Creating downloadable pdf files in Storyline - an update on earlier methods

Hi Virinela

Downloadable JavaScript Libraries can be either open source or closed source (proprietary). You are right to ask the question and I should have made it clear when I suggested this method of creating downloadbale pdf files. Rest assured that pdf-lib is made available under one of the most common open source licences - MIT. Under this licence for pdf-lib the following conditions apply:

Copyright (c) 2019 Andrew Dillon

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

Since I was not distributing the code - simply including a call to download it from a common library it is not strictly necessary for me to include the copyright notice - but I feel better now I have drawn attention to the notice and I will add the appropriate copyright notice to the comments in my code in future when I use such libraries.

But it is a good question - and thanks for asking it. :)

Hi Virineia

Sorry I misunderstood your question I thought you were asking if you were breaching any rules on usage by using the libraries rather than was there a risk to your own data. Again a very good question...

Obvioulsy, there is always a risk if you introduce third-party code into your application that it might open up some security vulnerabilities. As with all software, it is best to keep it up to date and to check regulary if any vulnerabilities have been reported. Plus the usual advice on anti-virus software and regular backups also apply.

That said, JavaScript is a pretty safe language to use when running under a browser. The browser will not allow it to perform tasks like accessing the local file system (CORS standards) or perform system tasks.

As to the pdf file that you create if you use a JavasCript library - like pdf-lib -  it will be under the users control where they save it and it will then be protected by the local system file protection rules. So it may be necessary to think about the use of shared libraries if the file contains sensitive date. Also, with pdf-lib, the pdf file starts life as a pdf 'form' template. Make sure, once the learner has completed the form that you use a 'Flatten' Javascript command to turn the pdf form into a standard pdf.

It is also possible to create the pdf file as read-only and also to password protect it using pdf-lib. You should also be able to encrypt it - but I would need to check that.

If you are really worried about the data then you might want to consider creating the pdf file on a server, rather than the users local system. This would give you more options to protect it.

Hope that helps.

The amount of info in this thread is incredible! I've been able to make this work for the most part, but I'm running into a snag when it comes to my PDF. I designed a PDF in Canva and configured the form fields in Adobe Acrobat Pro, but when it comes to generating the PDF using JavaScript in Storyline, nothing happens. I tried altering John's original template PDF with the form fields I was using in my Canva-created PDF, and it works fine; however, that was only with copying the form fields. I then tried to copy all of the content from my Canva-created PDF into John's template PDF, and once again, the PDF isn't generating from Storyline. Anyone have any ideas? I'm thinking it's probably the Canva PDF, but I'm not sure why. I'm not getting any error messages to help diagnose it further.

Jackie, you're a hero for providing this closure! Thank you! :)

Thank you for sharing, John! I've been searching for something like this for my client, and it's wonderful to discover that this method, along with this JavaScript library, offers even more possibilities. I've successfully implemented it as a web object triggered by a button click, allowing me to fetch and save the PDF template. This enables me to publish it to Review 360 for my client's review and feedback. Additionally, I've made efforts to avoid duplicating the PDF template to the root directory each time I publish the course. By keeping it within the web object folder, the PDF template remains easily accessible at all times. I just started following your LinkedIn company page. 

Hi Nedim

I'm glad this discussion was of use. I have also used the same approach and JavaScript library to provide downloadbale notes in RISE. This is done by using Storyline blocks for the text entry and then storing the variables in local browser storage until the end of the course when another Storyline block populates the notes document from  the pdf template.

I had a request on another thread to run a workshop on this for RISE developers and there are two FREE on-line workshops running next Tuesday (26th March) which will walk through an example of this. If anyone is interested in attending, send me a message and I can provide a link.

Hi Heather

The workshops were a one-off and were specific to creating downloadable notes in RISE using Javascript and local browser storage. They weren't recorded because the workshop usedseveral short video clips demonstrating the key steps in the approach. I am currently converting these into a single asynchronous elearning that covers the whole process and step-by-step instructions, which I will make available on our site.

BUT, if your interest is just to do this in Storyline, I posted details and a short demo of this earlier in this thread. It looks a bit daunting if JavaScript isn't your thing - but it is, actually, fairly simple code.

If you download the sample Storyline file and the pdf template in this post, I would be happy to help go through that example.

The nice thing about this approach is that you, firstly, design your handount as a pdf template inserting fields where you want the learner's input to go - no JavaScript at all involved in that bit! You then just copy the code from the Storyline sample and it should be reasonably simple to work out where your field names need to go.

But, as I say - happy to assist, if I can.

@John Cooper, you are a hero for this thread! And all of those who added knowledge and expertise, kudos! This is one of the best threads I've seen on Articulate ELH and I will be coming back over and over until I've mastered it. Perfect timing, I'm creating a course where a customized PDF is a must. Love this community!

Hi everyone. I read the notes on this forum extensively (thank you all!) and have talked to John to work out a bug I was having and LOVE this functionality. I'm including a link to a resource that I made for my team showing how to do this. I'm a senior instructional designer at New York Life and often train my team on different bits and bobs of the technical aspects of the job so I put this little thing together for them and held a short training session. 

I'll put a link to download the .story and the PDF file in the comments on Review. 

https://360.articulate.com/review/content/3b3e97ba-fa9a-4dcd-a378-aba59cde4898/review

Just by way of an update. There is now a FREE elearning workshop available on our website that takes you through step-by-step how to create downloadable notes or a learning journal from a Storyline Course. the examples used and full JavaScript code files can be downloaded during the course.

Course Catalogue (profilelearning.com)

You will need to register and you will receive an email for verification purposes but the workshop is free and uninterrupted by advertising!

We will shortly release two further workshops showing how the same task can be accomplished in a RISE course (a) using local browser storage and (b) using SCORM 2004 data storage to hold the text variables required for the journal.