Value pairs filter actions by property values (e.g. matching a script body).

Page-specific selectors (like 1/JavaScript) only return actions associated with that page. Document-level and bookmark actions are excluded when page range filters are used.

Examples

Show all action data for a file

pdftl in.pdf dump_actions

Show only JavaScript actions

pdftl in.pdf dump_actions /JavaScript

Show JavaScript actions located on Page 1

pdftl in.pdf dump_actions "1/JavaScript"

Show JavaScript actions matching an exact script

pdftl in.pdf dump_actions "/JavaScript(JS=(console.log('wc');))"

Tags: in_place, actions, info

Source: pdftl.operations.dump_actions

Read online: https://pdftl.readthedocs.io/en/latest/operations/dump_actions.html

Type: Operation