Pdf reader that supports XFA forms (while Adobe Reader for Linux is not supported anymore)

pdfsoftware-rec

XFA forms are features of a pdf file involving options to complete fields in certain documents – in many cases official documents. These options may open a calendar, for example, in order to select day, month and year, etc. Usually these forms ensure that a certain official format is used.

I have seen that Okular displays a warning that XFA forms are not supported:

enter image description here

enter image description here

More here.

Selecting 'Show forms' in Okular those fields can be edited and changes can be saved, but comparing to what I see in Windows with Adobe Reader only some part of those are really accessed in this way: the calendar options are absent, and the separate fields of day/month/year are not present, which may raise questions on the correctness of the result.

Adobe Reader 9 can still be installed in Ubuntu 14.04 but this seems like a very limited option.

Is there a a native pdf reader that can use fully XFA forms?

(If not, is Wine a solution?)

The solution for Ubuntu 14.04 works in 16.04. too.

The file I tested was here.

Best Answer

  • Master PDF Editor for Linux has a free and a commercial version, and even the free version has many advanced features, among which "Dynamic XFA form support".

  • Playonlinux has an option to install Adobe Acrobat Reader DC. But oddly, only letting PoL download and install the program works, while when selecting the latest version (AcroRdrDC1700920044_en_US) of the exe file previously downloaded locally the installation fails with an error. I have noticed this on several occasions, and also that PoL installs a different older version: 2015.010.20056.

  • In Ubuntu-16.04-systems the method of installing Adobe Reader 9 for 14.04 (link) still works.

As suggested in Chris' answer, the newer versions of Evince/GNOME Document Viewer, can better handle XFA files, and good enough for the file in question - tested version 3.24.0.

Related Question